Fermented soda
Honey Lemon:
- 1 cup raw honey
- 1 cup lemon juice
- 6 cups purified water (filtered, then boiled for 30 minutes, and cooled)
Enough to fill two 750ml pop-top bottles with room to spare for the carbon dioxide.
Mix it all up, then bottle, and let sit in dark place for 5-10 days. Bubbles should appear after a few days.
If you're not starting with raw honey, you can kickstart the fermentation with a spoonful of whey or 막걸리.
History
August 2024
Started batch on August 9 with:
- 10.5 cups purified water (started with 12 cups of filtered water, boiled for 30 minutes, then cooled)
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Dried hibiscus flowers
- 5 stalks of (wilted) yarrow
Weather was cool and dreary in San Francisco.
On August 12, noticed tiny bubbles starting to form. Also saw some fungus started to develop. Removed that, and decided to go ahead and strain my mixture and add another half cup of sugar. The next morning (August 13), it was completely flat. I probably shouldn't have added the additional sugar so quickly, although I don't think it's necessarily bad. (It may increase the chances of fungus, though.) We've been having a stretch of warm weather, and I left it in the sun all afternoon. By the evening, the liquid was still warm, and it felt like something was starting up again.
The morning of August 14, everything looked good. I gave it a stir, then left for the day. When I came back in the evening, there was a layer of fungus on top and a smell of alcohol. I skimmed off the fungus and bottled the liquid, both to aid in carbonation and also to deter more fungus. I drank the rest. It was mellow and good, although more honey than hibiscus.
In retrospect, I should have either included added lemon juice — soda often has citric acid, and it might have prevented the fungus — or used an airlock. I also could have bottled it earlier. No harm done, I hope.
Morning of August 15, it looked fine, but still flat, although there was something foamy on the surface. By the afternoon, there was a lot going on — lots of foam, lots of yeast dregs on the bottom, but still not carbonated. I had a swig — the sweetness is mellowing out nicely. It will be good once it starts carbonating.
Afternoon of August 16, some kind of a mother forming on top (yay!), definitely smells funky. No noticeable carbonation, but when I took a swig, it was a little bubbly. Plenty sweet — no need to add more sugar — and the taste is mellowing out into something interesting. Just needs more time to get more bubbles! This is Day 7, so I'm encouraged!
Morning of August 22, we long finished the first bottle. The second bottle has a little fizz, but it’s not soda. My patience has ended. Added a tablespoon of sugar.
Morning of August 23, there's still just a tiny bit of fizz, whereas my latest fruit vinegar experiment has been bubbling like crazy. Added two more tablespoons of sugar. Noticed immediate fizzing, which I hope is good. Also noticed that the sugar is just sitting on the bottom of the bottle, which is less good. Trying to give it a good swirl to get it to dissolve.
Morning of August 26, some white fuzz forming on what looks like bits of mother. Scraped that off, noticed that there seems to be some decent bubbling now, so refrigerated.
September 2019
Started around noon on August 31, 2019. Same proportions as before, except used raw honey and fermented in my 항아리.
After about five days, tasted it. It was solid — carbonated and fermented, but still sweet.
Drank it continuously over several days. On September 13 (two weeks), finished it. It had lost a lot of its sweetness and started to smooth over. Would have been interesting to let it ferment for a month.
August 2019
Started in the evening, August 14, 2019.
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup lemon juice (from Eun-Joung's garden!)
- 6 cups water
Enough to fill two 750ml pop-top bottles with room to spare (hopefully) for the carbon dioxide.
Inspired by this recipe, which calls for raw honey. Sadly, I didn't have raw honey, so I used pure (which is pasteurized), unfiltered. Hoping there's enough yeast in the air to ferment.
I used filtered water, which I also boiled for 30 minutes, then let cool to room temperature.
Placed it in a sealed brown bag (to protect from sun and also if it blows up), and keeping it in the kitchen, where it will hopefully stay warm. Should take 5-7 days. Gonna check every day for bubbles and possibly pop the lid to release the gas.
August 16, 2019 — I've been checking on it twice a day, swirling it around. Nothing's happening so far — no bubbles, nothing. This might take a while. Perhaps I should do it in the open air so it can get some yeast in the air?
August 18, 2019 — Nothing's happening. Added two spoonfuls of 막걸리 to one of the bottles to see if I can kickstart the fermentation.
August 21, 2019 — Evening. The bottle with the 막걸리 is bubbling away like crazy! The other bottle still isn’t doing anything.
August 22, 2019 — Morning. Added one spoonful of 막걸리 to the other bottle, and gave it a stir. If I consider the addition of the 막걸리 the first real day of fermentation, then the first bottle has been going now for five days tonight. Maybe move it to the refrigerator tonight. Check the other bottle on August 28, 2019.
August 23, 2019 — Morning. Put first bottle into refrigerator (9 days total, 5 days with two spoonfuls of 막걸리, half a day in the fridge). Tasted it in the evening. It was delicious! Mead-like, a little sweet (but not too much), and a little bubbly.
August 27, 2019 — Noticed that my refrigerated bottle had continued to ferment and carbonate quite a lot. Was nervous about my bottle still fermenting, so I popped the seal to relieve the pressure. A ton had built up! Glad I popped it.
August 28, 2019 — Evening, the fermenting bottle exploded. Was super fortunate that it was in a brown bag and that no one was in the living room when it happened. The brown bag contained most of the glass (and surprisingly the liquid), but some glass got blown into the living room. Learned my lesson — plastic bottles from now on.
