NOTE: All of these related recipes rely on fermentation. The fermentation process requires daily “burping” meaning opening the sealed container, and allowing the gasses, which naturally occur during the fermentation process, to escape.
Method: Start by peeling organic ginger. Rough chop ginger root. Add to a clean jar with a bit of sugar (or maple syrup) and cover with water. Store at room temperature. Add a bit more ginger root and sugar every day for 5 days.
Refrigerate or make soda.
To make Soda: Strain ginger bug. Pour an ounce or two into a sanitized bottle. Top off with a sugary juice such as fruit juice. NOTE: It needs to have sugar to ferment. Let this sit at room temp for 2-3 days. When you start to see bubbles, it is ready. Refrigerate and then enjoy.
To Make Ginger Beer:
Ginger Bug Syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 TBSP peeled grated ginger root
Ginger Beer Ingredients
- 1/8 tsp active yeast or brewer’s yeast
- Ginger Bug Syrup (ingredients above)
- 3 TBSP lemon and/or lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 7 cups water
Method:
1. If you don’t feel comfortable with the fermentation process, simply combine the first 3 ingredients (listed above as the ginger bug syrup) and place on a stove top. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Steep for 1 hour. Strain ginger chunks out. Cool. Pour 1-3 TBSP mixture into glass with ice and pour over club soda. Viola!
2. Do the “boil and steep” instructions above. Then add the remaining ingredients . Let it ferment at room temperature for 2-3 days. Refrigerate. Enjoy.
Ginger-Lime Version
This version doesn’t require fermentation.
Yet another alternative. Did you just make lemonade or use a lime for cilantro-lime dressing? Instead of tossing the outer rind of the citrus (grapefruit too), toss it into a sauce pan with 2 cups of water and enough Kal Stevia to make a slurry. Add a 1-2 inch peeled and chopped knob of organic ginger. Bring to boil for a few minutes. Cover. Steep for an hour. Strain. Bottle. Use as desired, pouring over ice and a cream soda or sparkling water. My favorite tip? Wash an empty maple syrup bottle and put this lovely lime/lemon ginger base in it. Easy Peasy.
FYI: For KAL Stevia Sure Extract powder, a 1 cup sugar equivalent is approximately 2 TBSP Kal. This is because KAL Stevia powder is roughly 300 times sweeter than sugar
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