18 Jul Three citrus ginger beer for a heatwave
The most refreshing of fermented drinks
The school field looked like the Savanna yesterday when we were there for Sports Day, so it’s fair to say the summers are getting hotter in the UK. And for hotter summers, we need more refreshing drinks, like this three citrus ginger beer. I think the name somewhat hints at how refreshing this ginger beer is. You can’t get much more refreshing than three types of citrus and a fermented soda in my book.
The ginger bug
To make the ginger bug, grate about 15g of organic ginger into a sterilised jar. Add 15g of sugar and about 300ml filtered water. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Cover with a muslin or tea towel secured with a rubber band. Leave at room temperature for 4 days, every day adding the same amount of sugar and ginger and stirring it in. After 4 days, you should see some bubbles, this is the moment to use half of the ginger bug. You can leave the other half in the fridge and wake it up in the future by repeating the process for 2 days at room temperature.
Recipe for three citrus ginger beer
Once you have the ginger bug, you can make any ginger beer soda with it. Take out the ginger bug you need and keep the rest in the fridge. It’s difficult to say how long it will last, but I’ve used mine after about 6 weeks and it was fine. To use it, you need to wake it up by adding more ginger and sugar and keeping at room temperature for 24 hours.
Three citrus ginger beer for a heatwave
Course: DrinksDifficulty: Intermediate6
servingsThe most refreshing ginger beer I know. You will need the ginger bug described in the post. You make the ginger tea, by simmering 1 inch of chopped ginger in 500ml water for 10min, sweetening with 1 teaspoon of cane sugar or 1 tablespoon of honey, then leaving to cool.
Ingredients
150ml ginger bug
450ml sweet ginger tea, cooled
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of half a lime
Juice of half a lemon
Squeeze of agave
Directions
- Once the ginger tea is tepid, you can combine it with the ginger bug in a large jar. Cover with a tea towel or muslin and secure with a rubber band. Leave for 2-3 days (2 when it’s hot, 3 when it’s cool).
- Sieve the ginger out of the ginger beer and pour it into a sterilised bottle.
- Combine the juices together and add them to the bottle. Add a squeeze of agave. Seal the bottle closed.
- We need to leave it for a further 2-3 days to get the fizz. After 24 hours open the bottle to burp it and check if there are any bubbles. If it’s already quite fizzy, then you can transfer it to the fridge and drink within 2 weeks.