This is an old traditional way of using wild yeasts that eat sugar, begin to proliferate and bubble making them fizzy like soda. Unlike our store bought sodas, these have lots of health benefits. The herbs and roots are packed with healing properties, the ginger is an excellent digestive and the fermentation has wild strains of lactobacillus bacteria that also aid the gut in its digestive work. The bacteria eat up most of the sugar as they convert it to delightful bubbly fizz.

Brewing the Bug

Use equal parts fresh peeled and grated ginger, unrefined cane sugar and filtered water. I like to start with a big batch of 1 cup of each and throw it all in a blender. Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture in to a glass jar, cover with a cloth and leave out on the counter. Put the remaining mixture in the refrigerator. Daily, add a 1/4 cup of the mixture to the jar on the counter until it is visibly bubbling. If it is cool in your kitchen, it might take up to a week to get the bubbles but I usually see them in about 3 days. You now have a live ginger bug.

Root Beer Herbal Blend:

2 tbsp Sassafras

2 tbsp Sassprailla

1 tbsp Birch Bark

1 tbsp Dandelion Root

1 tbsp Burdock Root

1 tbsp Ginger Root

1/2 tbsp. Licorice Root

1/2 tbsp.Fennel Seed

1/2 tbsp.Cinnamon

1/2 tbsp.Astragalus

1 tsp, Juniper Berries

Herbal Soda Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups filtered water

1/4 cup Root Blend Blend (see above)

1/4 unrefined cane sugar or honey

1/4 strained Ginger Bug

Directions:

Boil herbs in water for 15 mins.
Strain the liquid and discard the herbs. Then, stir in the cane sugar until it dissolves.
Let the mixture cool to about 103 degrees or what would feel just slightly warmer than your own body. Stir in the Bug.
Pour into 4, half pint-size flip-top glass bottles. Set these on a counter in your kitchen out of direct sunlight and allow to ferment for 3-5 days. The longer it ferments, the less sugar will remain and the more tart the flavor will be.
Chill in the refrigerator before serving. These will keep for about 6 months in the refrigerator.