Sometimes a sunny afternoon needs a sweet, sparkling yet healthy and probiotic beverage. If you don’t regularly brew kombucha then making ginger bug soda is the perfect alternative.
PrintGinger Bug Soda Pop
Ginger bug sodas are the easiest homemade probiotic soda pop. Ginger bug can be flavoured in all sorts of different ways. Experiment to find your own favourite combination, or use one of my suggestions from the section at the bottom of the page.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
- Category: Beverages
- Method: Fermented
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups water, fruit juice or brewed tea
- Spices, fruit and other flavour additions (See the bottom of the post for recommended flavours)
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup ginger bug starter
Instructions
- Mix the liquid with the sugar, flavour additions and ginger bug starter. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
- Cover with a piece of cloth or a coffee filter held in place with a rubber band or metal ring. Place somewhere warm and allow to ferment for 3-5 days (stirring each day).
- Once the mixture has begun to bubble, strain the soda and bottle it.
- Allow the bottled sodas to ferment at room temperature for a further 5-7 days to build up the carbonation.
- Once it’s fizzy, refrigerate and enjoy! Ginger bug sodas are best if consumed within four weeks of bottling.
Notes
- The ginger bug feeds on sucrose, so you need to use sugar or coconut palm sugar in this recipe. Over time more and more of the sugar will be consumed by the ginger bug, so if it seems to sweet, then let it ferment a little bit longer.
- You can use straight juice as the liquid for a very sweet ginger bug soda. Since juice is high in fructose, the sweetness won’t be consumed by the ginger bug. Otherwise, I recommend a mix of 1/3 juice and either water or brewed tea.
- Finished ginger bug sodas will continue to build up carbonation. Use plastic pop bottles, or swing-top bottles
(affiliate link) that can handle the pressure of carbonation. And open the bottles every 2-3 days to monitor the carbonation (and release some of the pressure.)
- See the sections below for different ways to flavour your ginger bug sodas.
(affiliate link) that can handle the pressure of carbonation. And open the bottles every 2-3 days to monitor the carbonation (and release some of the pressure.)Keywords: ginger ale, ginger beer, probiotic, summer, healthy, soda pop, vegan, gluten free
Ways to Flavour Ginger Bug Sodas
Juice: I recommend using clear juices, like blueberry, apple or pomegranate. If you want a sparkling lemonade then use just 1/2 cup of lemon juice mixed into filtered water. Avoid juices that have added preservatives, as they will slow down or prevent the fermentation.
Teas: Unlike jun or kombucha, you can use any flavour of tea for your ginger bug sodas. Herbal, black or green teas will all add a unique flavour.
Other additions: You can also flavour the ginger soda with spices, dried fruits, vanilla bean or citrus zest
Favourite Flavour Combinations
When experimenting with flavouring ginger bug sodas, don’t forget that the hint of ginger will always be there. Here are some of my favourite flavours.
- Strong and Spicy Ginger Beer: Here’s a recipe for a very spicy ginger beer.
- Lemonade: Use 1/2 cup of lemon juice mixed with 3 cups of filtered water along with the zest from 2 lemons.
- Pomegranate Punch: Use 2 cups of pomegranate juice with 1 1/2 cups of filtered water for a bright pink concoction.
- Iced Chia: Brew chai tea, and add 2 tbsp of honey. The only will add both flavour and sweetness. Stir in a little bit of milk or cream before serving.
- White Mint: Brew white tea, add in 3 large sprigs of fresh mint leaves.
- Cream soda: Brew black tea, add in 1/4 cup of raisins and 1 vanilla bean split in half.
- Gingered Peach: Finely chop 1 peach and mix with green tea for the 3 1/2 cups of liquid.
- Immune Booster: Use 1/2 cup of cranberry juice, 2 tbsp of grated fresh turmeric, and the juice and zest from 1 lemon.
- Turmeric Soda: Bright yellow turmeric soda is a perfect alternative for anyone who can’t handle the spice of ginger.
- Holiday Ginger ale: Cranberry ginger ale is a winter tradition in Canada. Though the bright red beverage is delicious at any time of year.
What is the ginger bug starter? Where do I get this from?
It’s something that you make, simply from the yeasts in your environment. Here’s the link for making the ginger bug: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/archives/1599. It should only take you about a week.
When you use”Bug”. Do you use just the liquid or both, ginger and liquid? Then how do you replace what you use:1/4c.H2O,1Tbs each,ginger and sugar?
Lost!
You only need to use the liquid. It should be full of live bugs all on it’s own. I’ll update the recipe to make that more clear. Thanks!
I don’t think the question is really answered. I wonder about the liquid also. We take out the liquid and want it replenished for my next batch. Directions on keeping a continuous brew.
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This post is about flavouring ginger bug; for info on post on feeding and maintaining the starter check out the post on ginger bug starter. In general, to keep your starter active feed it 1 tbsp of ginger and 1 tbsp of sugar with 1/4 cup of water whenever you take out 1/4 cup of starter (or at least once a week).
