Ingredients :

• Green tea — Loose leaf if you can—Japanese Sencha or Gyokuro is ideal. Tea bags work, but avoid discount brands where the bags smell like damp cardboard. A simple rule: if you open the package and smell nothing, that’s a bad sign.
• Fresh ginger — Fresh is mandatory. Ginger powder gives a flat taste and an unpleasant bitterness here. Choose a firm piece with no soft spots and thin, smooth skin. Three to four slices about 3 mm thick for 500 ml of water is the right dose.
• Lemon (optional) — A squeeze at the end really changes the profile—it brings brightness and mellows the ginger’s heat. Add it to the cup, never during infusion: lemon acids can denature green tea antioxidants if exposed to heat for too long.
• Honey (optional) — If the ginger feels too aggressive at first, a small teaspoon is enough to soften it without masking the flavor. Use acacia or light wildflower honey—not chestnut or fir honey, which will overpower everything else.