Ginger Coffee, 18th Century Ginger Tea And Hydroponically-Grown Ginger

Last week Nestle reported increased global sales with the emerging markets being the most profitable regions. Emerging markets are classed as those economies undergoing rapid growth and industrialisation. One area the results highlighted was adapting existing products to suit local tastes, such as adding ginger and honey to Nescafe coffee in sub-Saharan countries. Ginger coffee has been common in the Middle East for many years with Qishr from Yemen being very popular. But ginger coffee in the West? I'm not aware of any products but if Nestle would like to send me a sample I would gladly conduct a survey, albeit small, on the UK public.

There were many reports last week in the US media about a University of Maryland archaeological dig at the 1785 Wye Orangery, the only 18th century greenhouse left in North America. What took my eye in particular was the evidence that the African American slaves, who played a major role in the construction and operation of the greenhouse, experimented with ginger root to make tea. It is believed that ginger was being grown in West Africa and the Caribbean by the 15th century so making ginger tea would have been a skill possessed by many slaves by the time of the Wye Orangery.

Two years ago the Jamaican government launched a project which involved growing ginger hydroponically in perlite in greenhouses. This has proved so successful that the project has now been conferred with research centre status. The project was started after farmers suffered poor harvests through lack of crop rotation. Coincidentally, scientists at the University of Arizona in Tuscon have also been experimenting with growing ginger and found that the hydroponic system with perlite produced the best results.

I made a mistake in the Latest News section on www.allthingsginger.co.uk when I stated on 18-Feb-2011 that Ajegroup, the Peruvian drinks company, had developed a ginger ale which would be the ideal ingredient in the popular cocktail Chilcano de Pisco. I should have written that development is still ongoing. I'll let you know when it is ready.

Much needed rains have arrived in southern India whilst dry conditions with temperatures reaching 40C are still affecting the north of the country. Unfortunately the rains weren't welcomed by everyone. Four women were injured when they were struck by lightning whilst harvesting ginger.