Nanking Cherry Wine 2015

Notice the red and white fruit! The white cherries are sweeter then the red.

I've just finished bottling the 2015 Nanking Cherry Wine. To be honest, I've been putting it off for quite a while. Last weekend I was home with the flu and it was particularly nasty, featuring all the body aches, fever, chills and what not. So after a long week of work and a good deal of sleep on Saturday, I was feeling sufficiently rested to tackle the bottling.

The fruit was harvested over the summer from one Nanking Cherry shrub. We pruned it in the spring while the shrub was flowering. I thought we might have cut it back too much, but was proved wrong when the branches were loaded down with fruit in the summer. I picked more than six pounds of berries and froze them in batches.

The most unusual thing about this Nanking cherry shrub is the mix of white and red fruit on the branches. Never have I seen this before. In my research I discovered that each seed is unique and will in turn grow a unique shrub. The fruit varies from one shrub to another as does the flavor of the fruit they bring forth. The red cherries are tart, the white ones are sweet.

For the making of this wine visit this link.

Ginger's Revenge Returns

Ginger Tea Soda

03-05-2016

Brix: 10

Specific Gravity: 1.04

Makes 2-liters

This is my sixth Ginger Bug soda experiment. I wanted to take another crack at the tea flavored soda and add more ginger. The recipe uses a mix of citrus, Juice Orange, 2 Meyer Lemon and a lime.

I started by adding 1 quart of water to a pot. To that I added 2-1/2 ounces of sliced ginger, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1-tablespoon of Molasses. Bring to a simmer and add 2-tablespoons of black tea. Simmer for about five minutes and cool. After about ten minutes strain mixture into two 1-liter bottles. Add about a cup of Ginger bug to each bottle top up with water and shake well. Let sit for about 24 hours. There should be obvious signs of fermentation. If not, let sit longer in a warm kitchen.  

03-05-2016

I brewed this around 1 pm this afternoon and at 9 pm the soda was showing signs of high yeast activity. I made a double batch putting half the soda in a glass bottle and the other in plastic (2-liters total). The plastic bottle is rock hard now. A good indication that it's well carbonated and needs to go into the fridge to stop fermentation. 

03-06-2016 First Impressions. 

I love using this ginger bug better than wine yeast, which tends to gush if over carbonated. The soda did froth up when opened and more importantly did not gush all over the kitchen. The bubbles are well formed and pleasant on the tongue. There is a good balance of citrus, tea and ginger. Very strong ginger flavor, but not unpleasant. I think the sweetness is also very nice. Not too much or too little, balancing the tart from the orange, lemon and lime. 

The Donald, Citrus Bomb

This is the fourth batch of Live Soda. In my experiments, I've found a 10 Brix sugar level is just about right for my taste. The finished beverage tastes sweet but not overly so. I didn't always measure the specific gravity, but it sure helps to keep track of how much sugar to use per batch.

I'm calling it The Donald, Citrus Bomb with obvious references to our "Reality TV Presidential Candidate". And if he wins in the Florida Primary election then he will truly be the Citrus Bomb! Look out Florida Senator Marco Rubio. 

Okay, let's get to the ingredients

Brewed on 02-27-16

Brix: 10

Specific Gravity: 1.04

3-juice oranges,

1/3 cup of Jaggery

1-tsp of bourbon vanilla

Coriander

A few cloves

1/4 oz sliced ginger

Add the spices, water and sugar in a pot and simmer for a few minutes, cool and add orange juice. Pour through a sieve into a 1-liter bottle. Add about 1/3 cup of ginger bug and top up with water. Shake well, cap and let sit at room temperature for approximately 24 hours. I wanted to increase the ginger flavor with this batch, so I reserved some of the simmered sliced ginger and put it right into the bottle.

First impressions:

The color is beautiful. Like Florida sunshine. Good carbonation, with a rich orange/citrus taste. 

Gingers Revenge, Ginger Bug Soda

Today I brewed a ginger tea for my next Ginger Bug experiment. I added 3 cups of water, about 2 tablespoons of loose black tea, 1/3 cup of sugar and jaggery mixed together, Star anise, coriander, cinnamon stick, sliced ginger and fennel. I added sugar to taste a bit sweet, knowing that the yeast will consume some during fermentation. I poured the mixture into a quart bottle and let cool before adding my ginger starter. I added the ginger bug, about a 1/2 cup, topped up with water and shook well to aerate. Loosely cover and leave overnight to ferment. 

