I love introducing skeptics to the wonderful world of fermented foods with naturally fermented sodas. They are probiotically rich, effervescent, delicious and beautiful to behold. I recently taught a class of skeptical teens how to make fun foods like traditional sodas. We made Real Root Beer Floats and they were blown away by the taste and sweet effervescence. Food should be fun, health promoting and a time slowing joy. That’s what naturally fermented sodas are…joy in a bottle!
So, what makes a naturally fermented soda bubble in the bottle? That would be the starter of your choice. Should you choose whey, water kefir, kombucha, ginger bug or something else, it’s all about creating a tingle on the tongue and a strong biodiverse gut ecology!
Start maturing your own ginger bug today. Post about your experience and any questions in the comments section. We’ll all help each other. Sometimes it takes a cyber village, y’all! Meet me back here next Friday when your ginger bug will be ready to work for you. Then, I’ll teach you how to make a lovely light soda.
Ginger Bug Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons diced ginger
Ginger Bug Method
- In a quart size jar combine all ingredients.
- Place a tight lid on the jar, give it a shake and allow it to sit in a warm or room temperature spot (72-80F).
- If your home tends to be cool at night, consider getting a seedling mat
. Place the jar on top of the mat and out of direct sun light.
- Every day for the next week add 2 more teaspoons each of sugar and diced ginger. The liquid will begin to get bubbly towards the end of the week. If you’re using the classic mason jar lid, you will be able to feel the top of the lid for pressure or even a distended lid. Give that baby a little burp. Once bubbly, it’s ready to use.
Active Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 1 quart
Don’t miss the follow-up post to this one: Apple Ginger Soda!
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.
Image credit: Crystl
When I was little we would have ginger beer (made with a ginger bug) Ahhh the memories of exploding plastic bottles or the lids exploding off the top of glass bottles
I am totally going to make this with my kids this spring. Thanks for the trip down memory lane 
Then what doyou do with the bug? So you drink it straight from there?
Monica, do I have to tighten the lid on the jar?
Yea, what comes next? For those of us who aren’t familiar with ginger bugs.
Hi Nicole and Alison – Above the recipe, Monica says “Meet me back here next Friday when your ginger bug will be ready to work for you. Then, I’ll teach you how to make a lovely light soda.” So by the time your ginger bug is ready, the next step will be posted. It will be worth the wait, I promise.
Thanks.
I love anything ginger, so I’ll have to try it!
Will this be non-alcoholic like Kefir or kombucha? Sounds good and would like to give it a try.
@Marina Yes indeed. Screw the lid on nice and tight:)
Yes @LoriU
Ginger Bug is fantastic “starter” for many delicious sparkling probiotic sodas! Great for the kidos and fun for them too! Everyone loves to hear the bubble sigh when you twist open the lid:)
See you here next week for a fun soda that will begin with your finished ginger bug:)
Just found this through Mommypotamous!
Question: Can the sugar be replaced with honey? We’re on GAPS and can’t have sugar, but we can have honey!
You can use either honey or sugar. Doesn’t make a huge difference though…
Hi, I have a question about the water and sugar. Do I use distilled or a certain type of water and what about the sugar. Should it be organic? Thanks, I have never made anything like this before.Will it be a good drink for my 14 month old?
One more question re: sugar. I don’t have any refined sugar can I use sucanat?
Hi There
Sorry to sound like a novice but once it is made how do I use it
Hi, it has been a week and my ginger bug is not bubbly. I am not sure what happened. I gave it the ginger and sugar everyday. =( Do I have to make one from the beginning. Maybe I should just to be safe. I was so excited to try this.
Did anyone answer Nicole’s question? As mine is not bubbly either.
Hi There
So happy you’re all on your way to making healthy delicious sodas! yaay!!
sugar: You can use sucanat, organic sugar, coconut palm sugar or even refined sugar. The bacteria will consume most of the sugar you add to the ginger bug.
It can be a difficult concept to wrap our heads around but, when making the ginger bug, we are adding ingredients to feed good bacteria and they are creating a liquid for us to consume. It is an amazing symbiotic relationship.
@Amanda
Honey: I do not recommend using honey as it has many anti-bacterial properties. I would say it might be an interesting experiment though. Let us know if you try it and how it turns out. Also, once you enter the GAPS phase that allows dairy, you can make whey sodas. Whey would be your starter in place of the ginger bug.
@Tiffany
I always like to use filtered water as a personal preference and it is likely that filtered water might yield a higher rate of consistent fermenting success because tap water usually contains chlorine which will kill off or inhibit some bacteria.
