Homemade ginger bugs will give you a milder fermented drink with less work than kombucha. Add to lemonade for a healthy and refreshing drink.
We love fermented drinks. They give you the fun fizziness of soda without the excessive sugar, and no artificial sweeteners, either. If you've ever checked them out at the store, a single can is as much as $3! You can make an entire half gallon for that price at home.
Most people think of kombucha or Milk Kefir as probiotic and fermented drink options. Both are delicious but can be a bit of work to the uninitiated. But a DIY Ginger Bug is SUPER easy to start and maintain.
Key Ingredients
Ginger Bug - Keep a jar of DIY Ginger Bug at the ready and you can enjoy all sorts of fizzy drinks.
Sugar - We aren't anti-sugar here, and this is necessary food for the bug to ferment.
Fruit - Add a flavour to your lemonade, and of course you need fresh lemons!
How to Make Lemonade with a Ginger Bug
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Dissolve sugar and lemon peels in hot water.
Step 2: Top with cool water and add fed ginger bug.
Step 3: Wait 24 hours before tasting.
FAQs
You can play around and see how things react to your community tap water, but most has chlorine or other treatments in it that will kill your active good bugs. My sourdough doesn't mind the chlorine but any drinks like this I need to use water from the good filter. If you don't yet have a great water filter, you'll want distilled water from the store.
Yes and no - if you ferment for the 24 hours with a very tight-fitting lid you will have more bubbles. We don't care either way about bubbles in this drink in my house, so it doesn't matter to me if we have a loose lid. If using a tight lid though watch for it to get full and need a "burp" so it doesn't overflow, which you can read more about in my Homemade Ginger Beer.
A ginger bug is easily maintained by "feeding" with organic cane sugar. You can feed daily if you plan to use it a lot! Every few days it will need some fresh ginger root added as a refresh. You can learn all about making your own ginger bug (no need to buy a starter!) in my DIY Ginger Bug post.
More Drink Recipes
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Gingerbug Lemonade
Equipment
Ingredients
- ? cup organic cane sugar
- 1 fresh lemon
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 ½ quarts filtered water no chlorine remaining
- Fruit such as berries fresh or frozen (optional)
- 1 cup ginger bug ‘discard’
Instructions
- In a half gallon jar, add lemon rind and then the juice of the lemon. Add sugar and the boiling water and swirl to dissolve sugar and release the oils from the lemon rind.
- Add cool water, leaving 3-4 inches of headspace in the jar. Make sure you use cool water so the boiling water doesn't kill the ginger bug.
- Add ginger bug discard and a handful of fresh berries etc. if using. Top with water if needed to reach the rings of the jar.
- Put a lid on and let sit on counter about 24 hours, until the sugar has been "used up" and there's some fizz. Store in the fridge.
Notes
- Make sure and keep your ginger bug fed with a bit of sugar daily and more fresh ginger root every few days.
- Always use water that is truly filtered. Any sort of chlorine remaining can kill your ginger bug and your ferment won't work.
- You can use fresh or frozen berries to flavor the drink.
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