Fruit Soda is a lovely way to capture the essence of seasonal fruits while enjoying a refreshing nonalcoholic beverage on a hot summers day.
I hadn't made fruit soda for a number of years and my eldest children have been begging to do it again so I thought it was time to get out the fermenting jars and make a few batches.
These sodas are incredibly easy to make. You can make them with fruit scraps like mango seeds and peelings or whole fruit like cherries and berries.
A lot of fermented Soda uses quite a lot of sugar so I have over the years tweaked the recipe to make them less sweet. I use Kombucha or Apple cider vinegar to kick start fermentation but if you don't have either of these it's perfectly fine to just use sugar and the natural yeasts.
The recipe below is for watermelon soda. You could try replacing the watermelon puree with skin that has fruit on when you are cutting it off for kids but really you can use this recipe any fruit in place of watermelon, Sour cherries make a particularly delicious batch!
Fermented Watermelon Soda
4 Cups Watermelon pureed
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 C Kombucha , Keffir, Whey, Apple cider vinegar,or ginger bug ( if you don't hav these add another 1/2 C of sugar)
1 Litre of warm water
- Place sugar and water in your vessel and stir to dissolve
- Add pureed watermelon
- Add the Kombucha (or starter of choice) and stir
- Cover with a cheesecloth and let it sit on the counter for 2 to 10 days I did 4 days as it is hot and summer here in Australia but it will depend of your climate and taste buds. The longer you let it ferment the less sugar there will be as the bacteria will consume and convert the sugar during fermentation. Swish the soda around once a day to prevent mold from forming on the surface.
- Strain the puree out and bottle leaving some head space for a second ferment to increase carbonation for a few days to a week and then pop in the fridge.
Enjoy Ice cold :)