Fresh ginger is heat with a flavour: a coin of the root muddled in a Penicillin or a Kentucky Longshot gives a sharp, lemony burn that no syrup or soda quite matches, and a slice dropped in a Ginger Lime Spritz keeps releasing it as the drink sits. It is cheap, keeps for weeks, and goes with every brown spirit and most clear ones.

Fresh ginger as a cocktail ingredient

The rhizome of Zingiber officinale, used raw: sliced into coins and muddled in the shaker, grated and squeezed for juice, or sliced thin as a garnish that flavours the drink. Its heat comes from gingerol, which is sharp and citrusy when raw and mellows to the warmer zingerone when cooked, so a drink with fresh ginger tastes brighter and hotter than one made with syrup. Ginger has been in punch since the eighteenth century and in the buck and the mule since the twentieth, but the modern bar's use of the fresh root dates to the 2000s, when Sam Ross's Penicillin (Scotch, honey, lemon, fresh ginger) made it standard. Young ginger (pale, thin-skinned, from Asian markets in summer) is juicier and milder; mature ginger is fibrous and hotter.

What it tastes like

Hot, sharp and clean, with lemon and pine behind the heat and a faint sweetness; it reads as fresh in a way dried or cooked ginger does not. It pairs with Scotch, honey and lemon (the Penicillin), with bourbon, with dark rum in a Dark and Stormy Royale, with tequila and lime, with apple in an Apple Cider Mocktail, with pear, with mint, and with anything that wants warmth without sugar. A single thin coin is a flavour; three are a kick.

How to use it

Scrub the root (no need to peel for muddling) and slice thin coins across the grain. Muddle one to three coins gently with the syrup or honey before adding spirit and ice; fine-strain to keep the fibres out. For juice, grate it finely and press through a cloth or a fine sieve; a tablespoon of grated ginger gives about a teaspoon of juice, which is a lot. For a garnish, a thin slice on the rim or dropped in a long drink. Candied ginger on a pick is the sweet version of the garnish. Ginger loses heat as it sits in a drink, so muddled is hotter at the first sip than the last.

Substitutes

Ginger syrup, a quarter to a half ounce in place of a muddled coin and some of the sugar. Ginger beer in a long drink. Ginger liqueur (Domaine de Canton), sweeter, with proof. A pinch of ground ginger stirred into the syrup in an emergency, which is dusty and not the same. Galangal, for a more floral, peppery cousin.

What to buy

A firm, heavy hand of ginger with smooth, taut skin and no wrinkles or mould, from any grocery; snap a knob off and it should be juicy and fragrant. Young ginger from an Asian market when you see it. Avoid pre-grated or paste ginger in jars, which tastes of vinegar.

Storage and shelf life

Three weeks in the fridge in a paper bag; it shrivels if left out. Freeze a whole knob and grate it from frozen, which is the easiest way to keep it for months. Cut ginger keeps a few days; ginger juice a day or two.

Cocktails with fresh ginger

The modern classic: the Penicillin. The bourbon one: the Kentucky Longshot. The rum one: the Dark and Stormy Royale. Alcohol-free: the Ginger Lime Spritz and the Apple Cider Mocktail. Every drink that uses fresh ginger is listed below.

Questions

Do I peel ginger for cocktails? Not for muddling; scrub it. Peel it for juice or a garnish slice.

How much in a Penicillin? One to three thin coins, muddled, or a quarter ounce of ginger syrup if you have it.

Fresh ginger or ginger beer? Fresh for heat and flavour in a short drink; ginger beer for a long, fizzy one.

Can I freeze it? Yes, whole; grate it frozen. It keeps for months.