Summer solstice wild abundance soda
This summer solstice I started my first batch of wild soda of the year! Many of my ancestors lived in a tropical climate in the Philippines, where acidity and salt play large roles in transforming and preserving foods, so I have a deep respect and fascination with fermentation, and making wild sodas is one way I stay in relationship with the cultures around and inside me.
There are a few ways to ferment a wild soda. In this process, wild yeasts and sugar from local plants and raw honey make magic together, and you end up with a gut supporting beverage that's sweet, tart, sparkling, and gently infused with medicinal properties of plants! Wildcrafter and teacher Pascal Baudar even encourages making soda with mushrooms, which I’m excited to try in the fall. It’s an interesting and low-resource preparation that you can start any time of year to highlight local and seasonal flavors, though it is quickest to make during the warmer months.
Image above: silvery mugwort and yarrow ready to become soda!
Wild abundance soda (cold water method)
Directions:
To a clean 1/2gal glass jar, add:
1 cup combined of fresh and freshly-dried mugwort, yarrow, and rosemary
1/2 C raw honey
Top with filtered and dechlorinated water. To dechlorinate tap water, leave it out overnight + the chlorine will evaporate.
Cover the jar mouth with clean cloth or coffee filter and a rubber band. This way air gets in but bugs stay out.
Stir the mixture a couple times each day. Once it starts bubbling, ferment another 24-48 hours, stirring and tasting daily. When it tastes kinda fizzy, strain out the herbs. Then cap the jar, or transfer to a glass flip-top bottle.
Let carbonation build up in the bottle for 24-48 hours (sometimes longer, but pop the top daily to release some pressure so your bottle doesn’t explode). When it’s to your satisfaction, serve cold and garnished with fresh herbs and flowers! You can store the soda in the fridge for 3 months if you somehow don’t drink it all right away. The carbonation fades after storing in the fridge a while but it’ll still taste good and funky.
More methods:
You can use fresh or dried fruit/herbs/flowers in your soda. I always add about a cup of plant material — a lil less if using all dried, or a lil more if using all fresh — but try out different measurements to suit your tastes.
Another method for brewing soda is to start with a hot infusion using all the same measurements. This method will create a stronger flavor and draw out the plant medicine like herbal tea. Make a hot infusion by pouring just-boiled water over the herbs. Let the infusion cool to room temperature *before* adding honey. Continue with the fermentation process as listed above.
To play with flavor notes, try combinations of fresh and dried herbs, or a combination of cold and hot infusions. You can also use different kinds of sugars and add culture starters to help your fermentation along.
Image above: past batch of fizzy herbal soda in a fancy glass - photographed with percy’s kitchen experiments
Resources
Pascal Baudar has a few great books about wild ferments, and the Noma Guide to Fermentation has regular use in my kitchen. Free resources, check out: We Are What We Need: Intro to Fermentation from a knowledge share with Sidekick Ferments.