Emillie! My name is Emmilie! Haha. Thanks for the recipes!
Don’t you love creative parents. 🙂 Enjoy!
Do you think I could bottle my sodas (like beer?) to be able to store them for longer periods in a cold room?
The short answer… yes.
The long answer… you would need to brew them more like a beer. Keep everything sterile. Brew your second fermented with an airlock. Continue to ferment until it stops bubbling. Then bottle, adding a bit of sugar to get it to carbonate while in storage. Personally, I haven’t done it. I usually stash bottles in my fridge and drink them within 2 months.
Hello. I have been enjoying your ginger bugs recipes. I’d like to advise others to please heed your warning about the possibility of bottles exploding from the pressure. I used a bottle I purchased from Target that had a lid that seemed just right. It exploded in my kitchen the day after I bottled it. It made a heck of a noise and a real nice mess. Thankfully, no one was in the kitchen at the time. It could have been really bad with the glass all over the place.
I had a glass bottle explode so now I use only plastic bottles, you still have to leave some space for expansion.
I have used plastic water bottles and other recycled cool drink bottles, no real need to release the gases as the bottles do expand and then become hard to press in which is a good sign that they are about ready to drink. Times of brewing do vary up to 1-2-3 weeks, a longer brew brings out a better taste. When opening release the bottle caps slowly. So far no explosions.
God bless
Bob
Plastic bottles are easier. Thanks!
Loves these flavouring ideas. What kind of proportions are you using? 1/4 cup of bug liquid to 3-4 cups flavoured liquid?
Thanks for posting!
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Each flavour will work with one batch of ginger bug, so if you were using juice, you would replace part of the water with juice. I usually use a mixture of 1 cup juice and 2 cups water (depending on the juice).
Hi there,
I’ve now made a couple of successful sodas using the ginger bug, however I’ve tried twice now to make the lemonade one and am not having any luck. Does it take longer to ferment? Day three and not one bubble in sight.
Thanks!
Hi Miriam,
I also just had a batch of ginger bug that wouldn’t ferment. In my case, I think it’s because my house is a bit colder than ideal. However, lemon makes me think of a few things:
1. If you use bottled lemon juice then it’s probably full of sulfites, which prevent fermentation.
2. Lemon isn’t very sweet, so maybe there’s not enough sugar?
Otherwise, I’m not sure what is going on. Fermenting is a mix of art and science, and it doesn’t always work out.
Good luck!
Cheers, Emillie
When using juice (1cup juice to 2. 5 c water). Do I still need to add the sugar?
It depends on how sweet the juice is. I usually don’t like very sweet ginger bug sodas, so I only add 1-2 tbsp to get it to sparkle, but not enough to sweeten it.
This isn’t exactly healthy, but for a treat you can disolve your favourite boiled sweets and use that in place of fruit. They are usually sugar, so it works well. I’m about to try liquorice and maybe mints. Kids get into making this stuff really fast 🙂
What a good idea! Especially for a more unusual flavour like licorice.
I haven’t made this yet, I’m waiting on my very first batch of Ginger Bug to finish growing and then I intend to try an orange soda out. My question though is, after I’ve bottled the soda and it is done fermenting and ready to go in the fridge, can I store the bottles on their side? Do I need to wait until they are completely chilled before laying them down? I can store them upright if I have to but it is easier on my fridge organization if they can go on their side at any point.
The bottles don’t have to be stored upright, however, they will be under pressure, so there’s a chance of the seals leaking. If you plan on using plastic pop bottles, then it’s probably fine, but I would be concerned about storing glass flip-top bottles on their side.
For the recipe of the Cream Soda, how much of black tea do I need to brew?
Replace all of the water with black tea. Or if that’s too much caffeine then use decaf black tea. Cheers!
My ginger bug is ready ! Yay !
I was wondering if it’s possible to add some to any beverage and drink it right away, without second fermentation, or do you get less benefits from doing it like that ?
Thank you so much !
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Definitely, yes! However, it won’t be fizzy unless you brew ginger beer (or mix it with sparkling water).
I dislike anything carbonated but really like ginger, so I have been wondering if I can make a ginger bug beverage without it being carbonated. I think Julia’s question and your reply kind of answered that. So, do I just stop at step #3 in your recipe then store the liquid in a mason jar in the fridge or do I do something else? And, how long will the drink keep in the fridge. Thanks!
Ginger bug should last about 1 month in the fridge. You could either take your starter and mix it into non-carbonated water/ cold tea/juice. Alternatively, for a really ginger drink, follow my recipe for ginger beer, using only 2-3 tbsp of sugar, then put it in the fridge right after bottling. It might be slightly carbonated, but it won’t build up the carbonation typical of fermented drinks. Enjoy! https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/homemade-ginger-beer/