Indonesian palm sugar or use coconut sugar - amount is up to how sweet you want it to begula jawa, I use 2 Tbsp. You may substitute with regular brown sugar if you must
Instructions
Use a spoon and scrape the skin off the ginger. I find it easier to do it with a spoon because I can get to all the difficult to reach place. The finer you cut the ginger, the better. The tea is going to be more concentrated. You can either use a grater to do this (it's a lot of work I know), or you can roughly chop them and pulse them in food processor, or you can cut them manually into sticks. It's up to you. But I won't suggest leaving the ginger whole or just cut in large pieces
Use a scissor to cut few snips on the red dates and black dates, if using, (to release flavor)
Place 4 cups of water in a medium sauce pan, followed by ginger, dates, and sugar. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to let it gently simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat after 15 minutes but let the tea sit for another 15 minutes before you strain it
Strain the tea to a glass jar with lid and keep in refrigerator for no more than one week. Or you can serve it warm immediately. This tea is pretty concentrated and a bit "spicy" in taste because of the ginger. It's going to take some get used to especially if you never have this before. You can mix it with some hot water if you don't like it too concentrated. If you keep this in the refrigerator, make sure you warm it up before serving. I won't suggest drinking it cold