In recent years, I’ve been exploring the world of fermentation to improve my gut health, digestion, and lower inflammation. I’ve tried lots of different recipes with various foods to help heal my gut. Fermented drinks and fermented foods have definitely improved my digestion and overall tummy comfort. I’m going to share a favourite fermented soda recipe I’ve had fun creating. It’s such a lively summer flavour, I thought you might enjoy it.Website post - Fizzy & Fresh – Fermented Strawberry Rhubarb SodaIt’s a Strawberry Rhubarb fermented soda that’s lacto-fermented. For my lacto-fermentation soda recipes, you will need to start with a ginger bug. You’ll find lots of recipes for a ginger bug on YouTube and in other places. It’s a combination of sugar, ginger, and water that you add at various times to build up and get it fermenting. It becomes the activator for all of your fermented soda drinks.Today’s flavour is Strawberry Rhubarb. The colour is just beautiful and the flavour is really refreshing! Let’s get into the ingredients. I figured the ratio that’s best for me is double the amount of strawberries to rhubarb. What I’ve used lately has been 2 1/2 cups of cut up fresh strawberries and 1 1/4 cups of sliced rhubarb from my garden.Then I add 1 cup of organic sugar and put all of that in a pot with about 4 or 5 cups of filtered water. You do not want any chlorine in any of this. Always remember to use filtered water. I let that simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes to keep all the flavour in. Then I take the whole pot and put it in an ice bath in my kitchen sink to cool down to about room temperature. You need to get it cooler because you don’t want to kill off your ginger bug when you add it later.Next, you strain off the juice into a larger, pourable container and pour that juice into a 2 quart glass Mason jar. To that, you will add 1/2 cup of the strained ginger bug and then top it up to the top of the bottle with more filtered water. Give it a stir with a non metal utensil, then we put on a lid. I use the silicone fermentation lids that go on the top and you can put a metal ring or plastic ring on top of that. Once you have it all together, it’s time to allow this colourful mix to become a lacto-fermented soda.You’re going to let it sit out of the sunlight for about 3 to 5 days, as it gets going with lots of bubbles and activation. Place it in another room away from other fermentation projects like bread, so it doesn’t get cross contaminated. Every day, I shake it once or twice to keep it moving and prevent mould. After a few days, you will find it starts to get nice and bubbly. If you use regular canning lids, watch out for pressure building in the jar and burp as needed. As it gets more bubbly and very active, it’ll be time to give it a taste.Just lift off the lid and stir it up. Don’t use metal utensils. If tasting too early, it may taste too sweet. If you let it go too long, it’s going to get boozy. Somewhere in between, give it a little taste and see if it suits you. If you like it, it’s and it’s at the right point, it’s time to bottle it. I use swing top glass beer bottles. For this amount, you can fill four of them. I actually use only 3 at a time, along with 1 plastic bottle. I reuse a plastic drink bottle about the same size as my tester. It’s handy for testing when the strawberry rhubarb soda is ready.After bottling and putting all the caps on, you leave it on the counter somewhere out of sunlight. The plastic bottle is handy because you can squeeze it to feel how much pressure is building. At first, it will give a lot, and then as time goes on, it will become firmer over about 12 to 18, 24 hours. I don’t have an exact time. I check it every few hours. It depends on your environment and temperature. You’ll feel the difference as it gets firm. Once that tester bottle is hard to squeeze, your fruity fermented soda is ready for tasting.I pour a little into a small glass over a couple of ice Cubes to see if it’s fizzy enough and tastes delicious. When you are happy with this fermented soda flavour, it’s time to put all your bottles in the fridge. This slows fermentation and prevents too much pressure. You don’t want blow ups. Keep them in the fridge and enjoy drinking within about 2-3 weeks. This is about the longest I’ve had them last because I really like the flavour. For longer storage, be sure to occasionally burp them.Keep your hand on top of the bottle when burping. Lift the cap a little to let some pressure off. That’s why I put a hand over the top. One time, my son quickly opened a bottle, and it sprayed a ton of fizzy goodness all over the place. That’s your warning about the bubbliness. This lacto-fermented strawberry rhubarb soda is a lively, refreshing probiotic drink that’s good for gut health. Using the ginger bug is my favourite way to make these fermented sodas. They have a really nice flavour and a ...
