[charmcitysking]

Awesome posts, Kaiser and Tanada - Many thanks!

edit: Awesome posts everyone. Really cool thread.

[Ibon]

Lately, what speaks to me most is ginger. Ginger tea and ginger beer, the "hotter" the better, and not so much ginger ale which is way too sweet. I haven't figured that one out yet.

Got a great project for you KJ. Go to your nearest Beer brewing supplier and get some packets of champagne yeast. you can purchase some bottle caps and the bottle cap clamper. Get some old beer bottles and wash them well.

Blend fresh ginger in a blender and put through a sieve. add water and sugar. You can add pineapple juice from a fresh pineapple. Here in Panama they are only 50 cents. Add water and sugar to your taste. Now you have about a gallon of liquid. Add the champagne yeast, stir well, fill all the bottles and cap the bottles and put under your sink in a dark place.

The fermentation happens within 48 hours but you need a control so the last bottle you fill is just a common small plastic water bottle with a screw on cap. Put this control under the sink with the capped bottles. Every day sample the brew from the plastic water bottle until the fermentation and natural carbonation is just right. Then put all your bottles in the refidgerator and consume within the next 14 days.

Natural ginger ale, naturally carbonated, and you can make endless combinations.

Here in Panama fresh ginger and pineapple costs pennies. We brew up 24 bottles at a time and sell this to guests at $ 2.50 a bottle....... so much better than soda.

We do the same with wild black berries, naranjilla, passion fruit, citrus, loquat, and any combination of the above. Seasonally fresh fruit turned into naturally carbonated drinks.

By far our ginger pineapple combination is the most popular.