Fermented Blood Orange Soda
What's so special about Blood Oranges?
Blood oranges are a unique and distinctive variety of oranges known for their vibrant, crimson-colored flesh. The deep red or purple hue of their flesh comes from a type of antioxidant pigment called anthocyanin, which is not commonly found in citrus fruits.
Blood oranges are a seasonal fruit, and their peak season varies depending on the specific variety and the region where they are grown. They are often available from late winter to early or late spring.
Like other citrus fruits, blood oranges are a good source of vitamin C, which is essential for a healthy immune system. They also contain other vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, potassium, and dietary fiber.
How to Make Fermented Blood Orange Soda
We're going to begin with our starter culture aka the mother.
Other fermented drinks have different starters, like Kombucha has a SCOBY, with Kefir, you have Kefir grains.
When it comes to my drinks, I like to make my starters from scratch using the fruit or vegetable that is the protagonist of the recipe, the main reason for this is I know where it comes from this way and I don't want to compromise the flavour by bringing in different microorganisms, plus it's super easy to do.
Blood Orange Starter
Ingredients & Equipment:
- Blood Oranges freshly squeezed
- A few tablespoons of Sugar (Raw Cane Sugar if possible)
- 500ml Water - Filtered if possible as to avoid chemicals in the water
- Kilner Jar or alternative jar that can be sealed airtight
To make this we're going to take our water and add it to our sterilised kilner jar (or similar) and we're going to squeeze half a blood orange in there and add a tablespoon of sugar (raw cane sugar if possible).
We're going to leave this out a room temperature and we're going add the same amount of blood orange juice and sugar to the mix daily until we start to see bubbles forming.
This length of time for this process can vary depending on temperature of the room, but expect it to take anywhere between 3 and 10 days.
Fermented Blood Orange Soda
Ingredients to make 1 litre of soda:
- 50g Blood Orange Starter
- 200g Freshly Squeezed Blood Orange Juice
- 70g Sugar (Raw Cane Sugar if possible)
- 700g water (filtered water)
We're going to take 50g of our starter and add it to 700g of water in a freshly sterilised container and then we'll mix in our sugar and squeeze in some more blood orange juice.
Seal it in the container and leave out at ambient temperatures until it looks fizzy.
Once it's there, transfer it to a sterilised bottle or bottles of your choice. I usually then refrigerate it at below 5°C and leave it for a day or 2 before checking to see if the secondary (in the bottle) fermentation has kicked in.
If it's not fizzy enough for you, you can leave it out at ambient temperatures overnight to get it to your liking.
It will most likely last for about 4 weeks in the fridge.