About the Recipe
Get ready to fizz things up the natural way with this Fermented Elderberry Soda. Through mild fermentation, elderberry syrup becomes a gently sparkling, tangy drink that’s loaded with probiotics and deep berry flavor. It’s a fun, health-conscious alternative to store-bought sodas—perfect for sipping on warm days or adding a probiotic boost to your routine.
Recipe Ingredients
Wild Yeast Starter
100 g Dried elderberries (1 cup)
100 g sugar
500 g non-chlorinated water
Elderberry Soda
3 L water
1 cup fresh, dried or freeze dried elderberries
1/4 cup sliced ginger fresh or dried
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
10 cloves (optional)
3/4 cup sugar or honey for fermentation.
Preparation
Wild Yeast Starter
Combine the elderberries, sugar, and water in a quart-sized jar. Cover it with a tea towel and secure it with a rubber band or a fermenting airlock system.
Stir once per day. Within 4-5 days, you should start to see bubbles forming. Strain out the elderberries when ready to make the soda.
Elderberry Soda
Once your starter is active set aside
Combine the water, elderberries, ginger, and cinnamon stick in a wide-mouth gallon jar and stir in the honey.
Use only ripe American Elderberries, they do not need to be heated for this recipe.
Add the strained elderberry starter (or ginger bug) to the gallon jar. Cover the jar with cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band. Place it in a cool, dark spot to ferment, stirring vigorously daily.
You should see active fermentation in a day or two. Let it ferment for 5-7 days, then strain and transfer to flip-top bottles.
Let the bottles sit at room temperature for a day or two to build carbonation, then refrigerate.