Thanks to my friend, Julie, for suggesting I try making the fermented Lemonade Punch recipe from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. It takes a little time juicing the lemons, but it’s a very easy recipe, and my family loved it. We rarely have anything besides milk, water, or Kombucha, so it was a big treat! (I want to try the recipe for the raspberry punch next…)
Fermented foods and drinks are very beneficial to our bodies because of the healthy bacteria and enzymes they produce for a healthy digestive tract and the way they boost our immune systems. Read more from the Weston A. Price Foundation about the benefits of fermentation.
FERMENTED LEMONADE PUNCH
photo by Darwin Bell
- Juice of 4 lemons (organic is best)
- 1/4 c. Rapadura (the least refined type of sugar – your grocery or health food store has it)
- 1/4 c. whey (be sure to use homemade whey, not concentrated or powdered whey)
- 1/4 t. grated nutmeg (after our 2nd batch, we decided we like it better without this)
- 1 quart filtered water
- Optional: another 1/4 c. sugar after it’s done fermenting (it was too tart for us and this extra sugar was just what it needed)
Sally’s recipe in the cookbook was for double this amount and she said to place all ingredients into a 2-quart glass container, but my 2-quart glass jars were filled to 3/4 with only half of her recipe (the amounts above). Cover tightly and leave at room temperature for 2-3 days. Skim off any foam that may have risen to the top. Cover tightly and refrigerate. The punch will develop more flavor over time. (Note, don’t expect a nice light yellow pretty color for this punch – it’s darker in color due to the Rapadura in the recipe!)
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Julie 05.21.08 at 3:36 am
Thanks for this recipe, Kelly. I prepared it yesterday and am eagerly waiting to see how it turns out! I’ll let you know…
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Bamboo 05.30.08 at 8:12 am
Kelly,
Great recipe! I halved your recipe because I only have 1 QT jars.
The first time I made it there were a few white growths floating on top that looked like mold. I skimmed them off and drank it. It was refreshing and delicious. I wondered if it was because I used the plastic lid instead of the ring and it wasn’t a tight seal. Well, this morning (on my second batch, second day) I found a bunch of white moldy-looking round floaties and I used a ring lid this time. Does that happen to you also when you make this? I’m still getting use to the whole lacto-fermenting thing.
Thanks,
Beth
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop 05.30.08 at 9:55 am
Hi Beth,
When I make it there are definitely floaties and foam, but I skim off what I can and shake the rest up and just tell myself it’s pulp as I drink it. It has no off flavor, so I don’t think it’s mold.
I use the plastic lids, too, but I’ve never had moldy looking round floaties…
I’m not sure what’s happening with yours?!
I know someone who may know (Lynn Cameron), I’ll e-mail her and ask her to post here.
Kelly
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Lynn 05.30.08 at 6:38 pm
Kelly and Beth,
Those floaters might be teeny, tiny bits of protein from the whey starter culture. Maybe straining the whey through several layers of cheesecloth would help.
It could also be mold; not all has odor or taste to humans. You could try a tsp. of raw cider vinegar to the finished product – it wouldn’t affect the taste but the acidity would make the mold unhappy. Also, a drop or two of a food-grade essential oil would completely get rid of the mold – lemon, orange, grapefruit, tangerine, cinnamon.
I make a fermented non-dairy drink with washed kefir grains when I have extra. They can be trained to like glucose (rapadura) almost as much as lactose (milk) but they exhaust sooner and don’t proliferate. I’ve not observed mold on it, but there’s sediment on the bottom that goes into my garden, not my mouth.
See Jessica Prentice’s FULL MOON FEAST for a lovely cooking book full of her interpretation of Sally Fallon’s and Dr. Price’s work. There’s recipes in there for fermented drinks.
Keep up the good work, you fabulous young mothers!!
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop 05.30.08 at 6:57 pm
Lynn,
I’m so thankful to have someone like you to turn to for help with these things – thank you for being a great mentor!
Kelly
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Julie 05.31.08 at 4:17 pm
Kelly, my lemonade turned out great. It seems to get “bubblier” every day. I love the subtle carbonation. It reminds me of a drink that Pa might have had after a long day of field work in “The Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder! Very refreshing and restorative.
