Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Ginger Beer
Antigua's fiery homemade ginger beer: fresh ginger steeped with cloves and lime, sweetened and served ice cold, a Christmas staple.
Antiguan · easy · serves 8
prep 15 min · cook 5 min
~124 cal · 1g protein · 32g carbs · 0g fat · 1g fiber · 26g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Homemade ginger beer is a Christmas tradition across the Caribbean, and in Antigua and Barbuda it is a fixture of the season, brewed in big batches for family and visitors. Unlike the fizzy commercial soda, island ginger beer is a fresh, powerfully spicy steeped drink built entirely on grated ginger.
A generous amount of fresh ginger is grated and steeped, often with cloves, cinnamon, and lime peel, then strained, sweetened, and chilled. Some households let it a day or two for natural fizz and a little kick; this version is the quick, non-alcoholic one, steeped and served cold over ice, where the heat of the ginger is the whole point.
Bright, hot, and refreshing all at once, Antiguan ginger beer clears the palate and cools the body in the heat. It is poured at Christmas beside the sorrel and the black cake, and made strong enough that a small glass wakes you right up.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
1 cup fresh ginger, peeled and grated
8 cups water
4 whole cloves
1 lime, juiced
1 cup, or to taste sugar
Instructions
1
Bring the water to a boil, then pour it over the grated ginger and cloves in a large jug or bowl.
✎ Chef’s note
The more ginger you use and the longer you steep it, the fierier the ginger beer; Antiguans like it with a real bite.
2
Cover and steep for at least a few hours, or overnight for a stronger, spicier brew.
3
Strain out the ginger and cloves, pressing to extract all the liquid.
4
Stir in the lime juice and sugar until dissolved, then chill and serve over ice.
St. John's Christmas tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
St. John's. Ducana is a Sunday item: grated sweet potato and coconut, sweetened and spiced, tied into a banana leaf and boiled, then eaten alongside saltfish, which is a sweet and salty pairing that surprises visitors. Thyme, scallion and hot pepper season nearly everything else.
🗺️
Antigua and Barbuda. Fungee is cornmeal cooked with okra, not a mushroom, and it is turned with a wooden stick until it is smooth enough to shape into a ball. Antiguan pepperpot is not the Guyanese one: no cassareep here, but a thick stew of salted meat, spinach or other greens, okra, aubergine and pumpkin, cooked down together.
🌍
North America. North America's table began with Indigenous foodways, the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash, plus chiles, tomatoes, and cacao, then layered on colonial, African, and immigrant influences. From Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cuisine to the Cajun and Creole pots of Louisiana and the fiery jerk of the Caribbean, the region turns ancient staples into something new. Barbecue, tacos, gumbo, and mole all carry stories of migration and adaptation.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Antigua and Barbuda
Fungee and PepperpotAntigua's national dish: cornmeal fungee dumpling served with a thick stewed pepperpot of greens and meat.
Antiguan Fried Dumplings with CheeseGolden, slightly sweet fried dumplings split open around a wedge of sharp cheese, a simple, filling Antiguan breakfast.
Antiguan Chop-UpSpinach, okra, and eggplant boiled and chopped smooth with saltfish, an Antiguan everyday plate often eaten with fungee.
Browse all Antigua and Barbuda recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Antigua and Barbuda meal
Fungee and PepperpotDinner
DucanaDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ginger Beer?
Antigua's fiery homemade ginger beer: fresh ginger steeped with cloves and lime, sweetened and served ice cold, a Christmas staple.
Where does Ginger Beer come from?
Ginger Beer is a Antiguan dish from St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda.
Can Ginger Beer be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ginger Beer recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ginger Beer safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ginger Beer take to make?
About 20 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 5 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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