Ginger Bug and Natural Soda Recipe

Have you ever imagined making your own soda or carbonated drink naturally without soda maker or chemicals. Yes it is possible with Ginger bug. You need just chopped ginger, sugar, water and some patience to make ginger bug at home. With active ginger bug, you can transform any fruit juice or tea into carbonated beverage. 

Ginger Bug and Ginger Bug Soda

When I first came across this process of making naturally carbonated soda at home. I have literally no words, I was just amazed. Seeing the carbonated beverage just buzzing out of the bottle was so fascinating and made me to try immediately.

Jump to:

• What is Ginger Bug?
• Ingredients for Ginger Bug
• Step by Step Pictures
• Expert Tips
• 📖 Get Recipe

I looked up for the procedure and it was very easy. You need to start making ginger bug first. Because it take some time and needs some patience. All you need is three ingredients and some patience. In this blog post, I have shared all the tips and tricks I learned so far to make no fail ginger bug and soda. But first..

What is Ginger Bug?

A ginger bug is a naturally fermented culture made from fresh ginger, sugar, and water. Scientifically, it's a wild fermentation starter used to carbonate homemade juices and tea like ginger ale, fruit sodas, sweet tea. 

How it works?

A ginger bug is a simple example for wild fermentation. It is made from fresh ginger, sugar, and water. As it sits for days, it ferments by naturally occurring microorganisms on the ginger skin and environment. 

Wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus) feed on the sugar, creating a microbial ecosystem. The yeasts convert sugar into carbon dioxide and small amounts of alcohol, while the bacteria produce lactic acid, which gives the mixture its tangy flavor.

This same principle works for other fermenting recipes like Sourdough, Kefir, and Kombucha. When added to sweet tea or sweet juice and sealed in a bottle, the active culture continues fermenting, trapping carbon dioxide and creating natural carbonation. 

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Okay now you have learned the science behind ginger bug. Let me put it in simple words. For making active ginger bug. You need ginger with skin on, sugar to feed the active micro particles that will form in the bug. 

Mix ginger, sugar and water together and loosely cover with cloth and set aside somewhere warm. You keep on adding sugar and ginger so the micro particles that form in the bug doesn't die. 

If you keep doing this for a week. You get active ginger bug which you can use to literally carbonate anything from fruit juice, sweet tea, beer or anything. 

How to use ginger bug?

Now that you have made ginger bug. Let me tell you how to use it. You need very little active ginger bug to carbonate juices.

The more you add, the more faster it ferments also it will affect the taste of the juice. So I recommend adding just ⅛th cup for every 500 ml of fruit juice. 

How to keep ginger bug alive?

Once you have made and used ginger bug, the next question is how to store it for longer. Yes, you can store ginger bug for future without going through the whole process of making it again and again. 

Okay, it took you nearly 5 to 7 days to make ginger bug. This is your active jar of starter. It is called the mother jar.

If you remove ½ cup of ginger bug from the mother jar. Add ½ cup of water and feed it with 1 tablespoon ginger and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let it sit on the counter for 1 day. It will get active and bubble again. This way your ginger big stays active all the time. 

If you are not using ginger bug straight away. Store in fridge future. 

Stay Safe with Carbonating at Home

Making your own soda at home can be exciting. But it can be quite dangerous too. Always be cautious when making it. Here are my safety tips. 

• Use good quality glass bottle with flip top neck only. Don't use screw top, else it may burst. 
• Use little ginger bug to carbonate. Using too much can produce too much gas which can cause over fermentation.
• Leave 1 to 2 inch head space on the bottle. It gives CO₂ a space to compress as pressure builds. Giving too little headspace will cause explosions. 
• Keep bottles at room temperature for 1-2 days only, depending on warmth and sugar content.
• If you are keeping the bottle more than a day at room temp. You have to"Burp" bottles daily. Open the lid so the gas can escape creating less pressure on the bottle. 
• Once it is fizzy, store in fridge. It slows fermentation and prevents explosion. 

