The people wish to inquire how you started on the journey of making your own ginger ale and distilling your own lavender essence.
PALLAS this took me forever to answer bc I wanted to do it right. I was gonna take pictures of my process but I fear I'd never get it done.
To make ginger ale you need to first make a ginger bug, which is to ginger what yeast is to bread. If you're a visual learner you might prefer this youtube video. Otherwise here are my steps:
(I am a very lazy and thrifty person so I rarely go out of my way to buy fancy equipment. Don't feel pressured to buy fancy things! Just use what you have!)
You will need: a bottle¹, nice generous knob of ginger, sugar², AND THAT'S IT!
wash the bottle. boiling is optional if you can be bothered but the ginger bug is so resilient i have tortured it muchly and yet it persists.
wash and chop up the ginger. it doesn't matter what size. i julienne them so they fit into the bottle easily. the skin has the most good bacteria + yeast so don't peel it!³
add about half the ginger to bottle along with roughly same weight in sugar. i never measure but i'd say 8 tablespoons.⁴
add water about 3 quarters of the way. shake it up! then either cover with a cloth or close only slightly to let ginger bug breathe. refrigerate leftover ginger. keep the bottle in a dark place at room temp.⁵
once a day, add 2 tablespoons of chopped ginger and 2 tablespoons of sugar to your bottle and shake.
after 2-5 days you will have a carbonated ginger bug! congrats!!!!!!! you've fostered life and your ginger bug loves you!!!! and i love you!!! yay!!!!
(many recipes dictate you ought to do some boiling but i don't. if you want to be safe with hygiene, bring the mixture just under a boil before pouring into bottle)
what to do now that you've created life
keep your ginger bug closed and refrigerated. 'burp' it at least once a day (open the lid to let air out) to avoid it overflowing.
making ginger ale
you can drink your ginger bug as is, diluted with water, with a shot of coffee, whatever you like! i like to keep my 'mother' ginger bug and create bottles of ginger ale from that source. when my ginger bug gets low, i top her up with water and 2tbsp sugar a day, letting her ferment in a dark place (can be closed or unclosed) for a few days until i notice carbonation return to desired level.
to make a ginger ale, all you need is another bottle filled 1/3rd with your ginger bug. you can top it up with juice or any flavoured tea, as long as there is sugar. i like to muddle fresh fruit with sugar over the stove and add water. when it comes to boil i cut the heat and let it cool before straining into the bottle. i let it ferment in a dark place, closed or unclosed, and add 2tbsp sugar and shake once a day. 2-3 days is good enough.⁷
flavour ideas: earl grey tea, strawberry, mango, anything you like!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU'VE READ THIS FAR! I have truly gained a reputation as the person obsessed with their ginger bug. Me when I personify my ginger bug like it is my precious child and giggle whenever she fizzes happily in response to sugar. It's truly so easy and rewarding, and SUCH an excellent and cheap gift for friends and family. It is also a probiotic so it's good for tums. Though it is very sugary...a good gingery alternative for the sugar-conscious is switchel. And I haven't even gotten started on distilling lavender oil so lemme get to that after!
HAPPY FIZZING!!!!
preferably a flip-top, but i started out with an old twist-top pomegranate juice bottle i got from work. i graduated to flip-top when i found one left behind by previous tenant of my room. flip-top is definitely more convenient and safer but you can just use a twist-top and be careful.
you can use any sugar! this is your baby's food. can also use honey or maple syrup but the flavour won't come thru bc the sugar is being eaten by the bacteria + yeast so it's kind of a waste. you cannot use sweetener.
if you want to be the coolest person ever, keep the skin when you peel your ginger for other uses and feed them to your ginger bug. your ginger bug will love you so much.
add too little? that's okay, just add more if you notice low carbonation. add too much? there will be a lot of carbonation...open over a sink <3 i do get so much delight out of an overflowing bottle. it means your ginger bug is so well fed and happy!
depending on your ginger bug's enthusiasm, i would place something under the bottle in case it spills/leaks a bit.
i've had my ginger bug refrigerated for weeks and continue living, i've also forgotten to burp her for days or weeks at a time and things are fine. don't stress it!
i really am not strict with this. i'm terrible at future planning so oftentimes i bring a bottle that's only fermented one day to a picnic and it's just as delicious. the sugar is being eaten by the bug over time, so over time in the fridge it will become less sweet (i think). less sugar = less carbonation. also you don't necessarily have to strain out the fruits but the fruits will become gross over time.
