There are a myriad of health benefits associated with drinking green tea and health conscious people are always looking for new ways to incorporate it into their diets. Many companies are cashing in on this long-standing health trend by marketing mass-produced sugar laden drinks as "healthy" simply because they have a small amount of green tea included in their long ingredient lists.
Most people do realize they can't achieve optimal health through consumption of the overly processed pre-prepared foods and drinks offered at grocery stores. Foods made at home, from scratch will always nutritionally surpass its mass-produced counterparts. Still, there are certain types of foods and drinks that even most die-hard home cooks won't attempt to make. Sodas fall into this category. Sure, there are those who will make a healthy version of soda by mixing tea with sparkling water, club soda or seltzer. But the problem with that is you dilute the carbonation with the green tea (making it somewhat flat tasting) and you dilute the green tea with the soda water. The result is okay but not outstanding in terms of nutrition or flavor.
Is there a better option out there? There certainly is! Home brewed sodas were commonplace throughout history because they are delicious and easy to make. Modern consumers have been mistakenly led to believe soda can only be produced in a lab. Once you have a basic understanding of how to ferment sugars through the use of yeast, you can easily combine a few simple ingredients and have your own home-brewed soda.
The process is relatively straightforward. When yeast and sugar are combined in a moist, dark environment the yeast will consume the sugar and produce carbon based gasses. If this process occurs in a tightly sealed bottle the resulting gas will carbonate the liquid, providing the sparkly bubbles you want in a soda.
There are two things I must warn you about before proceeding. First, this process also produces a small amount of ethanol. This means the finished product will be slightly alcoholic. Second, anytime you produce natural pressure within a closed container there are inherent risks involved. I will admit to suffering a few burst bottles while I was honing my skills as a soda brewer. You can avoid injury if you are cautious.
You need a very specific balance of acid, sugar and yeast to ensure proper results when fermenting. My basic recipe includes green tea, honey, lemon, water and yeast. I also use various spices and flavorings, but when experimenting you must remember to keep the acid/sugar ratio the same. You will find the detailed recipe HERE
Heather Krasovec own and maintains http://www.drinkgreenteaforhealth.com, an informative site about green tea which also features a compilation of recipes Heather developed to incorporate more green tea into her diet.
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