Shelley Rogers, director of What's Organic About Organic?, invited The Nettle Patch to design beverages for the film's NYC premiere. This Monday, June 21st, which also happens to be the Summer Solstice, we'll be serving Lacto-fermented Ginger and Root Beers, as well as herbal Iced Teas for the film's debute in NYC. We used this recipe for making our own starter culture to ferment the sodas. The culture
converts the sugar and gives off bubbles that make the soda naturally effervescent and good for digestion!
Starter Culture
In a Quart size mason jar add:
3 cups of water
1 Tbsp chopped organic ginger
2 Tbsp sugar
Each day for the next 7 days, feed the culture an additional 2 Tbsp sugar. Keep the mixture out on the counter at room temperature and cover it. Watch for mold on the top surface; if you see any skim it off.
After 7 days our culture looked bubbly and smelled sweet with a slight fermented whiff.
Ginger Beer
Once our starter was ready, we made a strong ginger syrup by boiling 1 gallon water with 3 cups chopped ginger. We let it simmer for 20 min and then strained it off into a gallon jar and added 1 1/2 cups cane sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice.
The boiling brew will sterilize the jar. Let cool to about body temperature before adding 1 cup of the culture. Cover and let sit 4-10 days. We found ours tasted just right at around 1 week, but it will depend on the temperature and time of year. In general the longer it ferments the less sweet it is.
Root Beer
Our root beer has an earthy flavor and is a great liver tonic. We made it
with fresh Burdock root from the Farmer's Market in Union Square, Dandelion root and leaf which we foraged from local green spaces, and Ginger root for good taste.
We boiled equal parts of all the roots (about 1 cup each) and let them sit over night before straining. The Dandelion leaves were added once the stove was off and allowed to sit overnight as well.
Again we added 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup lemon, and 1 cup starter per gallon once the brew was cooled and let it sit covered for 4-10 days.
Bottling
When you are ready to bottle your beer, add a small amount of sugar to the bottles (1/4 tsp per 8oz) to ensure effervescence. Sterilize bottles with boiling water before filling. Seal tight and let sit on the counter another 3-5 days. Then transfer to cold storage until serving. Your beer will keep 6-8 weeks or more.
We'll see you at the movies!
The Nettle Patch