Brix: 9

Specific Gravity: 1.036

02-24-2016

In the morning, there was a layer of foam and myriads of bubbles rising in the bottle. A sure sign of yeast consuming sugar. In this case the activity was so great that I capped the bottle and moved it to the basement to carbonate. The cooler environment will slow down the yeast and keep the drink from over carbonating.

02-25-2016

I put the bottle in the fridge to cool first thing in the morning. It will be ready to taste test tonight after work. 

02-25-2016

Tasting notes: it's very satisfying to hear a good pop when opening a flip top bottle. Good carbonation without the gushing of bubbles is a good sign. With soda water you get really large bubbles, but that's not the case here. They are very tiny, with scores of fine streams like rows of soldiers running into battle. 

When poured, there is a creamy froth on top of the liquid. The color of the drink is of light black tea and the tea flavor comes through as I hoped. The spices are not as pronounced as with my Chai tea , which is a good thing. They don't overpower the wonderful tea flavor. A little tannic, but not bitter and the sweetness is spot on complementing the drink well. I give this drink 4 out of 5 stars.  

Taken right after bottling. The loosely covered bottle allows air to escape while keeping out airborne bacteria.

It's Alive Chai Tea Soda

Ginger Bug Experiment

My ginger bug has been active now for three weeks. I've cleaned and replaced the jars every week and have fed the bug sugar and sliced ginger on and off. I recently brought the bug upstairs after sitting in a 50 degree basement for five days. The bug tastes slightly sour, with a sharp ginger flavor. I believe most of the sugar was converted to alcohol and needs a bit of freshening up.

To revive the Ginger Bug, I poured the bug into a clean mason jar and removed most of the sediment and added sliced ginger. I also added about four tablespoons of jaggery, a 1/4 tsp of acid blend and a 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient before topping up with water.  

Brix: 8.2%

Specific Gravity: 1.034

Let's see if the bug will perk up. I'm hopeful that the bug will continue to thrive.

It's been a few days and the Ginger Bug has revived, I brewed a tea and added the bug for a new experiment  in my sparkling beverage odyssey. I'll call this Live Chai Tea!

I usually brew 1-gallon batches, but with this Bug Starter, I can make any size batch I want very quickly. I'll have to experiment with quantities of sugar and flavorings to see what works best. Recipe below.

It's Alive, Live Chai Tea Soda

Makes 1-liter.

To a stock pot add 3-cups water, 1-cinnamon stick, Fennel seeds, 1-2 star anise, cardamom pods (crushed) 2-teaspoons black tea and about 1/3 cup of Jaggery. Simmer for about a five minutes and cool. Add to a quart bottle, add about a cup of ginger bug starter and top up with water. Shake well and cover with a piece of coffee filter affixed with a rubber band. Let sit to ferment for a few hours then cap. Leave in a warm place for 12 hours. 

When carbonated, place in the fridge.

Brix: 6

Specific Gravity: 1.0237

02-22-2016: the soda carbonated overnight and is extremely active. I placed the bottle in the refrigerator to cool.

02-22-2016: first impressions, the chai flavor is working, but it could use a bit more tea and ginger. Not sweet like I expected either, only about 1/3 cup was added, though. What I did notice was the excessive foaming that occurred when opening the bottle. That didn't happen last time which was surprising and the soda was not as fizzy either. Perhaps leaving the bottle in a warm place for 24 hours loosely covered would have helped. Then cap the bottle and leave it another day before placing it in the fridge. It's also possible that the carbonation was lost when I burped the bottle before it cooled off in the fridge. I did get excessive foaming at that time. 

It's alive alright and very naughty. Notice the bubbles forming in the bottle.

Mango-Pineapple Jaggery

Jaggery is made from unrefined palm sugar. It comes from the sap of the sugar palm tree that is found in South East Asia and Africa. The sap is usually collected in jars that have been coated with a bit of lime to inhibit fermentation. The jars are covered with a cloth to keep out insects and bats. The jars are collected daily to remove the sap which is then cooked down and concentrated and formed into balls for sale in the market. 

The sap is in some cases allowed to ferment right away and made into a alcoholic drink. One such drink is called Arrack. It a drink only locals would be familiar with because it is cheap, rough, and must be consumed quickly. 

When I heard about Jaggery, I was very excited to find it and make it into wine. I know of a grocery store nearby called Valli Produce that has a large east asian population and after careful exploration found the elusive Jaggery next to a huge selection of Indian spices.

