This soda is so refreshing it’s insane!
It’s not grapefruit season but I just love pink grapefruit on a hot day and they have been dynamite! My son decided it’s his favorite fruit ever times a thousand, after years of me trying to convince him it was even edible. Funny how that goes.
I also made grapefruit simple syrup, which I’ve been putting on top of his grapefruit, so that probably explains some of his new obsession!
I also made this syrup and this soda for a fun adult treat… a very special version of a vodka grapefruit, aka a Greyhound. I’ll post that whole recipe soon but in the meantime, this soda is great on its own and just so refreshing.
I used my water kefir to culture this soda; it carbonates so quickly and I wanted it ready in time for the weekend. But you could just as easily use a ginger bug culture or your carbonating culture of choice.
Now let’s do this!
You will need:
- Knife & cutting board
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Liter fliptop bottle
- Bottling funnel
- Fine mesh strainer
- Quart mason jar with tight-fitting lid
- Suggested: citrus juice press
Ingredients:
- Juice of 2-3 grapefruits (~1.5 cups juice)
- 2.5 cups filtered or distilled water (or more as needed to fill fliptop bottle)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ~6-7 large basil leaves, muddled
- 1/4 cup water kefir culture (or substitute with ginger bug or other culture)
- Optional: 1 tsp citric acid (to increase tartness)
Directions:
1.) Cut and juice the grapefruits. Pass the juice through fine mesh strainer a few times until it is free of pulp and debris.
2.) Place the juice in a mason jar and add the muddled basil and sugar. Shake vigorously to dissolve the sugar. Let sit for 1-2 hours to absorb the basil flavor.
3.) Add the water kefir culture to the fliptop bottle using bottling funnel.
4.) Then strain the basil from the grapefruit and add the juice to the fliptop bottle.
5.) Lastly, add enough water to the bottle to reach about 2″ below the opening. Seal and let stand at room temperature for around 36-48 hours, or until obvious signs of carbonation occur. Then transfer to the refrigerator overnight. It is now ready to drink!
Notes:
Water kefir can be considerably more active than ginger bug cultures and can sometimes carbonate in as quickly as one day. It is okay to burp the jar once a day to see what the carbonation is like.
