Naturally fermented turmeric soda is a delicious way to enjoy the health benefits of turmeric. Turmeric soda is an easy natural soda recipe made using a ginger bug. It’s vibrant, healthy, fizzy, and has an amazing taste!
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Fermenting Turmeric for Soda
You might remember a while back I made a turmeric bug, which is basically a “starter” for making fermented sodas.
The turmeric bug started bubbling away very quickly, within only a few days, which was really exciting.
That means it’s time to make a naturally fermented turmeric soda!
This is similar to how one would make a traditional ginger beer using a ginger bug, but with turmeric root instead.
Related: 12 Fermented Soda Recipes
How to Make Fermented Turmeric Soda
The first step in making this recipe is to get a turmeric bug going. Once you have at least ½ cup or more of bubbling turmeric bug starter, then you can proceed with this recipe.
The ginger and peppercorns are optional, but recommended ingredients. I think the ginger gives it a little bit more flavor, and the peppercorns increase the bioavailability of the turmeric.
I think that one cup of sugar is perfect in this recipe, but you may want to add a little more if you like things on the sweeter side.
Make the Turmeric Soda Base
Bring the turmeric root, ginger, and peppercorns to a boil in about two quarts (8 cups) of filtered water.
Simmer for at least 30 minutes to make a strong turmeric tea.
Let it cool a bit, then strain out the spices.
Put the turmeric tea into a wide-mouth gallon glass jar (make sure it’s not too hot so the glass doesn’t break), add the sugar, and stir to dissolve.
Fill up the jar with cold filtered water, leaving several inches of head space.
Once the mixture has completely come down to room temperature, add the turmeric bug.
Stir the turmeric bug into the turmeric soda until combined.
If you want to keep your turmeric bug going, leave a few tablespoons out and continue feeding it as described in my post on how to make a turmeric bug.
Cover the jar with cheesecloth or a clean towel secured with a rubber band.
Ferment the Turmeric Soda
Put the jar in a dark and quiet corner of your kitchen. Check on it daily and give it a good stir. It should start bubbling within the first day or two.
Since it was fairly cold in my kitchen, I let the soda ferment for about 3-4 days. In warmer temps, it may only take a day or two.
Bottle the Turmeric Soda
Once you are ready to bottle the turmeric soda, first strain out the pieces of turmeric that were from the bug.
Then use a funnel to transfer the soda into flip top bottles. Let the bottles sit at room temperature for a few days to a few weeks to build up carbonation.
Again, if it is warm out it will only take a few days to build up carbonation, and if it’s cold it may take a week or two.
Be sure to check the pressure by opening a bottle every couple of days to make sure that they aren’t building up too much to cause bottle breakage!
Refrigerate once the fermented turmeric soda is to your liking.
My soda has been sitting in the bottles for about a week, and some carbonation has built up.
I tend to like mine really fizzy though, so I’m going to let them sit for a few more days before I refrigerate them.
This fermented turmeric soda turned out absolutely delicious! I love the turmeric flavor, it’s interesting and different, but quite good.
It’s so nice to have a healthy and homemade alternative to regular store-bought sodas, with the added benefit of anti-inflammatory turmeric.
Have you ever made a naturally fermented soda? What is your favorite flavor?
Naturally Fermented Soda Recipes
Here are some more naturally fermented soda recipes for you to try.
- Strawberry Rhubarb Soda
- Fermented Root Beer
- Fermented Elderberry Soda
- Elderberry Soda
- Sweet Potato Kvass
- Kefir Soda
- Winter Herb Kvass
- Pine Needle Soda
- Strawberry Water Kefir Soda
Fermented Turmeric Soda
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6″ piece fresh turmeric peeled and sliced
- 1″ piece fresh ginger peeled and sliced (optional)
- 1 tsp black peppercorns (optional)
- 14-16 cups filtered water divided
- 1 cup sugar or more to taste
- 1/2 cup turmeric bug
Instructions
- Place the turmeric root, ginger, and peppercorns in a medium pot along with 8 cups of filtered water. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat, then cool slightly (just until it's not hot enough to crack a glass jar). Strain the turmeric tea into a wide mouth gallon jar.
- Add the sugar to the turmeric tea and stir to dissolve.
- Add additional filtered water to the jar, leaving 2-3" inches of headspace. Cool to room temperature.
- Add the turmeric bug to the cooled turmeric tea, then stir well. Cover the jar with cheesecloth secured with a rubber band.
- Place the jar in a dark corner. Stir once a day. It should start bubbling within a day or two. Ferment to taste, anywhere from 1-2 days in a warmer spot to 3-4 days in a cooler location.
