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.