This probiotic whey soda is bubbly and effervescent – the perfect gut-healthy drink that comes together easily at home with a few simple ingredients.
Probiotic whey soda is one of the easiest fermented beverages to make. With just a few simple ingredients including delicious fruits sweetener and acid whey, you can create a drink that is full of good bacteria and enzymes.
But before I share this recipe for probiotic whey soda, let me first explain why you need to make it.
The regular soda we know today is full of sugar, caffeine, corn syrup and artificial colors. That’s far from something healthy and very much different from the healthy probiotic soda you can make easily at home.
But how does fruit, sugar and acid whey result in probiotic soda? Starches and sugars in fruit and dairy break down by naturally occurring bacteria and convert into lactic acid.
These changes are remarkably healthy for your body and can aid your body in digestion as well.
Why Probiotic Soda?
This process of converting sugars to lactic acid helps provide your body with probiotics, trace minerals and important enzymes that are in a form that are more usable and absorbable. That fizzy carbonation is a byproduct and hence what gives your whey soda its bubble when you pop open the swing top.
The sodas we are familiar with today are not made with probiotic whey. Instead, they have carbonation that’s mechanically produced, with added colors, artificial flavors and corn syrup.
Unlike regular soda, probiotic soda contains less sugar. Even though you are starting with sugar, the bacteria in the soda feed on and convert that sugar during fermentation.
Plus, there isn’t any artificial colors, carbonation or high fructose corn syrup added.
When you make your own probiotic soda, you can use any type of fresh fruit of your choice.
We started with strawberries and moved on to pineapple, peaches and even blueberries. It’s important to invest in these swing top soda bottles as they do an incredible job to trap the carbon dioxide which helps to increase the carbonation in the final product.
The longer you allow the bottles go (1-2 days or longer) the more fizzy the drink. Just remember though that the pressure builds up fast, so you need to release it each day or you risk the bottles exploding.
The Role of a Starter Culture
There’s no doubt that if you make your own yogurt at home you are left with a lot of whey. That whey left from making homemade yogurt is acid whey. And acid whey works terrific as a starter culture for this probiotic whey soda.
I collect my whey from homemade yogurt and store in a clean milk jug or in canning jars in the fridge. This whey can be used for making rice, as a marinade, making homemade soap, and even this delicious whey soda.
Have you ever thought of making probiotic whey soda? If not, give it a try! This is a great way to use up extra whey, and much easier than making water kefir. Try it with your favorite fruit – blueberries, mango, or even raspberries.
How to Make Probiotic Whey Soda
Ingredients
- 3 C strawberries stem removed, sliced
- 1 C cane sugar organic
- 1 C acid whey
- 4 quarts filtered water
Instructions
- Simmer the strawberries (or fruit of your choice) and sugar in water for 20-30 minutes.
- Cool to room temperature. Strain out the strawberries.
- Transfer the strawberry juice to a gallon glass jar. Add the whey. Cover with a piece of fabric, coffee filter or muslin (rubber band appropriately).
- Allow the mixture to sit for 3 days (72 hours). The longer you allow it to go, the less sweet it will be as the bacteria will feed on the sugars.
- Transfer the soda to your swing top bottles, make sure you allow a few inches of space at the top.
- Keep the soda bottles at room temperature for 1-2 additional days. Check the bottles each day -- open up to allow some of the pressure to escape (do this over the sink!)
- Move the bottles to your refrigerator so slow down fermentation. Serve chilled over ice.
Notes
- Use caution when opening swing top bottles with this probiotic soda. The build up of pressure within the bottles can happen quite fast. I would suggest opening them over the sink very carefully or even outside.
- I always like to place the jars in one side of the sink after bottling. Then I throw a large, clean bath towel on top until they are placed in the refrigerator. I do this as a precaution (I have had bottles explode and it isn't pretty!)
- Should your initial soda mixture in the gallon glass jar develop a film or white spots on the top, don't panic. It's kahm yeast - and it's a sign that things are going in your favor. Stir the mixture each day , or simply skim the yeast off the top.