I planned to use only Jaggery and Mango to make this wine. However, my fruit although ripe, was less than desirable and I added a banana and pineapple to make the beverage suitable for my tastes. I found the Mango on sale at a local fruit market and decided right then to make this wine. Had I known the quality of the fruit was poor, I would have used only pineapple and banana. 

Ingredients:

1-large pineapple

4-mango

1.8 lbs white sugar

13.5 oz. Jaggery

Enough water to make one U.S. gallon

Acid

Tannin

Yeast Nutrient

Pectic Enzyme

LALVIN EC-118 Wine Yeast

01-03-2016: made a yeast starter. 

Specific Gravity= 1.10 

Approx 13% ABV

Bring water to a boil and dissolve sugars. Meanwhile, wash, peel and cut the mangos and pineapple. Add the fruit to a mesh bag in the primary fermenter and crush with a potato masher. Pour the dissolved sugars over the fruit. Let cool and add the pectic enzyme and crushed campden tablet. 

Ginger bug soda #1

My first attempt at making this unusual drink went well until I bottled the batch too early. The ginger bug is not as vigorous as the wine yeast I'm accustomed to using. After patiently waiting for the beverage to carbonate, the three plus days were up and nothing was happening. Luckily I had fed a new starter, ready to go and was able to uncork all the bottles, pour them back into a gallon jug and try to restart a stuck ferment. After filling the jug most of the way, I poured a cup and a half of fresh ginger bug in and added some molasses and sugar, mixed well and capped with my trusty fermentation lock. By the morning bubbles and frothing indicated a successful restart was well underway. I'll let this ferment for a day or so and try to rebottle. 

The soda (Makes 1 - U.S. Gallon) was originally made with 2/3 gallon water, 3 grapefruit, 1 ounce cascade hops, a 1/2 stick vanilla bean, and 1-3/4 cups of sugar. I cooked and cooled the mixture, then added in 1-1/2 cups ginger bug and topped up with water, mixed well and bottled right away. I used amber beer bottles with crown caps. I washed and sterilized the bottles and kept everything spotlessly clean. 

After reviving the yeast in the gallon jug and letting it ferment a few days, I was able to bottle the soda a second time.  I let this sit in the bottles in a warm place for one day and checked the carbonation. Perfect. I moved the bottles to the very cold back porch. 

First impression: The flavor is very strong, not too sweet, a bitter brew with a kick of hops and sharp tang from the grapefruit and ginger bug. A bit too much, strong and sour, but I think it's a start. 

Second tasting a week later, the flavor has mellowed a bit. It's less harsh but has a bold, spicy richness that would go well with vodka or rum. 

Ginger Bugs, Naturally Fermented Soda

I recently heard about Ginger bugs while researching recipes for Ginger Beer. I was fascinated with the idea and wanted to try making one. For those of you who don't know, its a cultured yeast from the skins of fresh ginger root. There are plenty of recipes for them on the internet. This natural yeast starter has beneficial bacteria which is then used to create carbonated soda or tea.

The Ginger Bug is made by adding filtered water to a very clean jar and to that add a bit of sugar and grated organic ginger. Mix well, cover and place jar in a warm kitchen. In a few days the mixture will hopefully begin to bubble. Once the bug is started, you can use this to make a naturally fermented soda. 

I've been making wine, beer and soda for years. Most of my soda's were carbonated with wine yeast. I would mix a fruit juice with water and add additional flavoring and wine yeast. Bottle the mixture then let it sit in a warm place for about three days until carbonated. You know it's carbonated when you open a bottle and there is plenty of bubbles. Sometimes the bottle will pop with the force of champagne, with half the contents fizzing into the sink. If you're lucky. I've never had a bottle explode because I handle them with extreme care. When you're soda is carbonated, put the bottles into the refrigerator to stop the carbonation. You can avoid exploding bottles by re-using plastic soda bottles.

My ginger bug making was a success. My ginger bug has been bubbling away for about a month now. I feed the bug with sugar and sliced ginger and some water each week. Sometimes placing the jar in my cool basement which is a fairly constant 50-55 degrees.
I was skeptical that a ginger bug was a good way to carbonate soda having used commercial yeast for years. Now, I love it. It's convenient and handy. whenever I want to make a carbonated beverage, I just mix of a tea, add the bug and bottle. Obviously I am oversimplifying the process, but the convenience and time savings is great.