Strawberry Soda, the homemade lacto-fermented way!

Do you remember when Newcastle had a drug store?  I do.  It was next to the library.  Wait, you don't remember the library either?  My mother was the last librarian in Newcastle.
Stay with me here.  I made soda last week.  And as I was bottling it, I remembered my mother taking me to the soda fountain in the Newcastle Drug Store for a lime phosphate soda.
Soda fountains were in pharmacies 'way back then because the sodas were used as delivery mechanisms for  the vitamins and minerals in roots, fruits and vegetables.
Most of those sodas were lacto-fermented.
Which brings us here.
I've been playing with lacto-fermentation.
And I have to say that the experiments have been fun.  In fact, it's less an experiment lately and more a full-blown hobby  :)  I was a little intimidated at first.  I'd always heard stories of exploding bottles and flying glass, but I reigned in those fears and in the process learned to make a really yummy soda.
When I first heard the term 'lacto-fermented', I was a little suspicious.  I'm not really a fan of most fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut.  However, my father used to make sour pickles in big stone crocks down in the cellar and I liked those.  So, I gave it a shot.
Lacto-fermentation occurs when bacteria changes the sugars and starches that are present in fruits and vegetables into lactic acid.  The end product can be spicy, sour, tangy or sweet like this strawberry soda.
But here's the best part; you're drinking soda that is a living food, full of enzymes and pro-biotics.
Instead of using  heat for preservation, the process encourages the proliferation of lactobacilli.  The by-product of this friendly little bacteria is lactic acid which also aids digestion by promoting healthy flora all through the intestines.   There's a whole bunch more science 'stuff' here, like how extra vitamins are added through the fermentation process and how the white sugar gets gobbled up by the bacteria, but the best part is that unlike so many store-bought sodas, this one is actually good for you!
You don't need a lot of equipment.  That was a real clincher for me to try the recipe.  Nothing is more upsetting than to invest in a lot of specialized equipment that I'll never use again if the experiment is a failure.  All I needed was a gallon jar, some bottles and regular pots and pans and measuring spoons.  The soda uses three ingredients:  ginger, sugar and fruit.  I had loads of strawberries in the freezer, left over from the garden last year and with summer coming, I was happy to use them up.  My later experiments used different roots, but for now, lets keep it simple.  To make your 'ginger bug' you'll need:
a ginger root
sugar
a quart jar

Fill the quart jar 3/4 of the way up with pure water.  Don't use chlorinated water.
Add 1 finely chopped tablespoon ginger and two teaspoons sugar.  Stir well.
Cover with a bit of muslin (I use a paint strainer).
Let sit over night.
The next day, add 2 teaspoons of ginger and two teaspoons of sugar.  Do this every morning for a week.
Stir your 'ginger bug' several times a day.

After a week, you should have a brew that's bubbly and smells fresh and clean and gingery.

Now mix up your syrup.  You'll need:
1 cup of the 'ginger bug'
6 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)  You don't have to use strawberries.  You can mix and match fruits.  Try rhubarb and ginger.  Or lemon and cantalope.  Or even manzanita blossoms!
1 1/2 cups sugar

Bring 1/2 gallon of pure water to a boil.  Add sugar and fruit.  Bring the water back to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  Taste it.  Does it taste good?  Remember, this isn't an exact science.  Adjust if you need to by adding fruit to make it 'fruitier'.

Pour the hot mixture into the gallon jar and add pure water almost to the top, then let it cool to room temperature.  Now add the cup of 'ginger bug'.  Don't worry if some of the root gets in the mix.  It won't hurt anything.

Stir well and cover with a bit of cheesecloth.  Leave it on the counter to sit and stir it several times a day.   The longer it sits, the more sugars will be consumed.  I usually let mine sit for about three days.  I like my soda a little sweeter.  But leave it out longer if you like a dryer soda.  It's all up to you.  Don't go longer than 7 days though.

To bottle it, just strain it and pour it into a bottle you can seal.  I invested in flip top bottles, but old sparkling apple juice bottles with corks would work fine too.  Leave the bottles out one day for the fermentation process to continue.   Then put them in the refrigerator.  If you leave them on the counter too long, they could explode.

I haven't had a bottle blow up yet and I've made a ton of these delicious drinks.  But to be on the safe side, I do  put my bottles in a big soup pot with a lid.  If it does blow, the pot will contain the mess.

And be careful when you open them.  I usually open them outside because they can spout just like champagne when they're opened.  No one wants to be cleaning soda off the ceiling!

Pour into a glass with ice and feel proud that you are serving your family something healthy and delicious.  Kind'a like what we used to get at the soda fountain in Newcastle.