Boiled Coke with Lemon and Ginger

It's that time of the year again. THE COLD SEASON. As expected, I catch a cold as soon as the first reports of circulating colds come about and in no time I find myself with a tap for a nose and throat as painful as the ones with the jagged discs in those strepsil ads. 

I whinge and complain incessantly and force my mum to buy me some coke. You shouldn't be drinking soft drinks when you're sick, I hear you say? Well of course you can't have normal soft drinks but this is boiled coke with lemon and ginger! This is a popular chinese home remedy, the medicinal effects of which are yet to be determined! Nevertheless, you can find this concoction at every cafe in Hong Kong and it does wonders lifting a sick person's spirit. 

INGREDIENTS (serves 1)

*approx 250ml of coca-cola (diet coke, pepsi and other brands of cola are not permitted)

*half a lemon, sliced

*slivers of old ginger (young ginger not permitted)

METHOD

1.) Boil coke with ginger for 1-2 minutes

2.) Add lemon slices just before or after taking off the heat (boiling the lemon for too long removes its vitamins)

3.) Serve whilst hot

A very easy drink to make and very effective in getting some warm fluids into the body. The ginger adds a bit of heat and it goes really with the lemon tang. I'm not sure why you can only use regular coca-cola for this reciepe - maybe this whole thing's a promotion idea made up by the coca-cola company?? I'm not sure why you can't use young ginger either - maybe just because old ginger is generally considered superior to young ginger? 

Whilst I doubt boiled coke with lemon and ginger helped to cure my cold, it definitely improved my mood and warmed my cold hands. It's also one (if not the only) thing that actually be looked forward to when you have a cold!