@lara
Once your ginger bug is ready, we’ll be making lovely probiotic rich soda. It’s delicious! Check holistickid.com later today for that recipe. Yaaaay!
Let us know if you try it:)
@lara
Once your ginger bug is ready, we’ll be making lovely probiotic rich soda. It’s delicious! Check holistickid.com later today for that recipe. Yaaaay!
Let us know if you try it:)
Hey Monica – How long will the ginger bug keep? Do you just keep feeding it or stick it in the fridge if you don’t use it all or what?
@Nicole
I wish I was there to smell your ginger bug and give you an on-site diagnosis. This nose knows a lot about ferments:)
Begin a new and let me give you a few pointers that are not a must by any means but may serve to up your odds at this stage. Later, you will not be so strict and it will become second nature as all things practiced and understood do:)
Ginger: pick organic, dry ginger (meaning the skin of the fresh ginger is not wet or darkened by wetness)
Sugar: use organic sugar
Water: use filtered
Jar: should be clean but not with anti-bacterial soap. tight closing lid.
Feeding your Ginger Bug: try to feed your ginger bug at approx the same time each day. Screw the lid back on tightly before putting it back to ferment.
Fermenting: Ferment your ginger bug in an area where you are not fermenting other things. Ferment in an area that remains warm during the day and night (72-80F). If you do not have a spot like this in your home, consider buying a seedling. You can find them in most hardware stores or on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/6t6d9nc
don’t worry. You will master this. I promise! xo
Thank you so much. I am going to start making a new one. I am going to change things up like putting the ginger and sugar in the same time everyday and I am going to store it out of the kitchen. I have been busy sprouting and making fermented vegetables. I think I may have not added enough sugar and ginger everyday.
I will be back next week with the new results. I will not give up.
@Nicole awesome! Let us know how it goes! XO
Does it really need to be away from other ferments even though the lid’s on tight? I have my ginger bug sitting next to kombucha brews on a seedling mat…
@Emily When you don’t plan on using your ginger bug for a while, put it to sleep by putting it in the frige. It will basically stay “good” or usable forever. When you see that your jar has tons of ginger in it, Scoop some of the old ginger out and either put it in a new jar along with some of the liquid to begin a second ginger bug if you have the need or toss the old ginger pieces into the compost pile:)
@Emily No, your ginger bug does not HAVE to ferment away from other ferment projects but, when someone is experiencing a little difficulty with any ferment, this is one of the ways to insure a more consistently successful ferment until we get our natural ginger bug fermented rhythm down. xo
Every recipe for ginger bug has you cover with cheese cloth or towel. curious why this is different?
Also , I peeled my ginger because thats what I always do but saw other recipes call for the peel . maybe reason why nicole in above post couldn’t get bubbles. Mine still worked.just a guess. Thanks for your recipe.
Hi @Kris
Coving your ginger bug with a tight lid avails you the opportunity to feel the pressure on the lid from the CO2 created by the lactobacilli. In teaching classes and in my own fermentation, I also find this to be the most consistent method.
While most of the lactobacilli reside in the peel of the ginger, it is not the only place they are found so, peeling does not make fermentation impossible just lessens the likelihood of consistent success.
There are so many different methods for fermentation and many work. We find our own rhythms and with experience feel out the little tricks that work for our specific environment. I’m so happy to see people sharing their experiences!! Thank you! xo
Thanks monica. I really like this method for covering because it takes out the guess work for us newbies.
The only containers I have on hand are quart size mason jars. Would you still use those to make soda with? Thanks.
Yes, @Kris I love this method too! It also, keeps the competition from other types of bacteria slightly lower:)
You can certainly us mason jars for your soda making but, take care to check them often by feeling the lid. Is it bowed with pressure? Put ‘er in the fridge ASAP or you’ll have an apple ginger soda mess on your hands.
Do you feed the bug on the 7th day or do you make the soda?
@delia You can make the soda at that point….the seventh day. It should be a bit effervescent by then. Enjoy!
I just had to post….I just opened my bug for it’s day three feeding and when I unscrewed the lid it made that poppy fizzy sound you get when you open a soda. I am SO excited. This is my first go round with fermentation and I wasn’t sure it would work. I don’t have the best of luck in the kitchen. But it’s working!! Yeah!!
Hi Monica,
I am trying to make ginger bug. It’s the 5th day. I have been putting 2 tsp of s;ger and ginger everyday.But no bubbles.I have used boiled tap water.This is my first time making ginger bug.What could be wrong? Help plz.
Can you please do a post on homemade root beer?
Melissa – I will definitely nag Monica about a root beer recipe.