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Bamboo 06.07.08 at 2:15 pm
Kelly and Lynn,
Thanks so much for your input. I’m trying it again. I strained the whey as I poured it from the jar to measure it this time. One thing I noticed that I did wrong the other 2 times was that I filled the jar instead of *just* putting in the amount of water you said. So I probably put 1 cup extra water. This time I measured right. I’ll add water when it’s done to stretch it out. Since I only have quart jars I’m halving your recipe and just doing it in qt. jar.
If I understand correctly, you wouldn’t add the apple cider vinegar until *after* it’s done fermenting, right? And then only if there was mold that I wanted to get rid of before drinking (after I skim out any I see)? Same with essential oils? After it’s done, or would you ferment it WITH the cider vinegar or essential oil?
Rasberry punch…mmm. Let us know how it turns out! I finally got my NT from the library that had been checked out for at least a month on hold. I’ll go look it up right now.
Beth
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Theresa 01.04.09 at 7:20 pm
Hi Kelly,
My punch was finished today and it tastes great! There wasn’t any foam or bubbling so I’m wondering if it is “done”. (I know that when I soak my oatmeal it usually has bubbles coming up in the liquid before I cook it.) I’m wondering if my punch might need to sit out longer. Any thoughts?
Thanks for your wonderful blog!
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Kelly 01.04.09 at 9:38 pm
Hi Theresa,
I think that if you taste a bit of a fermented twang then it’s probably fine, but if you want to leave it longer, it won’t hurt it. Good luck!
Beth, I see your questions were not answered from back in June – sorry! I was hoping Lynn would answer, because I don’t know what to tell you with that. Maybe she’ll see this one and be reminded and pop back in to answer.
Kelly
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Amy 05.01.09 at 8:15 am
Can’t wait to try! Even though I have Sally F’s cookbook, thanks for bringing to light a recipe I know everyone around here would love.
Amy’s last blog post..Handle with prayer
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Laura 05.01.09 at 8:25 pm
Kelly, will the sugar be converted into enzymes probiotics, etc. like Kombucha with this Lemonade?
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Kelly 05.03.09 at 12:02 pm
Laura, yes, it will for the sugar added before it ferments, I don’t think so for the sugar added after.
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Laura 05.03.09 at 4:39 pm
Many thanks for your quick reponse. I’m so excited…the Lemonade is sitting on my counter fermenting! I am enjoying all you have here for us to read. I’m your new fan!!
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Kelly 05.03.09 at 8:42 pm
Thanks so much for reading, Laura!
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Alchemille 06.18.09 at 11:01 pm
Can you replace sugar with another sweetener such as honey or maple syrup?
.
Thanks
Alchemille’s last blog post..Kraut Pounder
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Kelly 06.19.09 at 10:16 am
Alchemille, sorry I don’t know. You could give it a shot! Let us know how it works.
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Jeanmarie 08.08.09 at 10:52 pm
Honey doesn’t work so well for fermentation because it is naturally anti-bacterial. It may work eventually but it will be much slower than other sweeteners. Judging from the honey wine I tried recently (mead) it will taste a lot better just eating it from the spoon than using it for fermentation. I don’t know any reason why maple syrup wouldn’t work, but the flavor may be too strong, and even weird. The bland, plain sugars are ideal for fermentation because they don’t add their own flavor, you can easily flavor with fruits, spices, etc.
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keithkuhn 08.19.09 at 5:16 pm
Can one use plastic water bottles that are BPA free(bought at Whole Foods) for making Lacto drinks?
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KitchenKop 08.20.09 at 12:14 am
Keith, I still wouldn’t because BPA is just the most *popular* toxin in plastics, I’m sure there are other chemicals to be concerned about, too. With glass I just know I don’t have to worry.
Kelly
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Cori 01.13.10 at 10:29 pm
Any ideas for people who can’t have dairy? My breastfeeding son is very sensitive to cow dairy and somewhat to goat as well. No whey for me for the next year or so – any help out there?
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KitchenKop 01.13.10 at 11:24 pm
Cori, give me some more info and I’ll try to help. Are you looking specifically for a non-dairy fermented drink?
Kelly
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