Dandelion Soda Recipe (Naturally Fermented with a Ginger Bug) (2024)

FAQs

Can you drink a ginger bug? ›

Once you have a healthy ginger bug, you can add it to a sweetened beverage like fruit juice, lemonade, or sweetened herbal tea. The ginger bug will consume the sugar in the drink and transform it into a healthy, bubbly, probiotic-rich soda.

The Fermentation Process

Place the dandelion flowers in a clean, sterilized glass jar. Prepare a brine solution by dissolving sea salt in water. The brine should be salty to the taste. Pour the brine over the dandelion flowers, ensuring that they are fully submerged.

It's easy to make, taking a week or less. Then it can be used to craft homemade ginger ale, sarsaparilla, fruit-flavored sodas, tonics, and more all teeming with natural carbonation. Once you have your wild ferment, it can be kept alive indefinitely.

One very interesting thing about natural fermentation is that the bacteria and yeasts will also consume some of the ethanol (alcohol) produced by the fermentation process and convert that into acetic acid. This is why a concentrated culture like a Ginger Bug or SCOBY itself doesn't contain a lot of alcohol.

A 'ginger bug' is a wild, lacto-fermented starter culture (a collection of beneficial bacteria and wild yeast) that is used to initiate the fermentation process for authentic, probiotic, ginger beer, like ours. It is a pretty famous concoction amongst fermenters, and is used to make wild fermented sodas.

Ginger Bug can be used straight up, in cooking, teas, tonics or added as a flavour to beverages including kombucha, water kefir or other brews. To keep your Bug alive, you will need to feed it regularly. You can also 'rest' it in the fridge and feed it a tablespoon each of ginger and sugar once a week.

In addition to adding an extra layer of flavor, ginger helps prevent infections and fight germs! The chemical compounds that ginger is composed of can kill off harmful bacteria, such as E. Coli and Shigella. They can also kill viruses, such as a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

In the past, dandelion roots and leaves were used to treat liver problems. Native Americans also boiled dandelion in water and took it to treat kidney disease, swelling, skin problems, heartburn, and upset stomach.

Dandelion greens can be eaten cooked or raw and are an excellent source of vitamins A, C, and K. They also contain vitamin E, folate, and small amounts of other B vitamins. Dandelion greens provide several minerals, including iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium ( 1 ).

From wine and mead to amaro and tonics, the spring dandelion has long been a prized plant in beverages. Spring Tonic, featuring dandelion root- and flower- infused gin, dandelion wine, lemon and tonic water.

What are the benefits of ginger bug soda? ›

Fermented foods, such as a ginger bug, not only preserve nutrients, but break them down into more digestible forms. They're rich in lactobacilli, the health-enhancing probiotics like those found in yogurt, which promote the growth of healthy flora in the intestine and aid with digestion and the absorption of nutrients.

Keep the ginger bug going by feeding it 1 Tbsp each of grated ginger and sugar once a week. Or transfer to a swing-top bottle and store in the fridge for up to three weeks.

If you will be traveling or simply cannot feed your Ginger Bug daily at room temperature, you can store your culture in the refrigerator and feed it weekly. ONLY store your Ginger Bug in the refrigerator if you absolutely cannot feed your Ginger Bug at room temperature each day.

5 to 1.5 fl oz of ginger bug liquid, 4-5 fl oz of shelf-stable sweetened fruit juice, and fill the rest of the bottle with filtered water, leaving 1" of headroom. Let sit at room temp for 2-3 days, then refrigerate before serving. If you see a bubbly ring forming at the top of your liquid, you know it's working.

An unhealthy gut can lead to serious medical issues. In addition to supplying your gut with a wide range of good bacteria and helping you digest better, fermented soda also helps alkalize your body. When you use fruit flavors in water kefir you get additional nutrients from fruit.

Fermented soda is a delicious and naturally bubbly way to get some healthy probiotic action. Adding herbal ingredients to naturally fermented soda makes them even more health-beneficial and tasty. These 12 fermented natural sodas have variety and light bubbly flavor you'll love!

The drinks last for weeks in the fridge, although they will slowly continue to ferment and become more tangy and alcoholic (like vinegar). Lacto-fermented beverages promote healthy digestion, support the immune system, and hydrate us really, really well.