Ha ha! I think that I have a "hotel chain" of SCOBYs now. :D


Lavender sounds wonderful! I just made some Rose Geranium syrup...that might be good!? I added some hibiscus flowers to the last batch for color. We'll see how it turns out.

~ C

I haven't seen the extract either. I'm going for the actual roots in this recipe. The only thing that is bottled in the recipe is the wintergreen oil. I've never tried it, so we'll see.

~ C

I know, mine is 5 star! I had so many I had to put them out in my composter and just keep a couple.

I just got this book: Sacred & Herbal Healing Beers the Secrets of Ancient Fermentation by Stephen Harrod Buhner. I ordered it with my roots (for making root beer) from Mountain Rose Herbs. This is a really Cool book! Lots of great information about the history of herbalism, the making of meads, beer and ales and some very unusual recipes like Borage Ale, Wild Lettuce Ale, as well as more common brews such several kinds of Ginger beers, Spruce Beers, and hops ales. Even if I don't ever make anything from the recipes, it's good reading.

~ C

I will check that out Tropit. Sounds like my kind of book!

Years ago someone gave me a scobi and I was making kombucha. Broke my gallon jar so I stopped. Want to start again. Where can I get a scobi these days?

This may be a little off topic but there is a local restaurant that makes homemade gingerale and it's absolutely fabulous.

I have my ginger bug going! I have a heated mat that it is on to keep warm. Can hardly wait to try it.

So, yesterday I made some root beer. The smell that it created throughout the house was wonderful! I used various roots and my ginger bug, which was not super fizzy, but it was, "zingy," when I touched it to my tongue. I hope that it works OK. I came across many recipes that were close to mine, but they just added seltzer water to the mixture, so if the ginger bug doesn't work, that's what I'll do...add seltzer to the glass when I pour the root beer.

Now I have to wait awhile. It's been very cool here lately, so I think that the fermentation will be slow going until the weather gets warmer.

The roots were expensive, (about $70,) but they should make about 10-12, 1 gallon batches, so I guess that's not too bad. Plus, we'll get to drink root beer all summer long.

~ C

My mother used to make homemade root beer. She'd take sugar, root beer extract and yeast; mix it in a large crock, fill sterilized bottles and seal with a cap gizmo. She'd lay the bottles on their sides in a warm place, cover with a heavy tarp (in case one of the bottles decided to let loose) for two weeks. She'd then refrigerate it all to keep the fermentation from going any further.