Sometimes a sunny afternoon needs a sweet, sparkling yet healthy and probiotic beverage. If you don’t regularly brew kombucha then making ginger bug soda is the perfect alternative.

Ginger Bug Soda Pop ★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews Ginger bug sodas are the easiest homemade probiotic soda pop. Ginger bug can be flavoured in all sorts of different ways. Experiment to find your own favourite combination, or use one of my suggestions from the section at the bottom of the page. Author: Emillie

Emillie Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 4 cups 1 x

Category: Beverages

Method: Fermented Scale 1x 2x 3x Ingredients 3 1/2 cups water, fruit juice or brewed tea

water, fruit juice or brewed tea Spices, fruit and other flavour additions (See the bottom of the post for recommended flavours)

6 tbsp sugar

sugar 1/4 cup ginger bug starter Instructions Mix the liquid with the sugar, flavour additions and ginger bug starter. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Cover with a piece of cloth or a coffee filter held in place with a rubber band or metal ring. Place somewhere warm and allow to ferment for 3-5 days (stirring each day). Once the mixture has begun to bubble, strain the soda and bottle it. Allow the bottled sodas to ferment at room temperature for a further 5-7 days to build up the carbonation. Once it’s fizzy, refrigerate and enjoy! Ginger bug sodas are best if consumed within four weeks of bottling. Notes The ginger bug feeds on sucrose, so you need to use sugar or coconut palm sugar in this recipe. Over time more and more of the sugar will be consumed by the ginger bug, so if it seems to sweet, then let it ferment a little bit longer.

You can use straight juice as the liquid for a very sweet ginger bug soda. Since juice is high in fructose, the sweetness won’t be consumed by the ginger bug. Otherwise, I recommend a mix of 1/3 juice and either water or brewed tea.

Finished ginger bug sodas will continue to build up carbonation. Use plastic pop bottles, or swing-top bottles (affiliate link) that can handle the pressure of carbonation. And open the bottles every 2-3 days to monitor the carbonation (and release some of the pressure.)

(affiliate link) that can handle the pressure of carbonation. And open the bottles every 2-3 days to monitor the carbonation (and release some of the pressure.) See the sections below for different ways to flavour your ginger bug sodas. Keywords: ginger ale, ginger beer, probiotic, summer, healthy, soda pop, vegan, gluten free

Ways to Flavour Ginger Bug Sodas

Juice: I recommend using clear juices, like blueberry, apple or pomegranate. If you want a sparkling lemonade then use just 1/2 cup of lemon juice mixed into filtered water. Avoid juices that have added preservatives, as they will slow down or prevent the fermentation.

Teas: Unlike jun or kombucha, you can use any flavour of tea for your ginger bug sodas. Herbal, black or green teas will all add a unique flavour.

Other additions: You can also flavour the ginger soda with spices, dried fruits, vanilla bean or citrus zest

Favourite Flavour Combinations

When experimenting with flavouring ginger bug sodas, don’t forget that the hint of ginger will always be there. Here are some of my favourite flavours.