At many cafés in Germany you can get a "heiße Zitrone": hot water with lemon slices (yeah, people pay money for that...you can also order just plain hot water...). I have seen other variations: with fresh peppermint or fresh ginger. When Jessica came to visit last year for New Year's we both got colds and drank lots of fresh ginger tea. I just love the taste of this lemon/ginger/mint combination, healthy or sick, but if you have a cold, this trio with a teaspoon of honey would be just the thing. I've also heard peppermint is good for concentration and memory, so this is what Michael and I were sipping today while writing our brilliant dissertations. :)
recipe:
bunch fresh mint / peeled, sliced ginger / lemon slices
Careful: the ginger gets quite spicy if you let it sit in the bottom of the glass too long!
