I thought Mir in particular might be interested if this isn’t one she’s tried yet. My ginger bug finally appeared to be doing well enough to give it a go, so I have my first batch of ginger beer fermenting on the counter. It should be ready in a couple of days. Very excited! I will let you know how it turns out 
I have 2 bottles in the fridge, omg… you are in for such a treat! Now that I think about… why are they just sitting in the fridge? /slurp!
BTW, I don’t know if you have a Target nearby, and if so, if they carry the same thing. But in their kitchen section, near the canning jars, ours carries the Bormioli Rocco bottles with the swing style stopper. They had them last year in all sorts of colors, and then they discounted them a month later and I cleaned up! xD As of 2 weeks ago though, they still carried the clear ones as a normal item. Those work amazingly for ferments once you put them in the fridge. http://www.target.com/p/canning-jar-bormioli-rocco/-/A-15451689
These bottles are made in Italy and just fantastic. Also their normal jars, usually with the name Fido on them are a great buy too, especially if they get marked down again before Christmas. =D
Sadly no Targets here. In fact, none this side of the border any more…They closed them all, what was it some months ago, a year ago? I can’t remember.
So the ginger beer turned out pretty good following the recipe exact for the first time. Definitely cutting back on the molasses for round 2, which I’m hoping to get going tonight. It called for 1 tbsp, I think I’ll go 1/2 tbsp or less even. But other than that, it was delicious, perfectly carbonated and was ready in just 2 days! If the recipe turns out better with my modifications I’ll post it for anyone who is interested.
On a side note for those who like fermented fizzy drinks - lavender & earl grey kombucha is to die for. Just finished up our first batch of that last night. I like it so much better than the chai I had done for the previous 3 batches. Chai was also good, but this… omg.
OMG… that does sound amazing. Plus, we have a lavender farm like 2 towns away that I was thinking of visiting for all sorts of goodness. Did you use an extract or actual flowers?
I used dried flowers. They actually make a decent mild flavored tea by themselves. But the combination with earl grey in kombucha is fantastic.
If I don’t see lavender at the farmer’s market soon, we’ll take a trip to the farm. This sounds so good! Yet another use for that dehydrator! If you have other suggestions for tea herbs, let me know! I’ve been wanting to get into making my own herbal teas for the longest time.
I just hang lavender in bunches to dry it. I think its faster and simpler than the dehydrator for most herbs.
A must have is mints. Chocolate mint is my favorite, followed closely by peppermint. There are all sorts of varieties of mints. These make good hot or cold teas. I put a bit of honey in a mason jar, fill with fresh mint, pour over boiling water and let steep until cool, then toss the lid on and put in the fridge (I don’t even strain the leaves, because I’m lazy and you don’t need to, but you could if you wanted.) Makes for an amazing refreshing summer drink. Can do with other mints too. GradeA loves this with spearmint and applemint but I don’t because the flavours of those mints remind me too much of gum.
Chamomile is another one I grow and hang to dry regularly.
sometimes I just mix various things growing in the yard… plantain, yarrow, basil, raspberry/blackberry/salmonberry/thimbleberry leaf, feverfew… whatever is available. I want to try roasting dandelion root for tea, but haven’t yet. The leaves are our early spring break from eating kale, and feed the bunnies the rest of the time. I’m sure we probably have more than enough, and the neighbors would probably be thrilled to see us digging them up, lol.
This year I planted costmary (the smell reminds me of mint) and betony (supposed to be a good black tea substitute) but have not yet had a chance to dry them for tea, but I will let you know how they turn out.
I am so jealous of your herb lore! Is there a good reference for knowing what is what or are you just a real druid? xD It bugs me that there is so much out there to forage, and that I’m more likely to poison myself than to make good tea.
Help…me… xD
I may just have been a druid in a past life or something. That would explain a lot. I don’t know, I’ve always been interested in wild edibles since I was a little kid and ever since we bought our house I’ve been fascinated with growing food and herbs in particular. For forageables I use www.northernbushcraft.com. It is a fantastic site and wealth of knowledge. For garden herbs its mostly just been accumulated knowledge over time. But I’m constantly looking at what I can eat or use. I go for a walk around town with the dog and I’m looking in people’s yards and gardens, and at the weeds growing on the side of the road. I do the same thing out in the bush, constantly. I try to see how many plants I can identify as edible.