Homemade Ginger Ale (sugar free)

I've recently tried Reed's Ginger Beer, and fell madly in love.  However, it has a high sugar content, so I went searching for sugar free alternatives.  I found this recipe for homemade ginger ale that is sugar free, and thought it would be a good recipe to start with since it didn't require the use of yeast and sugar.

This is adapted from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

1 cup sliced ginger root

4 cups water

Sparkling mineral water

stevia (to taste)

lime wedges (I only had lemons)

Put the sliced ginger root (I didn't peel mine) into a 4 quart saucepan with water.  Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let steep for 1 to 1 and a half hours.  The longer it steeps, the spicier it gets.  Strain into a 1 quart mason jar, discarding ginger.  Cover and chill.

To serve, combine 1 part ginger syrup to 3 parts sparkling water and serve over ice. Sweeten to taste with stevia (or sweetener of choice) and a squeeze of lime (or lemon!)

Verdict?  I love the spiciness of the ginger.  I let mine steep for at least 1 1/2 hours, and probably closer to 2. I also added half ginger and half water for serving.  It's going to depend on how much you like the ginger flavor.  My only complaint is the only carbonated water I could find was club soda, and my ginger ale ended up tasting a little flat.  I'm going to experiment with different waters, and see if that makes a difference.  Now that I've made this, I really want to tackle making ginger ale with yeast - where it produces it's own carbonation!  Have you ever made your own soda or beer?  I'm feeling a project coming on!!