Lemongrass Ginger Tea

Tanya Eisenwasser

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A low histamine lemongrass ginger tea with bruised lemongrass stalks, fresh ginger, water, and honey.

Prep 5 min

Cook 14 min

Serves 2

Gluten-freeDairy-free

Ingredients

• 2 stalks fresh lemongrass
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 cups water
• 2 teaspoons honey, to taste (optional)
• Ice cubes (optional, for the iced version)

Instructions

Trim and Bruise the Lemongrass

1. Cut off the dry, woody top of each stalk and the hard knob at the root end. What you want is the pale lower 4 to 6 inches.
2. Peel away the dried, papery outer layers until you reach the smooth, pale green core underneath.
3. Lay each stalk flat on a board and press down hard along its length with the flat side of a wide knife, a rolling pin, or the back of a wooden spoon. Keep going until the stalk splits along its fibers and the scent comes up at you. This is the step that gets the oils into the water, and skipping it leaves you with pale, thin tea.
4. Cut the bruised stalks crosswise into 1 inch pieces.

Simmer

1. Bring the 3 cups of water to a boil in a small pot.
2. Add the lemongrass pieces and the sliced ginger, then turn the heat down until the water is barely moving.
3. Simmer uncovered for 5 to 7 minutes. Keep it at a light simmer rather than a hard boil, which drives the oils off in the steam.
4. Take the pot off the heat, cover it, and let it sit for 2 minutes.

Strain and Serve

1. Pour the tea through a fine mesh sieve into two mugs or a heatproof jug.
2. Stir in the honey while the tea is hot so it dissolves.
3. For the hot version, drink now. For iced, let the tea cool briefly, refrigerate it promptly until cold, then divide it between two glasses of ice cubes.

Tips & Substitutions

• Pick stalks that feel firm and heavy. A stalk that bends easily or looks dried at the cut end has lost its oils, and no amount of bruising brings them back. Look for a tight, pale base and a fresh cut.
• Freeze what you do not use. Lemongrass goes limp in the fridge within a week. Bruise and cut the whole bunch at once, spread the pieces on a tray, freeze them, then bag them. Frozen pieces go straight into the pot with no thawing.
• Make the iced version stronger. Ice dilutes the tea as it melts, so if you are going cold, use 3 stalks instead of 2 and simmer the full 7 minutes.
• Swap honey for maple syrup. Honey tolerance varies from person to person, and maple syrup makes the tea vegan. The tea is also fine with no sweetener at all.
• Adjust the ginger to taste. Half an inch gives a background note. Two inches makes it properly spicy, the way an iced ginger mint tea is. Use fresh root rather than powder.
• Add a sprig of rosemary or a few mint leaves. Both are commonly used low histamine herbs and both sit well with lemongrass. Add them off the heat with the lid on so they do not turn bitter.

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Why This Works

Lemongrass. Generally considered low histamine and a staple herb in Southeast Asian cooking. It gives a bright, grassy, citrus-like flavor with no citrus fruit involved, which is the reason it shows up so often in drinks for people avoiding acidic fruit. Tolerance varies.

Fresh ginger. Commonly tolerated and a fixture on low histamine spice lists. Fresh root steeps cleaner than dried ginger powder.

Bruising, not chopping. Lemongrass keeps its flavor locked in tough fibers. Crushing the stalk breaks those fibers open so the hot water can reach the oils, which is why a bruised stalk gives you far more flavor than a finely sliced one.

Honey, used lightly. Generally well tolerated in small amounts, though some sources flag it for its pollen content. Start with a teaspoon per mug and adjust.

Storage

Best the day it is made. Cool the strained tea briefly and refrigerate it promptly in a covered glass jar rather than leaving it on the counter. Make what you will drink now. If a pot is left, cover it, refrigerate it, and finish it within the day, rewarmed gently or poured over ice. Trimmed raw stalks keep about a week in the fridge in a loose bag, or 3 months bruised and frozen.