I finally had enough time and counter space to start a ginger bug, something I've been meaning and wanting to do for a long time now. You simply take equal amount of grated ginger, sugar and water, stir them together well and then continue to 'feed' the starter with equal amounts of ginger and sugar for seven to ten days. After seven days the combination should start to bubble and produce a yeasty, fermented smell. The ginger bug can then be used to make homemade sodas. Mine has been going for seven days now and has not started bubbling yet, although I will give it some more time before starting new as the temperature can affect the fermentation process and my kitchen may not always be consistently toasty.
Once it is ready you can take 1/4 cup of the liquid from the ginger bug and mix it with your favorite ingredients to make a natural soda. Herbal tea can be the base as can fruit juices.
I used the recipe from my Nourishing Traditions book to make my ginger bug and here's a link to another recipe from Wellness Mama
As with anything fermented you will find many different recipes and methods for making a ginger bug and then your ginger sodas and they likely all work. Why? Because fermenting is far from an exact science. You may find some recipes that add commercial yeast to their ginger bug, same as some add yeast to their sourdough, however in my experience and research wild yeasts are extremely active and productive and commercial yeasts are often unnecessary.
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