- When you're ready to bottle, strain the soda to filter out the pieces from the turmeric bug. Use a funnel to transfer the soda into flip top bottles. Set the bottles aside at room temperature for a few days to a few weeks to build up carbonation. Refrigerate once fermented to your preference.
Am I meant to put the whole bug into the second lot or just the juice from it?
Not the author but I do tumeric soda and ginger ale a lot. I usually put in the whole bug, let it sit for a while filter it out again before bottling. I then use some of the solids and some of the liquid to start a new bug.
Hi guys,
Love the article and I have a question? How many time I can keep in the fridge?
Thank you very much
The turmeric sodas will last for a few months in the fridge!
For those of us who do not eat any processed sugar or processed sugar products, can Erithrytol be substituted for the sugar?
Hi Mary, unfortunately in order to ferment some kind of real sugar needs to be used. Honey may work as a substitute if you’d like to try that. One thing to consider is that there is minimal sugar left in the final product because most of it is “eaten” by the beneficial bacteria during fermentation.
What do you do with the left over turmeric and ginger from the tea making process?
I was wondering how half ginger and half turmeric would work? For flavor and economy….in my area…turmeric is a terrible price.. Also does this work with most recipes for ginger bug? See a lot of those around.
TIA
I have a ginger bug and sometimes add turmeric instead of ginger. I’ve never (yet) had any problem doing this.
Good morning!
Having great luck so far, except I went camping and didn’t stir my soda once in the three days it sat with the cheese cloth…just stired really good but this was the first time in the three days. No bubbles or anything. Will it be fine if I let it sit a couple more days, Or should I bottle it up now? Been loving your web site! Thanks
Hi there..I’m type 1 diabetic,but …very interested in all you share with turmeric bugs..and making into soda….does the sugar break down in fermentation,where it becomes less,or is it full blown sugar ?
The sugar does get reduced, but I can’t say for sure how much less.
Can green tea be used in making turmeric soda
I think it probably could, just make sure it’s room temperature before adding the turmeric bug.
This looks amazing. I have a bunch of fresh tumeric I wasn’t sure how I was going to use. I think this may be it. So excited to try it!
I love this drink, but can’t seem to get it to fizz. Also, I have gotten a mold on the bug, so will be discarding it into my compost. I have used my faucet filtered water and tried spring water, but neither have produced any carbonation. I have been using organic cane sugar. What do you think is the problem?
I’m not sure, was the turmeric bug active at all before making the soda? It sounds like maybe it wasn’t if it has developed mold, so that may be the issue.
This must be one of the most stomach-friendly drinks in the world! I know turmeric is known to help with stomach issues, but then add in probiotics and I can’t even imagine what it could do for me! The end product looks almost like orange juice! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
When you say, add probiotics, how do you do this and is there a particular probotic you have to use? Thank you Chris
Hi GFCF! I was wondering if I could add lemon juice to the drink? At what step should I add it? I make a turmeric lemonade that tastes awesome. It would be great to add some probiotics to it, too. Thank you!
Yes, I think that would be awesome! I would try adding a little at the same time you add the turmeric bug. It might be something you need to experiment with a bit as far as how much to add.
Thank you for this post! I noticed someone else’s comment mentioning mold on top. Is it possible that thew bacteria in the lacto-fermented drink prevent that mold from spreading any further, or does it not work like that?
No, if there is any fuzzy mold at all it should definitely not be consumed.
Do you have to worry about cross fermentation like with kombucha and jun. I have vessels spread out all over my kitchen now that have to be like 5 ft away from each other. Just finished my turmeric bug and started the gallon vessel for the 1st ferment of the soda and trying to find a place for it lol
I don’t think that’s anything to worry about.
This sounds amazing! I am curious about fermentation: As I am a recovering alcoholic, I want to know if the fermentation process creates a noticeable amount of alcohol….that is I want to avoid the mood altering effects that alcohol produces.
Thank you for this recipe. Looking forward to your other ideas.
Hey, I recently made a ginger bug and then used it to make ginger beer (following your turmeric soda recipe) and I just noticed there’s mold on the top of the liquid.. where did I go wrong? Do I have to throw out the whole batch and start anew, or do you think I can strain off the mold and be ok? (Kinda like cutting mold off of cheese)
I would throw it out and start over… it’s not like cutting mold off cheese in this case, unfortunately. I’m not sure why the mold occurred, but that is something that happens from time to time when fermenting.
Any ideas on what fruit would go well in the tumeric soda?
I personally like it as is, or with some ginger thrown in. Maybe some berries would be nice, though?
