What pairs best with the holiday? Glad you asked, we recommend the Tumeric Cardamom Fizz from DIY Kombucha. We’re sharing the recipe so you can make one and cheers to your dream projects becoming a reality.

If you are looking for a fun, inclusive recipe to enjoy this holiday season, look no further. DIY Kombucha offers several recipes to help you brew kombucha, Jun, wild-fermented sodas, and even water kefir. This accessible and highly visual how-to guide shows how sparkling homebrews are possible for just about anyone to make, and fun to do, too. Today’s recipe is for a Turmeric Cardamom Fizz, which is not only delicious but medicinally beneficial too!

Turmeric Cardamom Fizz

Turmeric is a medicinal and culinary root that gives this soda the most beautiful golden color. The earthy flavor of turmeric is balanced with the floral notes in the cardamom pods. The black pepper may seem out of place, but turmeric has a special affinity for black pepper. They are very often added together in a variety of curry dishes, and as science is catching up with traditional wisdom, we now know that black pepper works synergistically with turmeric to intensify its anti-inflammatory properties. Use fresh ginger when available; powdered is fine too. To serve, tip the bottle gently to mix the turmeric back in before pouring.

Equipment

• A pot with at least 4 quarts (4L) capacity
• Grater
• Funnel
• Strainer
• Measuring cups
• Wooden spoon or spatula
• Swing-top glass beer bottles to 4 quarts total capacity
• 4-quart jar or bucket
• Cloth with rubber band to cover jar or bucket (optional: if you want to produce more alcohol)

Ingredients

• Water (2 quarts + 2 quarts)
• 1-1⁄2 cups sugar
• 1⁄4 cup fresh ginger, grated and packed to measure
• 2 “fingers” fresh turmeric (about 2 TB grated) or 3⁄4 TB turmeric powder
• 10 black peppercorns
• 14 green cardamom pods, crushed
• Juice of 1 lemon

Culture options (choose one):

• Either 1⁄4 cup strained volume of active ginger bug
• Or use 1 cup whey from coconut kefir or dairy kefir
• Or use 3–5 tablespoons water kefir grains (spare or backup ones—water kefir grains prefer plain water and sugar, but can be cycled through to make a batch of root beer from time to time)

Method

1. Brew a flavorful, sweetened turmeric and cardamom tea 
   Boil 2 quarts of water stirring in the sugar and herbs. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add citrus juice. Add 2 quarts cold water to cool the mixture. Cool the mixture to lukewarm or room temperature.
2. Add Micro-Organisms (Culture)
   Add the culture into the cooled tea and stir well. (If you are using the ginger bug and want to perpetuate it, see the ginger beer recipe for instructions.)
3. Bottle and Ferment
   Strain mixture into a bucket or jar. For nonalcoholic soda, you will want to bottle it soon. Funnel mixture into bottles and seal them. Let the bottles sit at room temperature for at least 4 days. Check the bottles daily by burping them, and move to the fridge when they start to get carbonated. This may take up to 10 days or so, depending which culture you used or how active your culture was when you added it.

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