Thanks so much, Emily. I look forward to it.
I’m making my ginger bug today. Very exciting!
@Stephanie Look at you!!! I’m so proud of you. Way to harness the genius of mother nature in your kitchen. Well done!!!
@Sid I know it can be frustrating when something does not work the first time especially when I know you are taking great care, pride and anticipation into the process. I am going to share with you what I shared with Nicole above and soon, I promise to make a video on this process as I think it might help us as visual learners. If you are in LA, contact me about a fermentation and sodas class. Summer is almost here!
I wish I was there to smell your ginger bug and give you an on-site diagnosis. This nose knows a lot about ferments:)
Begin a new and let me give you a few pointers that are not a must by any means but may serve to up your odds at this stage. Later, you will not be so strict and it will become second nature as all things practiced and understood do:)
Ginger: pick organic, dry ginger (meaning the skin of the fresh ginger is not wet or darkened by wetness)
Sugar: use organic sugar
Water: use filtered
Jar: should be clean but not with anti-bacterial soap. tight closing lid.
Feeding your Ginger Bug: try to feed your ginger bug at approx the same time each day. Screw the lid back on tightly before putting it back to ferment.
Fermenting: Ferment your ginger bug in an area where you are not fermenting other things. Ferment in an area that remains warm during the day and night (72-80F). If you do not have a spot like this in your home, consider buying a seedling. You can find them in most hardware stores or on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/6t6d9nc
don’t worry. You will master this. I promise! xo
Yes, ladies. Root Beer will be comin’ round the mountain soon. xo
Just started my ginger bug today. There are somethings I’m not clear on. Once I start using my ginger bug, how do you maintain it? I saw that once it starts fizzing that I can put it in the fridge but where do we go from there? As I remove liquid do I add water back? Do I need to feed it at any point?
Hi @Christine
Hooray! You’ve begun your ginger bug! Magic time!
*If you don’t plan on using your ginger bug for a while:
put it to sleep by putting it in the frige. It will basically stay “good†or usable forever.
*If you will be using your ginger bug 1-2 times per week:
keep in on the counter. Feed it every day and when you remove liquid to use as a starter, add water to come to the shoulder of the jar again.
*When you see that your jar has tons of ginger in it:
Scoop some of the old ginger out and either put it in a new jar along with some of the liquid to begin a second ginger bug or if you have the need for a second jar of ginger bug, toss the old ginger pieces into the compost pile:)
Hello! I came across the root beer recipe on Kelly the Kitchen Kop and I’m so excited to make root beer floats with home made ice cream! …and hoping to break my boyfriend’s soda habit Aaarrrggg
Question: I started the ginger bug last Friday and it’s doing well… I think it’s almost ready! Now, we have decided to go out of town for the weekend and I don’t want to start the root beer until we get back, so I can keep an eye on it. So, can I stick the ginger bug in the fridge for the weekend and then use it when we get back? Is there anything I’ll have to do to “wake it up”?
Thanks!!
Katie
I just have a question for you and if I am doing this right. I started my ginger bug sunday night, maybe closer to midnight. It is now Tuesday morning and I have so much fizz in my jar that i have to constantly burp it in order to even open it without it exploding the wonderful goodness inside. It smells lovely, but I am only on day 2.5 do I still need to go to day 7? Do i still need to add each day? I have it stored in a dark place in my garage, however here in SC we have been pushing 100 degree weather.
Hi @Michelle
You guessed right! Your ginger bug is good to go! The heat helped to speed up the process. Of course, there is a point at which temps can become too hot for your ferment to thrive. It sounds like it is happy and healthy though. At this point, you may use your ginger by to make soda or you may store in the refrigerator until the time when you are ready to make soda. Let us know what you create. Happy fermenting!
hi Monica,
I had my first ginger bug drink today. It was a soda made with thimbleberries and was absolutely delicious. I am starting my ginger bug as I write and had read avidly down your column looking for the long awaited recipe but don’t see it. Did you post it elsewhere or where can I find some recipes for berry sodas with ginger bug? thanks Francine
I used to waist time (almost 2 years) with wild yeast “ginger bug” that lives on the ginger, but then I foound about Ginger Beer Plant.
“A Ginger Beer Plant is a symbiotic collection of microbes (yeasts and lacto bacteria) that is particularly good at fermenting sugar solutions. It exists as gelatinous lumps that look vaguely like overcooked rice crossed with snot, and they will happily ferment any sugary liquid into a tasty (and fizzy drink).”
where to find it? Look here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GingerBeerPlant/
Hi There @Tina
This was my reply to Nicole. Good luck!
