A personal anecdote
For the love of sparkling drinks
I made Ginger beer at home. And it was great!
I have always enjoyed the unique sensation of carbonated drinks in my mouth and refreshing lemonades made with sparkling water. As a kid, they were always mysterious. I thought sparkling water comes out of the Earth somewhere. But all kids have surreal thoughts, I think.
Motivation
The soft drinks available in stores is high in sugar, that’s no secret, but I enjoy them. So, I started using SodaStream a while ago. It’s convenient and quick, to go along with spontaneous fancy dinners at home. The flavours that come for SodaStream’s carbonated water taste good, but again the same issue: too much sugar. Additionally, it doesn’t say gluten-free, but ingredients are safe for a person with celiac disease. SodaStream is great for home-made drinks like lemonade. It’s flavours, in my opinion, aren’t that great.
My mind was well-primed for a youtube recommendation. A video from ProHomeCook’s channel popped up with a recipe. The video is titled: 10 Foods I'll Never Buy From the Store Again.
It was time to try it out. I already had all the ingredients, any air-tight bottle would work as long as it could contain some pressure. So I got to work.
Simplicity
The recipe is simple: boil ginger and some other whole spices with sugar, add yeast and lemon, and bottle up the liquid with water to ferment. One thing it does need though is timely care. For example, burping the fermentation bottles for the next few days, until it’s ready.
I am at home every evening during weekdays. So, I bottled it up on Sunday evening. By Wednesday, it tasted really good. I was impressed with myself. I consumed the first (test) batch within a week.
Taste test
I can make anything and like it or not. Although that’s valuable to myself. But I have learned that sometimes my confidence in my recipes can be misplaced. The true test of a recipe is when your honest friends try it out. They not only praise it, but also ask for the recipe.
A batch of friends, tried my second batch on a pizza dinner. I am happy to report that they did ask for the recipe. I would encourage you to try it out. It’s simple, delicious and surely gluten-free as you make it yourself. Don’t forget: it’s much more healthier too.