How to Use Your Ginger Bug

Here’s a general formula for making your own 1-gallon recipe.

Author: Kami McBride

Boil 8 cups of water.
Add your choice of herbs. When calculating amounts, keep in mind this recipe makes 16 cups total.
Add 1½ cups of sugar to your herbal tea base. The sugar is essential to the fermentation process – it’s food for the yeast – so it’s important to include it.
Boil for 15 minutes, then remove from heat.
Strain your ginger bug.
Once the tea has cooled completely, add your strained ginger bug to the tea.
Add enough water to make 1 gallon (about 8 more cups).
Bottle in flip-top sealable bottles.
Leave to ferment for about two weeks. It’s done when it’s fizzy and carbonated after you flip the top. Transfer the bottles to your fridge to slow the fermentation process (and prevent them from exploding!) once you reach your desired level of fizziness.
It is important to “burp” or open your bottles to release the fizziness.