Ingredients :

• Butternut squash — The star of the recipe, so choose it well. Butternut has dense, sweet, bright orange flesh and is easy to find year-round. Avoid oversized specimens — they are often more fibrous and less flavorful. For this drink, 300 to 400 grams of flesh is more than enough.
• Fresh ginger — Powdered ginger is fine for cakes. Here, use fresh — a gnarled root found in any supermarket. Three to four centimeters are enough. Peel it with the back of a spoon (it really works) and grate it directly into the pot. The scent is immediately sharper and more penetrating than the dried version.
• Cinnamon stick — Prefer the stick over the powder for this recipe: cooking in water releases the aromas gently and gradually, without turning the drink a dull brown. If you only have Cassia cinnamon (the most common in stores), it works too — but the taste will be more intense and slightly spicy. It’s up to you to calibrate.
• Fresh lemon — Not bottled lemon juice — it often has an unpleasant aftertaste once heated. Half a freshly squeezed lemon, added after straining. This is what balances the natural sweetness of the squash and wakes everything up.