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I made this using rhubarb. It tastes
great but it isn’t very fizzy. I bottled it
Last night after leaving it sit for 3 days on the counter. I see you can leave it
Sitting out for more than two days after bottling so I guess I will do that and see if the fizz increases. AS of now, there is no threat of exploding bottles. I have a lot of whey leftover, would adding more whey now or next time I make it possible increase The fizz?
I find that the winter/fall months takes much longer for it to fizz – at least here in Arizona. I have been leaving mine for 6 days now since the house is colder – in the summer it actually takes 2-3 days because our home is on the warm side. After 6 or 7 then I check one of the bottles and if it’s fizzy I tuck in the fridge.
I have had bottles explode only once (so far…) and it was a mess. I am a little worried about having it happen again – in the summer I try to periodically release the pressure just to avoid that incident from happening again. But now that the weather is cooler it hasn’t happened. I say give them a few more days of sitting and you can absolutely add a little more whey. That sugar in the whey is what will make it fizz.
I also want to say that the fruit that you use will make a difference too! Strawberries make mine fizz unbelievably well. But.. blueberries not so much! I haven’t ever tried rhubarb, but perhaps it’s like blueberries in that it takes a bit longer.
I’m making it with hibiscus flower syrup – looks and tastes great, now I just have to wait for the fizz …….
My strawberry soda isn’t red. What did I do wrong?
I am trying to make it with mangos, and have moved onto bottling stage, but as of yet there are no bubbles. It has been in the bottles for around 6 days. I have the right kind of bottles that I usually use when making kombucha. Any advice? I really want this to work, because I want to get my kids and husband off regular soda which they really like.
Sometimes in the absence of bubbles there is still activity … did you try to open one up and “burp” it? I have made this with blueberries and while there weren’t hardly any bubbles, it was still fizzy and I didn’t realize until I went to burp it.
Otherwise… when you bottle it, you can put a 1/4 tsp of honey in each bottle before you add the liquid. Then give it a few turns (or a gentle shake). The tiny bit of honey (or sugar if you want) will “feed” the activity and give it fizz. Honey will give it much more fizz than sugar if you have it on hand. Give that a try.
Oh — and as for the family… I was the same. I wanted to get my kids off regular soda and sugary drinks too. That’s what led me to experiment with this probiotic soda. It took me a while to find the right combination of fruits/sweetener/fizz that worked for us. So don’t give up. Every kitchen is different, here in my Arizona kitchen, it’s warm so things tend to move quicker than other areas.
Is this safe to give to my children or does it become alcoholic with the fermentation?
I give it to my kids (ages 3-13).. no issues.
Hi there, can you completely swap out the sugar with honey?
In all honesty, I haven’t tried. You can make kombucha like that but they call it “jung”… I haven’t ever done it (yet). I don’t know how it would react with the whey.. but hey, give it a try & see. It might work!
It should work albeit slowly.
The antibacterial properties of the honey may effect the probiotic properties of the whey.
How can I make it low in sugar..?
The sugar is needed for the fermentation process. Healthy probiotic bacteria feed on sugar. As they eat through the sugars added to the brew, they cause the drink to ferment and allow for the creation of more beneficial bacteria. So I probably wouldn’t lessen the sugar or you will lessen the opportunity for the drink to be beneficial in terms of bacteria and fermentation.
Can you use store bought yogurt and strain the whey off it?
Connie, I haven’t tried it but you should be able to.
My soda have white thing on the surface it looks like yeast. Is it ok?
Yes – it’s a type of yeast!
Any idea how many calories does a glass have? I love to drink this but wanna keep a track of how much I am consuming. Thanks for the amazing recipe though 🙂
I am not entirely sure — it will definitely vary based on the fruit chosen to make the soda.
Thanks for this recipe. Can you replace the whey with apple cider vinegar, since they are both fermented acids?
I have not tried that so I wouldn’t be able to tell you!
Mine came out fizzy and has the kham whey, but it also has what looks like floaters from the remnant pulp that didn’t get totally strained out. It also smells a little off but I’m not sure if that is just how priobiotic soda smells or if my floaters are actually mold.
Took a small swing and it doesn’t taste sweet, and defiantly tastes more in the fermented side. Should I dump the batch and start again?
Aubree, I would start again. Floaters are normal, fermented soda (aka kombucha and the like) from commercial stores have floaters. But it should taste sweet and shouldn’t taste off.