Wild Soda Recipe

 

Spring has arrived! At this time of year I am migrating away from cozying up to a freshly brewed hot cup of tea or coffee, and am looking for something cold and refreshing to drink, especially after a day of working in the garden.

I am a real sucker for a fizzy drink, however I do not enjoy the taste of store bought sodas, with all their artificial flavours and sweeteners. In summer I usually live on seltzer and sparkling water, while my Soda Stream machine goes into overdrive, but last year I tried something new, I made my first "Wild Soda" - also known as a natural soda... I was hooked.

What exactly is a wild soda? It's a fruit juice that you carbonate at home (without the Soda Stream), using only a few ingredients, and is a natural and healthy alternative to store bought sodas.

But first... you will need a starter.

A starter is a fermentation that you already have going, for at least 3 to 5 days prior to creating your wild soda. Last year I made a starter using raisins, sugar and water, and I managed to keep it going for a good few weeks until we ended up drinking it - it too tasted delicious! 

The role of the starter is to kick-start the fermentation process, which does one of two things. Firstly it allows for a really good start to the carbonation process, and secondly it increases the prebiotic and probiotic properties of the drink, which is where there all all that additional health-boosting goodness lies.

This year I had a really good harvest of turmeric, so I am going to be trying my hand at making a turmeric bug (I will share the video with you on how I did this), however recently I wanted to get started when I was gifted a couple of kilograms of fresh naartjies. 

I didn't have a starter on hand, but what I did have was a gallon of kombucha which had already been fermenting for 4 days, so I substituted my starter with the kombucha. A starter really is any aerated sugar ferment that has been going for 3 to 5 days, so even if you just recently started a fruit vinegar ferment, as long as it's still within those first few days of fermenting, you can even use that as your starter. This is a great way for you to also test whether or not making wild sodas is for you.

However, you may find that as you get hooked on making your own natural sodas, you more than likely will end up starting a starter (or two). Later this week in my blog, I will create a post for creating your own starter from scratch.

The basic ingredients list for your soda:

1. 1 x cup of warm (not cold or hot but WARM) water - this water will encourage the good bacteria and yeasts to continue to do their thing. Whereas hot water will kill them off, and cold water usually slows down or stops the fermentation process.
2. 1 x cup of starter liquid
3. 1 x tablespoon of sugar
4. 1 x litre room temperature, 100% fruit juice

To start, you will need to sterilize a 750ml glass bottle - make sure it is a bottle that is strong enough to handle the fermentation process, as you don't want it to be exploding all over the place. Also make sure to sterilize any equipment you may use in making this soda, as you don't want any bad bacteria or mould to get in to your natural soda.

In your bottle mix the warm water and sugar and give it a good shake to dissolve the sugar - this is to increase the carbonation of your soda. 

Add your cup of starter liquid, and to finish off, top up the bottle with your 100% fruit juice. Don't fill the bottle all the way, leave at lease "2 fingers" worth of space from the lid.

Place the cap on your soda, and leave to sit at room temperate for at least 2 days, but optimally 3 days.

After 2 to 3 days, you can open and drink your soda, you can refrigerate it first but, just know that by "chilling" your juice, you are slowing down the fermentation process. What does this mean? It means that your juice will still be carbonated, but may not be as carbonated as it was when at room temperature.

If you are like me, and you like your juice to have a lot of "fizz" keep it at room temperature before opening and drinking - just be warned there is a high chance of it over flowing and messing everywhere.

Once opened, refrigerate and drink as you prefer... though honestly, there's a high chance it won't be sitting around for long. I usually make a couple of these sodas every week, especially in spring and summer as my family just can't get enough of them.