“@Nicole
I wish I was there to smell your ginger bug and give you an on-site diagnosis. This nose knows a lot about ferments:)
Begin a new and let me give you a few pointers that are not a must by any means but may serve to up your odds at this stage. Later, you will not be so strict and it will become second nature as all things practiced and understood do:)
Ginger: pick organic, dry ginger (meaning the skin of the fresh ginger is not wet or darkened by wetness)
Sugar: use organic sugar
Water: use filtered
Jar: should be clean but not with anti-bacterial soap. tight closing lid.
Feeding your Ginger Bug: try to feed your ginger bug at approx the same time each day. Screw the lid back on tightly before putting it back to ferment.
Fermenting: Ferment your ginger bug in an area where you are not fermenting other things. Ferment in an area that remains warm during the day and night (72-80F). If you do not have a spot like this in your home, consider buying a seedling. You can find them in most hardware stores or on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/6t6d9nc
don’t worry. You will master this. I promise! xo”
Hello.. I’m making a blueberry soda right now, and I’m starting to doubt if I did this right.. I’ve never done this before, so I don’t know for sure if I did it right.
When I made my ginger bug, after 3 days it was getting bubbly, and had a bubbly foam at the top of the jar.. I was lazy that day, and didn’t want to start making the soda yet, so I fed my bug, and let it sit another day. By the next day, it was day 4, and it was even bubblier than the day before. I took a little spoonful, and tasted it to see what it taste like, and it had a very slight carbonated feeling in my mouth. So, I decided waiting for the entire week would be a waste of time, because I was pretty sure it was ready, so I made my soda with it.
I made my soda yesterday, and at this moment that I’m writing this my blueberry soda has been sitting out for one day.
What I want to know is, should I have waited the entire week like I was instructed in my recipe?
Also, when I made my blueberry soda, I did something different than the recipe said to do.. The recipe said to cook water, sugar, and berries on the stove for 10-15 minutes until it was as fruity as I wanted it. It also said that I could add more blueberries if it didn’t taste fruity enough.. so, I added more blueberries, and here’s what I did different.. I took my handheld immersion blender, and I blended the fruit until it was chunky. I wanted as much fruit flavour to get in as possible, so I figured if I blended it a little it would break open the berries, and add more flavour.. I tasted my base and it did taste more fruity. By blending my berries did I ruin my soda at all? The pulp and everything is fermenting, and the recipe I used says to strain the soda when it’s ready to be bottled, so I figured if I’m going to strain it anyway, it couldn’t hurt to break open those blueberries and let the seeds, and skin contribute their vitamins, and nutrients.
I get paranoid easily that I’ve mucked up recipes that I use if I change them up a bit. I’m more concerned about the ginger bug than blending my berries a little bit to.break them open. I hope the ginger bug I made was truly ready to be used when I did use it.
I have one more question, and this has nothing to do with my batch of soda I made.. I read online that you can continually feed your ginger bug, and that it can live for years in the refrigerator. However, they never gave instructions on how to feed on a long term basis. So, I’m curious if you can educate me on how I can keep my ginger bug alive, and ready to use at a moments notice if I decide to spontaneously make soda. I have my remaining bug in the refrigerator, but I didn’t replenish what I took out from making my soda yesterday, because I’m not quite sure what to do to replenish it. This is a lot like my sourdough starter I have in my fridge.. So, how often should I feed it when it’s just sitting in the fridge, and what should I feed it, and what should I do to replenish it if I use some for soda spontaneously?
Sorry for such a looooong post, but I like to be completely informed on this sort of stuff, and I made this soda very spontaneously without doing much research, and I don’t normally just whip something up on the fly, but this blueberry soda sounded so radtastic, I just kind of dove in feet first into making it.. lol.
Thanks a million!
Riniel
OMG!!!! I asked my mum to feed my ginger bug for me, and she thought I said 2 tablespoons each of sugar, and ginger, even though I said teaspoons at least 4 times over the phone.. I’m very worried that my bug is dying now. It was a little bubbly, but now it’s not, and it turned a darker colour.
Is my ginger bug going to die? I seriously hope she didn’t make a huge mistake, because making a new batch to make soda for thanksgiving is probably not going to happen. It’s going to take too long. please help ASAP! I need to know if I need to make another ginger bug ASAP! Thanks!
Ciao!
