Pineapple Ginger Bubblie

Here’s a sparkling send off to 2025. Many milestones have occurred in our family – leaving old jobs, starting new ones, graduations, moving across the country or across the valley, in a word change. And while many of these changes are good, I am not someone who naturally embraces change. If things stay the same it is comfortable (more or less). Until of course it isn’t.

For example the flood of 2025. I was under the misapprehension that living in a house near the top of a hill would mean never experiencing any flooding. Wrong. When water torrentially falls from the sky you absolutely can experience flooding – even at the top of the hill. Which sucks if your basement is overfull, possibly bordering on some level of hoarding. Hours of running the wet/dry shop vacuum, hauling endless buckets of dirty water out of the basement (hey but the floor got cleaned), running multiple fans 24/7, then moving, shuffling, rehousing much of what was down there. The silver lining was that earlier in the year I’d started some Swedish Death Cleaning. We doubled down on the idea and committed ourselves to getting rid of stuff from the basement. Happily a significant portion of our things have been donated, sold, gifted, or thrown out. We still have a storage unit to house the things which are never coming back into our house. Hopefully in 2026 we’ll say goodbye to it as well. The house definitely feels lighter as we declutter bit by bit.

Two personal changes I adopted in 2025 were eating less sugar and drinking fewer adult beverages*. Ironic, as both are featured frequently on this blog. What hit home for me was when my nutritionist stated that if I continued indulging in sugary treats and regular cocktails I might as well throw all the supplements I was taking in the garbage, as they just weren’t going to be effective with those poisons in my body. Nibbling on a cookie or sipping a cocktail never felt harmful in the moment, but as I significantly reduced both I started to feel better. It’s not that I never indulge in sips or sweets, but when I do it is more intentional and in smaller amounts. I am the first to acknowledge that the winter holidays are stacked full of sugar, so this time of year is hard if you’re trying to cut back. Added to which my most favorite gift around the holidays (to give and receive) is something baked, so pot meet kettle…

Thinking about New Years eve, and noticing a peeled & cored pineapple in the back of the fridge which needed to be used up, I noodled around in the kitchen and came up with a delightful bright, non-alcoholic beverage for anyone who might be choosing less. It does have added sugar** as part of the ginger syrup so it is not free of processed sweetness, but as with the other parts of my life we’re taking it bit by bit.

Pineapple Ginger Bubblies
This recipe is very flexible so feel free to play around with the ingredients~what really sells it, in my opinion, is the fresh pineapple. Note: if you don’t want to make the ginger syrup a craft ginger beer should substitute well, and are available at many grocery stores. Maine Root Ginger Brew and Reeds Extra are two brands we enjoy.

Ginger Simple Syrup
1/2 – 1 cup (60-120 grams) fresh ginger root, sliced into discs
1 cup (215 grams) water
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
Put everything in a small pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cover, cool, then strain into a jar. You can push on the cooked ginger to squeeze out more flavor as you’re straining it.

Pineapple Puree
1 fresh pineapple (about 2 cups) cored and peeled, with juices
Roughly chop the pineapple and blitz in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth. If your pineapple is dry add a few tablespoons of water.

Pineapple – Ginger Bubblies
1-2 shots (45-90 grams) fresh pineapple puree
2-4 Tablespoons (15-30 grams)ginger syrup
1-2 Tablespoons (8-16 grams) fresh lemon juice
Fresh lemon or lime wedges or circles for garnish (optional)
Seltzer
Ice

Stir together pineapple, ginger syrup and lemon or lime juice together. Adjust for how spicy/sweet/tart you like your beverage. Add ice cubes and top off with seltzer. If you like to garnish add a lemon or lime circle or wedge. Enjoy!

If you do want to make this into a cocktail it can go in a number of directions – gin or rum would both be delightful.

** My sister-in-law asked about a version with no added sugar. Here it is:
Make a ginger “tea” by simply boiling slices of ginger root in water. Then mix 1-2 Tablespoons of that with the pineapple and top off with seltzer. Since you don’t have the added sweetness of the sugar the fresh lemon juice isn’t needed. It is a very light version of Pineapple Ginger Bubblie.

*If you’re on Substack there is a thoughtful essay by Kim Foster details her journey with (and without) cocktails.