Did you read last week’s recipe post here at Holistic Squid ? Are you receiving Holistic Squid posts in your inbox? If not, you’re missing out on some major real foodie magic! Last week, we learned how to make a Ginger Bug.
Have you made your Ginger Bug? Today, when you crack the lid, does it whisper an excited sigh that says you can now magically create sodas that are not just delightfully delicious but great health promoters fro you and your family? Sodas that do not taste like health food but like….well, soda!
Let’s try an easy one first and later we’ll try more complex tasty creations. Time to have some fun!
Apple Ginger Soda Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup ginger bug from previous ginger bug recipe
- 1 1/2 teaspoon freshly juiced ginger (or to taste)
- 3 1/2 cups freshly juiced apple
Apple Ginger Soda Method:
In a quart size bottle (old apple cider vinegar bottles are a convenient choice), combine all ingredients. Place a tight lid on the jar and allow it to sit in a warm or room temperature spot in your home. If your home tends to be cool at night, consider getting a Seedling Heat Mat. Just sit the bottle on top of the mat and out of direct sun light. After 1-2 days of fermentation (watch for bubbles rising to the top of the bottle and if you are unsure your bevi is ready, give the lid a slight twist and listen for a gas release), you will have a lovely probiotic rich bevi.
Yield – 1 quart
This post was generously contributed by Monica Ford of Real Food Devotee. Check back next Friday for more delicious recipes from Monica that will make your mouth water and your tummy purr. If you’re lucky enough to live in Los Angeles, Real Food Devotee can make your life easier by delivering nutrient dense goodies directly to your door.
This post can be seen at the following blog carnival: Seasonal Celebration Sunday. Hop on over to check out some other posts you may enjoy!
nummy!
What is the care like for the ginger bug – keep feeding it daily? refrigerate and feed weekly?
Thanks! Great idea! Gonna get one started to practice making for my going to be 3 year olds bday party
She doesn’t even know what “soda” is but I think she will love this!
Yes, what do we do with the remaining ginger bug from here on out? Also, how do we care for the soda if we don’t drink it all on the first day it’s ready? Do we put it in the fridge, and how long can we store it?
I’m excited to try making this soda, but my ginger bug isn’t ready yet because I started it 2 days late. I am on day 5 now of adding ingredients daily and it’s just starting to get the slightest bit bubbly.
@Staci Great question! Once you’ve used some of your ginger bug liquid to make a soda, add some water to your ginger bug jar to come up to the shoulder of the jar. Now, you have to options. If you would like to use your ginger bug again within the next few days to make another soda, you can add water to the ginger bug jar up to the shoulder, the center and ginger as usual and screw on the lid tightly and leaving a warm place to continue to ferment. OR you can simply screw the lid back on your ginger bug and place it in the fridge until you’re ready to begin using again.
When your apple ginger soda is ready, you may simply story in the fridge. That is, if you and the kiddos don’t drink it up right on the spot.
Once you are storing your ginger bug for future use in the refrigerator, just remove it from the refrigerator 3 days before you would like to make soda again. Set it on the counter in a room temperature environment. See did as you normally would on the second day. On day 3, make delicious soda using the recipe above.
Thank you for the follow up. I’m looking forward to making the soda in a few days, when my ginger bug gets nice and bubbly!
My pleasure, @Staci Be sure to let us know how it turns out. xo
I am so going to make this, only in much larger quantities. Any thoughts on problems related to doubling or tripling the recipe?
no problem making a larger quantity @Anita
I do this all the time. I suggest you mix a large batch and ferment in bottles that are quart size or smaller. When you use larger bottles, the lovely effervescence can sometimes dissipate especially with a few of the more complex sodas. Enjoy!
So, today was day 7 since starting my ginger bug…and it doesn’t have any bubbles
I think I did everything right because I read your suggestions on the previous page. I used filtered water, a clean glass jar with a tight, screw-on lid, organic sugar and fresh ginger root, which I peeled and chopped myself. The ginger I used was very juicy inside, because it was very fresh, when I chopped it. On the first day, I chopped enough ginger for the entire week and put it in a glass, sealed container in the fridge, so that I could simply scoop out 2 teaspoons every day and add it to my bug. Could that be a problem? I tasted the “bug” today and it tastes like a delicous ginger juice, but it is totally flat. Should I wait longer and see if it gets bubbly, or will it spoil? I just can’t figure out what I did wrong. I stored it near my stove, so a few times a day it would get some heat that was eminating from the stove or oven , otherwise it was at room temp…around 71-75 degrees.
Hi @Staci
The delicate lactobacilli mostly reside in the peel of your ginger so, start anew and do not peel. Just chop the ginger. These bacteria are what will make your ginger bug probiotically rich and bubbly. xo
Oh, I wish I had known! I just assumed that I needed to peel it, and then chop it. Okay, I’ll start over!
You are two of my most favorite real foodies on earth. I am LOVING this collaboration!!!
just a couple questions 1. after a couple days my “bug” was nice and bubbly not on day 3 and 4 no bubbles, is that a problem? 2. I appolgize in advance for my lack of knowing =) how do you juice a ginger? I o not have a juicer. Thanks in advance for your knowlage =)
@Delia
1. Try fermenting your soda with the ginger bug anyway. Are you feeding it at approx the same time of day, each day? Try that. Also, keep it warm even when it gets colder at night. Once your ginger bug is up and going, you will not have to take such care:)
2. Though there are a few DIY ( http://www.thevelvetbird.com/2011/02/poor-mans-juicer.html )alternatives out there, In my opinion, you need a juicer to juice ginger. I got my first champion juicer off Craig’s List for $30. Well worth it, my friend! It’s a power house!
Just make an apple soda sans ginger for now. I promise, it will be utterly delicious!
