A recipe I've been sitting on for 4 years! Rhubarb Fizz with sweet/tart bubbles that dance on your tongue.
The above line is the perfect example of how bloggers can just make stuff up. I have no IDEA if these bubbles will dance on your tongue or not because at this point, my own Rhubarb Fizz hasn't finished fermenting. But my hope is there will be bubbles Jitterbugging across my tongue momentarily.
This recipe, you see, is one that was given to me by a fellow gardener several years ago. I kept it on file knowing I'd make it just the very second I got the chance. That chance happened 4 years and 2 weeks after receiving the recipe.
It's one of those things you keep putting off because you feel like it's a bit of a bother, but when you do it you realize it really isn't. Like making croutons. Or ripping up all the floors in your house, re-building part of them, then refinishing the old floor boards underneath. No, hold on ... that's not right. That is a bother.
Rhubarb Fizz
For this naturally fermented drink all you need is rhubarb, sugar, lemons, a bit of vinegar and water.
If your rhubarb plant is new or a bit sickly, you should really stop picking from it in June. But if it's big, healthy and just won't quit you can pick from it all season long. Mine is absurdly big, healthy and robust. If my rhubarb plant were a movie star it would be The Rock.
It's as simple as chopping everything up and stirring it together in a bowl or food grade container like a bucket or lemonade dispenser.
You let it sit covered for 2-3 days then bottle it. It must then rest for 2 weeks.
To bottle the rhubarb fizz you need bottles that are meant for things that are carbonated. That means glass bottles with swing stoppers that will expand a bit with carbonation and not explode. Home brew beer bottles would work well too.
You can get glass bottles with swing stoppers on them at Ikea and if you're in the U.S. swing stopper bottles are cheap on Amazon. I love the shape of these ones that are $17 for 6 bottles. In Canada the bottles cost twice as much on Amazon so it's a better deal to get them at an Ikea if you have one close to you.
Rhubarb Fizz
Ingredients
- 16 cups water
- 3 cups rhubarb chopped into 2" pieces
- 3 cups sugar
- 4 lemons chopped
- 11 tablespoon vinegar
Instructions
- Mix everything together and let sit, covered for 2 days.
- Strain the juice away from the fruit. (you can also put the fruit in cheesecloth and squeeze out the juices in there)
- Bottle the Rhubarb Fizz in bottles meant for carbonation and let sit for 2 weeks.
Nutrition
UPDATE NOTE: I've never had this go beyond a mild fizz, but some readers have experienced major carbonation. Explosive carbonation! Please scroll down to the bottom of DeannaCat's Kombucha post on Homestead & Chill to read about how to properly check and burp your carbonated bottles prior to opening them.
Tips:
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- To pick rhubarb grab it by the base of the stalk and pull upwards with a bit of a twist. (don't cut it with scissors)
- The more pink the skin fo the rhubarb you use, the more pink the drink will be.
- Keeps for approximately 1 month. I would refrigerate but apparently you don't have to?
- Pressing the rhubarb and lemons will make the juice cloudier. If you want a clear fizz, don't press and use any of the fruit.
- The gardener who gave me this recipe said the odd bottle might not work, so always give a little taste first.
And now, with you as my witness I'm going to try this Rhubarb Fizz for the first time ... stay right there, I'm going to run downstairs and taste it.
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It's delicious!! Bubbles danced on my tongue.
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These funky, bubbly ovals started to form about 11 days into the process…is that normal?
That specific shape is very weird. Otherwise, it's probably yeast, which is normal. The fizz does taste a bit fermented because of yeast. ~ karen!
I made this last year and tried it for the first time in August. It was ok, but not fizzy.
Left the other bottles in the cellar and forgot about them until today. So I tried it again. It's FABULOUS! I can't wait until this afternoon to have socially distant gin and fizz with the neighbours. Now I have to drive to the rhubarb farm today. Before the gin and fizzes!
Hi Patricia. I just came across this comment of yours. I'm glad you got your fizz! ~ karen
This looks amazing. I love rhubarb! However, I live in a climate that does not play nice with rhubarb (too hot), so we can't grow it. Frozen rhubarb is fairly easy to find, though - would that be usable in this recipe?
Hmm. To be honest, I have no idea, lol. All you can do is try. :) ~ karen!
Okay... I didn’t have any bottles and was going away for just over a week so I left it in the big bottle( with the ,swing top lid). It seems to be getting a mother like thing on top. Like kombucha does. Keep it or toss it and get small bottles?
Just tested my rhubarb fizz bottled two weeks ago - four bottles, no bubbles. I added it to soda water and it's drinkable that way, certainly. I wonder what I did wrong?
Hi Cussot! I wish I could tell you! I made another batch and tested it yesterday and same thing. No fizz. NONE. Another reader made it and said hers EXPLODED. Further inquiry from me revealed that she had used kombucha instead of vinegar which has HUGE carbonation properties so that's how she had that happen. The fermentation is what makes the carbonation possible. The rhubarb fizz should catch "wild yeast" when it's on the counter for two days and then the wild yeast has sugar to feed on. And fermentation bubbles occurs faster the warmer it is. So I'm wondering if it has something to do with that. All this to say - it happened to me too. :/ ~ karen!
Oh, that's interesting - so you and I started our failed batches at the same time. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Weather? Seasonal ambient yeast fluctuation? I'm going to try again if there's enough rhubarb left in my patch.
Today is tasting day for my rhubarb fizz - had no lemons used limes - it's sparkly and delicious! I bottled in all my leftover Kombucha screw top collection :D been clogging up my cupboard now I better make more. Will experiment with whatever fruit I have - cherries? Thanks for the recipe... Cheers!
Karen,
Hubs and I just bottled our first batch of Rhubarb Fizz. I mentioned in my earlier post that he bottles his own beer so we already had the bottles, caps, etc. Even before the carbonation I loved it! It wasn't that much effort to make and I'm positive I will LOVE it. Hubs thought it was a big tart, but that's okay, because it means I get it ALL!
I wanted to try this but I wasn’t sure where to source the bottles.. then we went to a new microbrew on Saturday. We bought 4 1L flip top bottles, and they came with delicious IPAs!
Going to fill them up tomorrow!
OH, that's perfect! ~ karen
Just wondering....could you use a carboy and a fermintation lock instead of the swing top bottles
Yes, that should be possible. The only thing is once 2 weeks are up, the rhubarb drink needs to get into the fridge to stop it from further fermenting. So the carboy would need to fit in your fridge. Also, I'm not sure how the fermentation lock acts in terms of how much carbon dioxide it releases. If it releases it all t hen you wouldn't end up with any fizz in the drink I expect. (although in my experience it's never been overly fizzy because you aren't starting with yeast or a scoby - it's kind of a crap shoot) ~ karen!
Thanks for this recipe. I have two huge rhubarb plants so ideas for using the rhubarb are so useful.
Hey, I'm really glad you're still posting a lot, but didn't expect this when you said you accepted a job. Getting any sleep?
OH! That was an April Fools Day joke Thea. I couldn't possibly do this and work full time. Not even if I decided to give up all sleep entirely. :) ~ karen!