Making a natural soda at home is a great idea because this drink is very refreshing, but it can also bring many health benefits to those who consume it.
Now let’s check the recipe for this turmeric-ginger ale soda.
Turmeric-Ginger Ale Soda
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup of freshly grated turmeric root;
- Half a gallon (two liters) of water;
- Two cups (400 ml) of ginger bug;
- One cup of sugar (raw palm sugar or white sugar, don’t try to replace them with honey or agave);
- Juice from four limes or lemons;
- Juice from two oranges (pomelo or grapefruit);
- A small amount of ground black pepper (used to get the most from curcumin, the active compound of turmeric).
NOTE: you can speed up the process of culturing with the help of white sugar. Palm sugar works but it makes everything a little bit slower. You don’t have to be concerned about the intake of sugar because this sugar will be transformed. The drink we are presenting won’t be very sweet despite the relatively high amount of sugar in it.
Instructions:
To start with, create a nourishing, fizzy ginger bug or some other starter culture. Take the sugar, turmeric, and water and put them in a pot. Bring them to a boil. Boil for up to 5 minutes. After that, remove them from heat and wait until they reach room temperature. When this healthy mixture is cooled, pour the ginger bug, lime juice, orange juice, and black pepper. Mix everything well.
Use a mesh sieve to strain the mixture. In this way, you will eliminate ginger bug and turmeric leftovers. Put the mixture into clean soda bottles with swing tops. Leave the bottles for four days at room temperature. In case you live in an area where the temperature is high, you can use them after two days.
Check the bottles on a regular basis and squeeze them a little bit because if they are left like that the accumulation of carbonation will make them explode and create a lot of mess in the kitchen.
So, once a day just open the cap and you’ll hear the well-known fizzy sound. Once you put the cap back, the process starts again. When you see a significant quantity of fizz in the bottle, store it in the fridge to block the process.
When they get cold, you can drink soda. Feel free to leave them in the refrigerator for 7 or even 15 days. Of course, you’ll probably don’t need to store them for so long because the drink is delicious.
Don’t hesitate to make experiments
When you master the creation of homemade fizzy drinks, you can start making experiments by using more ginger, turmeric, or some other citrus fruits. You can also use some other fruits too like watermelon for example. Just remember to remove the seeds. Many people use berries too because they are very tasty and useful. It is also a good idea to use green tea leaves.