As the late great Julia said “no apologies” We share, we learn. Thank you for sharing!
love ya right back, @Kristen
Would love to know how to make root beer? Love your site!
@Debra. Request noted:) watch out for naturally fermented Root Beer in the near future. Summer + Real Foos Root Beer Floats = LOVE
Hi- I’m super excited to be trying this- I made the ginger bug, and as far as I can tell it worked well…. I was suprised at how thick it got when I poured it out, though. I acquired a juicer recently, and this was my first use of it. The ginger juice did what I expected, but I decided to do the apple juice too, and was rather suprised at how thick and foamy the juice was. A friend assured me that it was norma for a juicer, but after I combined all the ingredients together for the soda, it just looked…. thick. Just wondering if I’ve done something wrong?
Thanks so much for this- my fiance brews beer and mead, but I don’t really drink much, so this is something fun for us to work on together!
I agree about the thickeness thing! It does like rather thick in there. I guess the true test will come in a couple of days when I open the bottle to taste it. Did you use freshly juiced apples or a bottle organic juice from the store?
I originally used fresh juiced apples- while the taste was nice, if there was fizziness it didn’t show through the thickness. I also tried with store bought apple juice, and it turned out better. Next time I’m going to try either straining the fresh juiced apple juice through cheesecloth or something, or start with a fresh apple cider from the store. I think either will work well!
Could I replace the apple juice with orange juice?
@Heather and @Stephanie Yes, some juicers yield an apple juice that is almost like an apple puree instead of juice. If this is the case for your juicer, buy yourself a nice organic apple juice and use that or better yet, if your farmer’s market is like mine and features an orchard owner who sells RAW organic juice, purchase your juice there. Nice and easy:)
@Allyson I’m sorry but, I must advise against this. In my opinion, orange juice is not a delicious ferment. You could however choose almost any other juice that you feel would be a nice pairing with ginger. Note: citrus juices will require more sugar so go with another type of juice for this recipe:)
My kids and I have been diligently feeding our ginger bug each night, first feeling the top of the mason jar lid and getting all excited about the pressure from the fizzyness. It’s fizzy! It’s our first ferment and it is so very exciting. They are so fascinated by this “bug”, though my son thinks that it can’t be a very healthy bug, eating all that sugar. lol!
I bought some lemonade with one of those wire-stoppers just for the bottle. I’m hoping that bottle will be okay to use for this.
Is there a way to use the ginger bug to make a ginger “beer” as well? Gosh that sounds super yummy right now! I’d love to figure out other fermented “sodas” to use this bug for. Thanks so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge!
@Misha The different kinds of sodas we can make using a ginger bug indeed are endless! Isn’t it fun to be an alchemist!?!?!?
I love what your son said about the ginger bug. So cute. This is a great idea for us to address. We feed the bug whatever makes it as strong and healthy as it can be and in return it give us the exact same answer to our nutritional needs. I beautiful system!!!
Be ware of the gorgeous and alluring wire bottles. They pack in a LOT of pressure. I suggest screw on lids especially with little ones:)
Well, I am going to juice some apples and ginger tonight and get this puppy going. I am assuming that since I took the lid off my bug and it promptly fizzed up and all over the counter that it is ready and VERY happy! I think I started it a week ago, maybe 8 or 9 days. Did you say the grolsch bottles were not strong enough? I have some from when I was trying water kefir sodas.
Sounds like you fermented beautiful healthy ginger bug!! Well done, @Kelly
Juice away. Please remember that some juicers can leave a lot of pulp especially in apple juice so, you may need to send your apple juice through a fine mesh sieve as pulp is not too great in a soda.
No. Actually I said the grolsch bottles have lids that fit on TOO TIGHTLY. Safety first:) A great bottle to ferment in are old vinegar bottles or another bottle with a screw on lid. Thanks for checking in and Let us know how it goes!
To everyone who found juicing ginger a challenge:
on a trip recently I ran across an organic juiced ginger product from The Ginger People
http://www.gingerpeople.com/pantry-essentials/ginger-juice.html
Okay. so, I know this has nothing to do with the apple soda, but I’m making a blueverry soda, and it smells like cough syrup.. is that normal? It’s been fermenting for 3 days on my counter with a paper towel over the jar, and a rubber band to keep it in place. I did everything according to the blueberry soda recipe on learningherbs.com — any help anyone can give me would be very much appreciated.
Hi @Riniel
Eeeeks! You done made yourself some fruity moonshine, Darlin! I find its not a good idea to leave a great deal of pulp in your naturally fermented soda. That cough syrup smell is alcohol. Someone will love it im sure!
Try this apple soda recipe and if you’re tempted to not filter your juice or leave in lots of pulp, don’t! Instead take that pulp and make apple sauce:)
Also, use a lid when making soda. You will have better results. I promise!
Lets us know how it goes! Xo
I keep forgetting to ask if it’s okay to use store bought apple juice? I don’t have access to a cider press, or a juicer.. I already bought some apple juice that is 100% apple juice. It’s not from concentrate either. I also read some where to make sure there is no sodium phosphate in the juice, so I made sure it doesn’t have any of that, but it does have some sort of acid in it.. whatever acid is vitamin c. I don’t have the bottle of juice in front of me at the moment, so I’m going off memory.
please let me know if the store bought juice is okay to use. thanks!
-Riniel
@Riniel yes. Without seeing the juice I think it should work just fine. It is always a good idea to use organic apple juice:)
I’ve been feeding my ginger bug daily for a week now and no bubbles
P erhaps my home is too cold and I neeed a seeding mat- so bummed!
@lucy
what is the room temp like evening and day time in your kitchen? It should be around 75F
screw your lid on snug, use unpeeled organic ginger and organic sugar