Probiotic Gingerade

Today I thought I'd share one of my obsessions. I LOVE ginger! I used to not like it. but after a really great ginger beer I quickly changed my tune. Ginger is an adult flavor it's hot and spicy with a crazy complex flavor that is like nothing else. Even better is it is good for you! Seriously ginger touts some major health benefits. Ginger helps with digestion, nausea, pain, and inflammation. The last time I went snorkling in Oahu a couple ginger pills helped keep me from major sea sickness! This is why I personally believe ginger beer is the perfect boating drink, but that's just me. Anyway all these great benefits get enhanced when you brew ginger into a probiotic powerhouse! What!!! I had no idea until recently you could brew ginger like kefir or kombucha! It's really easy and simple it just takes a few days to get started.

All you need is a big knob of ginger root, lemon, organic cane sugar (it's for the bacteria not you DO NOT add honey as it has antibacterial properties!) and purified  filtered water (distilled is best). You start by making your ginger bug... how cute is that?! A ginger bug is where you get your good bacteria from. Make sure all of your equipment is sanitized just like you would canning. That means all jars, grater, juicer, spoons are freshly washed and dried!

To make your ginger bug it will take about 5-7 days of feeding the little bugger. Each day you will grate an inch of ginger root, add 2 Tbsp of water, and 1 Tbsp of Cane sugar and add it to your jar and swirl or stir it around to combine. Cover your jar with a coffee filter and put a rubber band around it. Your bug needs to breathe! After about a week your bug should be bubbling up and look like it's lightly carbonated. It should smell really gingery and to me smells slightly like weed (trust me I'm not the only one who said that). Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from anything else you're fermenting or you might get some contamination. Once you're at this point you can start making your brew.


To create your probiotic gingerade you will need to first make a syrup. Start with a saucepan take 2 cups of water and add 1/4 c. of  organic cane sugar, and an inch of grated ginger root. bring it to a boil and stir until the sugar is totally dissolved. Remove from heat and add the additional 2 cups of water which should cool it to about room temperature. Add the syrup water combination to a quart mason jar and add 1/4 c. of ginger bug and juice of one lemon. *Do not add your ginger bug until it has cooled or you'll kill the good bacteria. Leave the brew out on the counter with an air tight mason jar lid. Depending on how warm or cold the room is the brew may take longer or shorter to get to the carbonated point. Once it has gotten bubbly and lovely just put it in the fridge and drink at your pleasure!

Note: You will still have some of  your starter bug left afterwards so you can make another batch or you can keep feeding it for your next batch in a week or so. If you don't want to feed it everyday after you get it to the carbonated state you can keep it covered in the fridge and feed it once a week. 

Equipment:

• Saucepan
• 1 liter canning jar with lid and band
• Wooden spoon
• fine cheese grater
• Citrus juicer

Ingredients:

• 4 c. distilled or unchorinated water (divided)
• 1/4 c. cane sugar
• 1 in. grated ginger root (2 in if you like it spicy)
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup of ginger bug (directions above)

Directions:

1. Take saucepan and add 2 c. of your unchlorinated water, sugar, and ginger and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Leave on heat until the sugar is dissolved and it smells really gingery.
2. Take off heat and add the additional 2 c. of water to bring it to about room temperature. If it doesn't cool enough wait until it is.
3. Pour syrup into mason jar and add the lemon juice and ginger bug.
4. Cover jar with the lid and leave on the counter for a few days until the gingerade is nice and bubbly. After its nice and carbonated you can put it in the refrigerator indefinitely. Drink at your leisure and enjoy!