Lacto-Fermented Ginger Drink!
I hesitate to call this ginger ale, because although it is bubbly and gingery (and sometimes sweet), it doesn't taste like store-bought ginger ale. This drink was part of the lacto-fermenting frenzy we were on not too long ago. I just realized that I never posted about it!
The hardest part of this drink, other than waiting for it to be ready, was getting the ginger ready. First, I peeled it (I need to do some research to see if this is actually necessary), and then I sliced it into teeny tiny pieces.
Then, I mixed it together with the juice of a lemon, 1/4 cup whey, 2 t sea salt, and a squirt of honey.
I poured the mixture into jars...
and filled them with water.
We let it sit for a few days. It didn't get bubbly like some of our other ferments, but that's okay, I guess. We serve it mixed with seltzer. Typically, we do 1/3 ginger, 2/3 seltzer.
We served this to John's dad (sweetened with sucanat)! He liked it, and he is a big, BIG fan of store-bought ginger ale. Win!
This post was featured on Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade!
This post was featured on Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade!
I love ginger drinks, this sounds wonderful.
ReplyDelete-Brenda
We made this once too, and loved it! The ginger is the only tricky part of it. Do you think it would shred well in a food processor? I'd love to make it again, but don't relish the thought of shredding ginger for hours...
ReplyDelete@Danielle I was just thinking about that. I know that when it is frozen it shreds more easily and gets less mushy. Maybe If we used the food processor on FROZEN ginger it would work? Any thoughts on peeling the ginger? Do I need to?
ReplyDeleteI make ginger kefir water by adding ginger to kefir water when I bottle it and letting it sit a few days. It is extremely carbinated and tastes very much like gingerale minus the sweetener.
ReplyDeleteI bet the ginger could be processed in a VitaMix eliminatinng the preparation hassle.
I'm assuming yogurt whey could be used...is that correct?
@Danielle
ReplyDeleteI slice the ginger into rounds, 1/4" thick, then run them through the food processor attachment for my blender base. Voila! I'd much rather juice the ginger than use the ginger bits because 1) I feel like I'm not reaping all of it's gingery goodness, and 2) I don't like filtering the mass of pulp from the finished product... You need an expensive masticating juicer for that though, so I continue using minced ginger.
I make a ginger bug, with equal parts minced ginger and demerara sugar in a quart-sized mason jar (about 2 Cups each), 1 Tbs each whey and sea salt, fill with water, and seal. It lasts me about 6 weeks, and I keep it on the shelf, at room temperature the whole time.
I make "ginger ale" by adding 1/4 cup of the bug to the bottom of a quart-size bail-top top bottle when bottling kombucha tea. It's my favorite thing!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I don't know if it would work but I slice and dry my own ginger then grind it in a little coffee grinder. can it be made with dried ginger? Maybe reconstituted ?
ReplyDeleteGreat recipe - I love all things ginger, so I'm going to have to try this. In regards to the ginger peels, I always just wash my ginger well with a little scrub brush and then use skin and all. I'd only do that with organic ginger, which is all I buy because peeling it just no fun!
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