I’ve been making lacto fermented soda for a while now. My favorites are fruit juices (apple, grape, cranberry, etc.) Such a fantastic and probiotic rich alternative to gross commercial sodas.
I want to marry you Colleen. OK just a sister wife maybe. Seriously though I use neem and turmeric for healing properties. Does the soda taste like Turmeric or can you do Half Ginger Half Turmeric? I am attempting the ginger bug brew tomorrow. I binged on you blog and now have Mead going as well. What an amazing resource!
Haha, thank you! Yes, you can definitely do half turmeric half ginger, that would be delicious! I happen to love the taste of straight turmeric, but if you don’t this is a good way to compromise :)
Colleen, does the turmeric bug eat the sugar in the soda?
Hi Claudette, yes it will eat some of the sugar in the soda, but I can’t say how much. There is probably a small amount of sugar left in the end.
Hi, what will happen if I put a pinch of yeast in the bottom of the bottle when I bottle.??
I wouldn’t recommend doing that. It would cause more fermentation to happen and that will most likely explode your bottles. If you want to add yeast you need to have an airlock or some way for the carbon dioxide to escape.
There is already yeast in the bottles. That is what is in your turmeric bug causing the soda to ferment. There is no reason to add any more.
Thanks for this.
When looking into tips for water kefir, I’ve read that since honey is antimicrobial, it’s not a good substitute. On the otherhand, mead is a fermented honey beverage.
Also, the microbes consume the glucose, not the fructose, which means you drink the fructose. I was making my water kefir with coconut suger which has more glucose & less fructose & the result wasn’t sweet at all. It was pretty much vinegar. So I tried with table sugar & it was too sweet. I haven’t made any since, but it’s my plan in the future to use half coconut & have cane or whatever.
This is in response to THEREAREBETTERWAYS. I’ve been making water kefir for a long time using half organic coconut palm sugar and half organic cane sugar. It’s been delicious but I noticed the grains Were getting smaller in size. I just recently read that there arent enough nutrients in the coconut sugar to keep the grains healthy so I’ve changed to all cane sugar and will be adding a little molasses in the next batch.
I can’t wait to try this turmeric and ginger bug for soda. I love my kombucha, water and milk kefir but there’s always room for another experiment!
What a great blog…thank you!
Won’t there be some alcohol as an end result of fermentation? Sounds like Turmeric Beer to me!
There will be a small amount of alcohol, yes. Doesn’t seem to be a whole lot, though. If more sugar was added and a longer fermentation time was allowed, you would probably have some turmeric beer on your hands :) Sounds tasty to me!
Hi, I made the turmeric bug when you first posted, but as no soda instructions came through fast enough – it fermented in <3 days – I went ahead and made a secondary fermentation of my Jun tea, using the bug, with a dash of a ginger cordial. It was also ready fast and tasted delicious, thanks :)
Could you replace the sugar with splenda or other sweetner?
No, unfortunately there needs to be some kind of real sugar in order to feed the bacteria that do the fermenting. Honey would most likely work instead. One thing to consider is that most of the sugar is “eaten” by the bacteria, so there really isn’t much left in the end product, just like in kombucha.
Cool idea to turn turmeric into soda. Since I never buy sodas and once in a while get bored by solely drinking tab water, this sounds like a great alternative. Will try!
Do you think honey would be OK instead of sugar? We don’t use sugar.
Yes, you could definitely try honey instead of sugar for the soda. I’m not sure what the results will be as I’ve never tried it, but honey will readily ferment.
I would hesitate to use honey as it is antibiotic. I don’t k ow if it might kill off the beneficial microbes that you are trying to cultivate.
Yes, honey is antibacterial and antimicrobial, but it is also full of wild yeasts and will readily ferment on it’s own :)
when you use honey instead of sugar in your bug it’s called a “jun.”
Actually, that’s not exactly true. Jun is a culture similar to kombucha, and it has its own SCOBY. Using honey instead of sugar in a ginger or turmeric bug does not make it jun. You can see my post on making jun here: https://www.growforagecookferment.com/how-to-brew-jun-kombucha/
I use honey in my Jun kombucha without any trouble
These photos look really good, Colleen! Isn’t turmeric good for arthritis?
Really is!!!! I drinking for almost a year and help me a lot!!!!! I’m really recommend try the natural turmeric root.
I take Turmeric daily but never knew you could make it into soda! I’m definitely trying this. (do you think I can use mason jars until I get bottles?)
Lisa
I don’t have bottles, either. I used Mason jars when I made Ginger Beer. I still “burped” the jars (I did it every day…I am afraid of exploding jars). Mine turned out great! Still ordering bottles this week, though.