Riniel
Hi @ Riniel I think your ginger bug will probably be fine. Try going a day without feedi g and check the lid for pressure build up. If the lid feels taught, your bug is fine and healthy:)
I made my 1st ginger bug, and boy my kid loved “burping” it
Question: it worked beautifully, nice and fizzy – but it tastes weird… like soapy and not very gingery… I will try again with fresher organic ginger and include the peel (this wasn’t organic so I peeled it) but I don’t get why it tasted vaguely soapy. It’s almost unpleasant, but mixed with a sweeter juice not bad. Ever had a weird taste like that? What SHOULD it taste like? Is it super ginger-y? Can I make it more ginger-y by adding more ginger? Thanks for any suggestions
Hi @Catherine
The short answer is: try it again with organic, dry (not wet when you buy it), unpeeled ginger.
The long food-nerd (I admit I am) answer is:
The ginger bug should not taste like soap but should have a very clean mild taste and light crisp feeling that is only vaguely gingery.
Much is being consumed and changed through the metabolic processes of the friendly bacteria in the ginger bug. You are creating a starter that will impart only subtleties in the way of taste to the sodas you will used it to make. If you use it to make a soda with a gingery flavor, you will add ginger to the soda. That taste will not be derived from the ginger bug.
You should always use unpeeled, organic ginger. While most of the lactobacilli reside in the peel of the ginger, it is not the only place they are found so, peeling does not make fermentation impossible just lessens the likelihood of consistent success. So, that off taste may be due to competition of other less tasty bacteria/yeasts.
General Tips and Guidelines:
Begin a new and let me give you a few pointers that are not a must by any means but may serve to up your odds at this stage. Later, you will not be so strict and it will become second nature as all things practiced and understood do:)
Ginger: pick organic, dry ginger (meaning the skin of the fresh ginger is not wet or darkened by wetness)
Sugar: use organic sugar
Water: use filtered
Jar: should be clean but not with anti-bacterial soap. tight closing lid.
Feeding your Ginger Bug: try to feed your ginger bug at approx the same time each day. Screw the lid back on tightly before putting it back to ferment.
Fermenting: Ferment your ginger bug in an area where you are not fermenting other things. Ferment in an area that remains warm during the day and night (72-80F). If you do not have a spot like this in your home, consider buying a seedling. You can find them in most hardware stores or on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/6t6d9nc
don’t worry. You will master this. I promise! xo
Monica, that was an awesome response to Catherine’s question. So helpful. I’ve never made a ginger bug… or any bug, for that matter, and request one clarification. We want to avoid white sugar… have to. Can sucunut be used in place of the refined or organic sugar? (Is there even such a thing as organic white sugar?)
Thanks!
Hi @Pam O
Awe! Thank you!
I’m excited for you to try the ginger bug. Remember that when you feed your ginger bug sugar, you are feeding the lactic acid bacteria. If you taste your ginger bug before you feed it, you will find the taste is not actually sweet because the bacteria are consuming the lions share of the sugar.
However, I understand if you cannot use it at all. Sucunut should work though the taste of your ginger bug and thus your sodas will be slightly different. A little heavier. More of a mapley tinge rather the the crisp clean taste of the sugar fed ginger bug. Let us know how it turns out! This taste would make a great starter for the Old Fashioned Root Beer Recipe while not as nice for some other soda pairings.
I haven’t started mine yet, I’ve looked through most of the posts and still have a couple of questions. Can I use a Fido jar? And, once the fermenting process starts, can I use stainless steel utensils? Or is it like Kefir and needs plastic? (like when scooping out the extra ginger)
@Juliette
I don’t suggest a Fido Jar or any type of wire closure bottle or jar. They create a great deal of pressure and are more likely to make a great mess when opened.
Please feel free to use stainless steel utensils. Enjoy!
Hi I am new to this. I made a ginger bug and by day 7 it was really bubbly. Then I had some crazy family stuff going on and I forgot to feed it for 2 days. Its not bubbling now. Is it dead? Should I make a new one? I added more ginger and sugar to it to see if that will do anything. Please help!
Hi,
Maybe I am missing this in the comments. When my Ginger Bug is ready to use…do I just use it up in different sodas. Then start with creating a new Bug, or do I use it and then keep feeding it.
I think I am understanding that I start a new Ginger Bug.
Hi @Laurie
After using some of the liquid in your ginger bug to make sodas, re-feed, ferment for at least a day and either store in fridge until ready to use or keep feeding and using while feeding/storing on your kitchen counter.
Bonus Tips:
When you don’t plan on using your ginger bug for a while, put it to sleep by putting it in the frige. It will basically stay “good” or usable forever.
When you see that your jar has tons of ginger in it, Scoop some of the old ginger out and either put it in a new jar along with some of the liquid to begin a second ginger bug if you have the need or toss the old ginger pieces into the compost pile:)
Enjoy!