The following is a guest recipe for Sparkling Probiotic Cherry Soda from Kirsten McCormick who blogs at Cheerfully Imperfect about real food, parenting, health, crunchy life with 4 kids and other cheerful imperfections.
When the weather starts to warm up, I trade in my nutrient dense hot chocolate for cooler, more refreshing drinks. I’ve enjoyed making kefir soda for a couple of years now and I love it because not only does it taste delicious, but because it is lacto-fermented it’s full of probiotics and vitamins!
Lacto-fermented foods and drinks have been prepared and consumed by every culture around the world for thousands of years. They help to build up the beneficial bacterias in our guts and can help heal:
- Food allergies
- Yeast infections
- Compromised immunity
This are just some of the many benefits of consuming probiotics regularly. It’s easy to work them into your diet—just make fun recipes, like this delicious and refreshing probiotic cherry soda!
Sparkling Probiotic Cherry Soda
Ingredients
In order to make kefir sodas, you need to have starter cultures and follow the instructions for the first ferment of homemade soda. Following these instructions beginning with the second ferment.
- 1 gallon kefir water (after completed first ferment)
- 2 cups organic cherry juice
Directions
Strain out water kefir grains and mix with juice.
Pour into swing top bottles and set on counter to ferment for 24 hours. Swing-top lids help create bubbles and fizz in the second ferment, but be careful when opening as them can build up pressure!
After 24 hours, test one and see if it is fizzy enough for you. If so, transfer to the fridge or enjoy over ice.
If you would like it to get fizzier, set on counter and check every 6 to 12 hours.
If you find that it is too sour for your taste, you can add a little bit of honey or stevia to the finished batch. Enjoy!
About Kirsten
“Somewhere along my journey I realized that contrary to my natural inclination, burning the candle at both ends and packing my schedule full did not lead to contentment. The more I try to do at one time, the faster life seems to slip by. I don’t want life to slip by. I don’t want to miss a single moment with my amazing husband or my four precious children. So, I imagined what an ideal day looked like and what I wanted to spend each day doing. Instead of hoping for someday, I called that day, “Today.” That is why I homeschool. Because my perfect day is spent with my kids. That is why I cook wholesome food from scratch. Because I want good health for them right now. That is why I sing, read, walk, swim and write. Because my perfect day has time for those things. Not someday. Today.”
Cheerfully Imperfect, Kirsten
Pin it here!