Ingredients for Ginger Bug

• Ginger - Choose Young, thin-skinned ginger. It ferments faster. But you can use mature ginger also, as long as it's fresh. You need the skin of the ginger, so don't peel it. Just rinse lightly to remove dirt and chop or grate it. Because the microbes are present more in the peel of ginger. 
• Sugar - you can use granulated sugar, brown sugar for making ginger bug. I don't recommend using honey since it naturally antimicrobial, which is why it doesn't spoil easily. That means it can slow down the process. 
• Water - use room temperature water for best results. 

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Step by Step Pictures

Making Ginger Bug

1)Scrub and wash ginger really well. No need to peel off the skin from the ginger. Chop ginger into fine pieces. 

For day 1, you need 1 tablespoon of chopped ginger and 1 tablespoon of sugar.

2)Take a glass jar. Add in 1 cup of water in the jar. Add in 1 tablespoon of chopped ginger.

3)Add 1 tablespoon of sugar. You can use white sugar or brown sugar.

4)Mix this really well.

5)Mix this in a jar, cover with a cloth. Let it sit for one day.

6)The next day, chop 1 tablespoon of ginger.  Now take the jar, open it and feed with 1 tablespoon ginger and 1 tablespoon sugar. Mix well and cover again with muslin cloth. Set aside for 1 more day. 

7)Repeat this for 6 to 7 days. You will see lots of bubbles on top by day 5. That's it active ginger bug is ready. 

Once ginger bug is ready, you can cover the bottle with lid and store in fridge until ready to use. 

Make Naturally Fermented Strawberry Soda

8)Take your ingredients for soda. I am making strawberry soda. So i am using strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, water and ginger bug.

9)Take your active ginger bug. Strain it through a sieve.

10)You need ⅛ cup of ginger bug for every 500 ml of juice. 

11)Take berries in a blender. You can use any fruits that you like.

12)Add sugar and lemon juice and water in a blender jar.

13) Blend till smooth. If you want you can strain this mixture. 

14)Now take a flip top glass bottle. Pour strained ginger bug into the bottle.

15)Pour strawberry juice through funnel. Fill the juice till top leaving 2 inches of space on top. Shake once and cover the bottle. Cover and leave for 1 day. 

16)After one day, keep this in fridge for 10 hours or overnight.  Once chilled, open it with caution and enjoy the bubbly naturally fermented strawberry soda cold. 

17)Bubbly, fizzy and so good for you.

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Expert Tips

Choosing Ginger - Choose Young, thin-skinned ginger. It ferments faster. But you can use mature ginger also, as long as it's fresh. You need the skin of the ginger, so don't peel it. Just rinse lightly to remove dirt and chop or grate it. Because the microbes are present more in the peel of ginger. 

Chop ginger fresh every time - Always chop ginger fresh daily. For making starter on day 1, you need only 1 tablespoon of ginger. So chop just 1 tablespoon worth alone. 

Sugar - Even though I used granulated sugar, you can opt for brown sugar too. 

Building ginger bug - I recommend taking your time to build strong ginger bug. So a little is enough to make your soda bubbly. Spend at least a week making your ginger bug, so it is strong and active. 

Little goes a long way - don't add too much ginger bug to your juice. It will make your beverages too gingery. So start with ⅛ cup for every 500 ml fruit juice.

Refrigeration is must - it prevents over carbonation, controls sour taste and extends shelf life.  

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What all you can carbonate with ginger bug?

A ginger bug can carbonate almost any sweet liquid, because the yeast needs sugar to produce carbon dioxide. Once your bug is active and bubbly, you can use it to naturally carbonate a wide range of drinks.

• Every fruit juice you can think of.
• Sweetened herbal teas
• Ginger ale
• Root beer
• Lemonade
• Cream soda
• Vegetable juices (should add extra sugar)

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