Lavender-Cherry Wildcrafted Soda
This recipe is taken from our Sourcebook!
For this recipe, you can use your favorite fruit and herbs to create a delicious, bubbly probiotic beverage. I used cherries and lavender, but any combination of fresh seasonal fruit and herbs—such as mint, thyme, chamomile, or lemon balm—will do. (My second favorite combination is raspberries with chamomile and mint.) Although you can buy champagne yeast or make your own ginger bug to aid in the process of fermentation, I never do. I simply allow the wild yeast that is present on the fruits and herbs to work its magic. Try it—the experiment is worth the wait.
- 1⁄2 gallon spring water
- 2 cups fresh lavender
- 1⁄2 pint fresh cherries, pitted and halved
- 1 cup raw wildflower honey
- 1 organic lemon, sliced
- Pinch of champagne yeast or 1⁄4 cup ginger bug (optional)
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Add all the ingredients to a half-gallon jar. Stir vigorously with a spoon in a circular motion. Loosely cover with a lid or cheesecloth with a rubber band around the rim.
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Over the next 1 to 2 days, vigorously stir the mixture four times a day. Tiny bubbles should appear at the top of the liquid. This is a sign fermentation is taking place.
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Taste each time you stir. When it has reached your desired level of fermentation, pour the wildcrafted soda through a fine-mesh sieve set over a vessel large enough to contain it.
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Pour the beverage into bottles. I use flip-top glass bottles, but plastic bottles can be used in a pinch. Cap tightly, and allow fermentation to continue at room temperature for another 12 to 24 hours.
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Test for desired fizziness by carefully opening the bottles. Because you are creating natural carbonation through fermentation, the contents of the bottle may be extra bubbly, expand, or possibly even explode upon opening, so use caution. Refrigerate when you are happy with the flavor and fizziness.