Lacto-Fermented Soda (make your own healthy soda!)

(see my revisited ginger-soda post for how I do it now ... and a VIDEO: Ginger Soda) Recently I tried my hand at soda making ... and I must say ... a real big 
YUM!
We really enjoyed our first batch of homemade soda (I made ginger-ale) and have made several more ever since. We tried using grapes one time instead of ginger. I did not care for that very much. I think we'll stick with the ginger!! But, if the boys have a chance to pick some sassafras and sarsaparilla, we'll look forward to homemade root beer.

So, how is it done? Well ... let me see if I remember. First you need the starter. This starter can be a few cups saved from your last batch of soda, or you can start the starter from scratch. Here's how to do that:

Have on hand FRESH ginger root, sugar, and filtered water. A rubber band, coffee filter and wide mouth quart jar are needed as well.

Chop up the ginger small, add 2T of that along with 2T sugar into a quart mason jar filled with about 3c of water. Stir well, cover with coffee filter, secure with rubber band, and let it sit for 1 week total. Each morning you will add 2t of fresh chopped ginger and 2t of sugar. Stir well. Each afternoon and evening you will stir well. It is good to incorporate air into the mix.

Your mixture will eventually start to get a little cloudy, but it will smell pretty good and have a mildly sweet ginger taste each day. At the end of 7 days, it should be bubbling a little ... it might even be fizzing a little. I've read a lot of different instructions on how to do this (including one that was a guest post on here about 2 years ago) and all have a little something different to say, so I guess this is not 100% set on how to do it. Some say it will fizz, some say you will hear the fizz, some say it will bubble a little, some say it will bubble a lot. I was somewhat concerned because I could not hear a fizz in my starter by the end of 7 days, nor was it really bubbling much. I saw small bubbles around the perimeter of the jar, but that's it. I used it anyway to go on to the next step ... and it ended up working just fine.

OK ... so the next step is called the "wort". You'll need fresh ginger, lemon, sugar, filtered water, a gallon glass mason jar and a coffee filter with a rubber band. Well ... you'll also need a pan and something to stir with.

Grate the ginger (you do not have to peel it) with a cheese grater until you have about 2oz. I should have measured the 2oz in a measuring cup as well, but it seems to be about 1/2c of unpacked grated ginger. I'm guessing here. Add the grated ginger and 1 1/2c sugar to a pan with half a gallon of water. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour into a clean glass gallon jug. I read somewhere that putting a butter knife into the glass jug helps prevent the jug from cracking. It must work because I have not cracked a jug yet. Add the juice of 2 lemons and some more water (but be sure to leave plenty of room for your starter!) and let it sit till it reaches room temperature. To hasten the cooling process, you can set the jug in a bigger container and fill the container with cold water. Stir occasionally and add more cool water as needed. Once it is cool, add the starter and more water to reach about an inch to the top. Here is a picture of my cooled mixture with the starter next to it (this is starter from my last batch):

Place a coffee filter over the top and secure it with a rubber band:

Let it sit for at least 2 days. Taste it. It should be fizzy and have a lightly sweet ginger taste. If it's too sweet, there is too much sugar in it. Leave it sit for another day and taste it again. The more you make, the more you'll know what to look (or taste!) for. It's all right if it's a little sweet - more sugar will be eaten up in the final process. Bottle the soda. Some like to get all fancy and use soda or beer bottles with special lids that look like this (or bottles with lids separate):

But, I don't have money for these bottles right now and found it works to just use old juice jugs with tight fitting lids. The discount store here sells organic juice for $1.50; sometimes we drink the juice with a special 'breakfast supper' or I will use the juice to make more soda (take out a cup of the juice and replace it with a cup of starter), and then use the jug for the finished product :) It works out well. The key is, the lid must fit (it must be air tight). The soda now needs to sit in the jug/bottle for a day or two out on the counter. Be sure to release the air whenever needed ... you don't want it exploding! Taste it once or twice a day and when it has the right amount of fizz and a good flavor, secure the lid and put it in the fridge. The stuff could sit there for months ... but we drink it up quick and have more going nearly all the time.

Let me know if you try it!