I have a cold. Again. And it’s the kind of cold that has my throat so raw it hurts to do anything but drink hot liquids. I lost my voice on Friday. It is not a pleasant situation.

Instead of my beloved coffee, which, though lovely, is not helping much with my throat, I’ve been drinking ginger tea with honey and lemon. It is one of those herbal teas that does double-duty: the ginger helps boost your immunity so you don’t get sick as easily. And the lemon and honey are classic ingredients for soothing a sore throat. Here’s how I make it.

How to Make Honey Lemon Ginger Tea

Ingredients:
4 cups of water
1 2-3 inch piece of ginger
Honey
Lemon

Bring four cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Peel a 2 to 3 inch piece of ginger root and slice it thinly. Once the water is boiling, add the ginger and turn the water down so that it simmers gently. Allow to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Strain out the pieces of ginger. Add the ginger tea to a cup, and add a slice of lemon and as much honey as you’d like. You can keep the saucepan of ginger tea on the stove on low — you’ll get several cups out of this one batch.

A few of the sources I researched mentioned that the honey would lessen the immunity-boosting power of the ginger, so if you’re drinking the tea mainly for that reason, you may want to omit the honey. But I can tell you that the honey and lemon is working wonders on my sore throat. I think I’ll make ginger tea part of my regular routine during cold season! (And if you’re interested in growing your own ginger, no matter where you live, this post from The Dinner Garden is full of useful infomation.)