Home-Brewed Mimosa Flower Soda
Mimosa Flower Soda is a beautiful, exquisite probiotic soft drink made from the flowers of the Persian silk tree, the tree of Happiness.
Equipment
- 2-3 quart saucepan
- Cheesecloth or floursack towel
- Bowl
- Pint jar
- Measuring cup
- funnel
- strainer
- Pint size flip-top bottle (Grolsch-style) - for brewing the soda. Don't use a juice bottle or canning jar for this. A soda bottle or kombucha bottle is ok.
Ingredients
For The Syrup
- 1 quart Mimosa flowers
- 2 tbsp Dried hibiscus tea, opt. - or a teabag or two
- 1 cup Unrefined cane sugar - or turbinado or coconut sugar.
- 1 cup Filtered water - do not use tap water with chlorine in it. Filtered or bottled water will work.
- 2-3 Orange slices, opt. - adds a nice complementary flavor. You could also use lemon slices.
- 1/2 tsp Citric acid, opt. - not necessary, may help to draw out more flavor.
Per Pint Of Soda
- 1-2 oz Mimosa flower syrup - use the lesser amount for a less sweet soda.
- 2 oz Fermentation starter (1/4 cup) - you'll need one of the following: Water kefir, whey, ginger bug, or dandelion bug. (These are easy to make but it takes about a week). Use more, 1/2 cup at least, if using water kefir.
- Filtered water - enough to fill the bottle to within 1-2 inches from the top.
Instructions
Make The Syrup
- Pour the water and sugar into the saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for a minute while stirring to completely dissolve the sugar.
- Take the pot off the heat. Let sit for just a moment, to calm the water and cool it slightly, then add the mimosa flowers, and, if desired, the Hibiscus flowers and Orange slices.
- Let it steep till completely cool. I like to let it infuse overnight for more flavor.
- When cool, pour it through a cheesecloth into a bowl to strain, and gently squeeze it to get all of the goodness.
- Reserve 1-2 ounces of the syrup per pint of soda you'll make. More will yield a more active and sweeter soda. I like to use just the one ounce to keep it less sweet.
- Pour the remaining syrup into a pint jar, seal, and store up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. For longer storage this can be frozen. You can use an ice cube tray to freeze small amounts for easy portioning as you need it.
Make The Soda
- To make the soda, pour 1 ounce of the syrup into a pint bottle (up to 2 ounces if you like it sweet), add 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of starter culture, fill with water to about 1-2 inches from the top and seal the bottle. Here are instructions for making a ginger bug, or dandelion bug starter culture.
- When using water kefir, you can just fill the bottle with the kefir or add less, but at least 1/2 cup per pint and fill the rest with water.
- Let the bottle sit in a warm spot (68-85℉) for 2-3 days. Burp it once a day or twice a day if it's very active. More syrup can speed activity. Once it has built up enough pressure, you can taste it. If it's too sweet, let it ferment another day. Otherwise, refrigerate to chill and enjoy.
- Drink it chilled or pour over ice and enjoy the exquisite flavor profile of the soda. It's really unlike any soda you've had before and super delicious.
Storage
- The syrup can be stored for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator and several months in the freezer. Use icecube-trays for freezing to allow for easier portioning later.
- Once fermented, the soda can last for months in the refrigerator. Do burp it about once a week if it's very active. It may become a little less sweet over time even in the refrigerator. While the bacteria become sluggish in the cold environment, they will keep feeding on the sugar, but at a much slower rate.
Notes
Tips For Making the best Home-Brewed Mimosa Flower Soda
- Pick your flowers fresh right before making the syrup for best results.
- Use only the freshest, vibrantly colored flower, avoid any flowers that start to turn limp and start to brown.
- For highest quality and strongest fragrance pick the flowers after the dew dries, early to mid-morning on a sunny day.
- Add some hibiscus tea to the mix for a deeper pink color and a bit of tang.
- If you like citric acid, you can add half a teaspoon to your tea for a more intense and tangy flavor. Citric acid helps draw out the flavor a little better, but I prefer to make mine without it.
- I like to use 1 ounce (2 tbsp) of the syrup to make my soda, but some people prefer it much sweeter and use double that. So you'll have to see what you prefer.
- Be sure to burp the bottle once a day by briefly opening it to let the pressure escape. Careful when you do that as there may be a lot of pressure built up. If it wants to shoot out of the bottle, immediately reseal and refrigerate it before attempting again, this will help calm it a bit. Open it outside or over a sink.