Homemade Root Beer Kombucha

There are few things that top homemade root beer. The smell in the house while cooking is enticing and fanciful. It’ll put a twinkle in any grumpy old man’s eye. We stumbled upon this newfound joy by accident.

The accident was stumbling upon a large patch of small sassafras trees growing on our property. We had just spent 4 hours laying manure, mulch and watering 30 new blueberry bushes. The blueberry bushes were planted on a hill, on a 20 percent grade going downhill, so we could have our blueberry hill. Since I don’t always work with intelligence, I watered the uphill blueberries first. As I was moving the wheel-barrel full of goat manure to the lower bushes, walking downhill, in flip flops to maintain a proper tan line, both feet slipped uncontrollably on the wet mud, legs straight in front of me like a Barbie Doll whose knees don’t bend. I landed directly on top of a three-quarter inch around former tree sticking three inches up out of the ground, straight on my tailbone and sacrum. Since I was moving the wheelbarrow full of goat manure, it also slipped in the wet mud and fell on top of me, pinning me to the ground, too heavy to lift. Thankfully, my husband was 3 feet away from me weed eating small growth. I could have reached back and touched him if I wasn’t pinned under the manure. Unfortunately he was facing the other direction, couldn’t hear me over the sounds of the weed eater, was then five feet away, then eight feet away, then 12 feet away. Some women have a stick up their butt, I literally had a tree up my butt and was covered in crap, pinned to the ground. After my husband helped me up, and everything was ringing with pain, we saw a bunch of sassafras trees next to us so we can make root beer. 

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To make root beer, put a gallon of filtered water in a large pot on the stove top. Add:

1 tablespoon sarsaparilla root bark

1/2 cup sassafras root bark

1 cinnamon stick

3 anise seeds

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon licorice root

1/2 inch of a finger of the ginger root hand

1 teaspoon dandelion root granules

4 sprigs of fresh mint

1/2 cup of sugar

Bring the mixture to a boil and let simmer on low for 20 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool. Once the pot is room temperature, strain ingredients and pour into a gallon pickle jar. Stir in 1/2 a cup of Kombucha, put a coffee filter on top of the jar and secure it with a rubber band. Let sit on the counter for 3 days, then bottle in flip to jars. Burp twice daily. As  you burp the Kombucha, after a few days, you’ll see carbonation build after burping. Refrigerate and enjoy served cold or over ice. 

[yumprint-recipe id=’59’]*Nourishing Plot is written by Becky Plotner, ND, traditional naturopath, CGP, D.PSc. who sees clients in Rossville, Georgia. She works as a Certified GAPS Practitioner who sees clients in her office, Skype and phone. She has been published in Wise Traditions, spoken at two Weston A. Price Conferences, Certified GAPS Practitioner Trainings, has been on many radio shows, television shows and writes for Nourishing Plot. Since her son was delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia, through food, she continued her education specializing in Leaky Gut and parasitology through Duke University, finishing with distinction. She is a Chapter Leader for The Weston A. Price Foundation. becky.nourishingplot@hotmail.com

“GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. The right of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Patent and Designs Act 1988.