Parsley Soda: The Preferred Beverage of the Fashionable Elite

As popularized by Esme Gigi Genevive Squalor, of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" book the 6th.

Recipe inspired by Kathryn Kingsbury's, at http://www.herbcompanion.com/recipes/08_09_05-parsley

You may also want to check out mediaphage's Ginger Ale recipe:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-ginger-ale

Ingredients:
2-Liter Soda Bottle & Cap (clean it well with soap, or a diluted bleach solution)
1 to 2 cups Sugar
Juice of 2 Limes
Yeast (common baker's yeast will work, but wine or champagne yeast is recommended)
Water
1 bunch of fresh parsley

Step 1: Parsley Water

Wash and finely chop the parsley. Place in pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and let simmer until water absorbs parsley flavor to taste.

Meanwhile, juice the 2 limes. You can boil lime zest along with the parsley if you would like.

Comments

[elucify]

Anyone who thinks dry ice is a good way to carbonate drinks needs to see this:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/142038/dry_ice_bomb_in_a_fridge/

Think about whether you want that in your fridge. Keep in mind that the gas pressure will depend on the temperature of the drink, the volume of liquid and head space, and the quantity of dry ice. Consider whether you really know enough to get it right, and the consequences of getting it wrong.

Then consider using yeast instead.

If you do this in 2 liter plastic soda bottles, you'll know it's ready for the fridge when the bottle is very firm. At refrigeration temperatures, fermentation will continue very slowly, but is unlikely to create bottle bombs. (Lagers ferment at around 2C (usually), but don't carbonate appreciably at that temperature.) Don't keep yeast-carbonated soda at room temperature once it is carbonated, because at room temperature, the yeast will continue to ferment until all of the sugar is used up, or until the bottle explodes, whichever comes first.

A fermentation lock will relieve the pressure, but you'll only get very mild carbonation.

[Xysrvrsch]

So will this work with other herbs?

[watermelonhead]

Is this alcoholic?

[Smithington]

That sounds amazing, but if I've learned any thing from the orphans' experience (and I've learned a lot ;) ) it's not to follow in Esme's footsteps. :D

[watermelonhead]

oh, but it's so in! ;D

[Der Schmetterlingsjäger]

Ohh, man. That's great, I loved that series so much.... Have you read anything else Mr. Handler wrote? _Adverbs_ was absolute magic. Also, could one use fresh mint instead of parsley?

[Cool-fool]

"Basic Eight" was good too. I hear he's working on something with a modern pirate who wants to be a classical sort of pirate, I hope that rumor's true. As for mint, go for it.

[nitemareseraph]

I know that the yeast feeds on the sugar, but is there a way to do this sort of thing using sucralose (Splenda)?

[Cool-fool]

Yeast can't use sucralose, but there are ways of carbonating without yeast:

For example, http://www.instructables.com/id/Carbonating%3a-The-Cheap-and-Easy-Way/
uses vinegar and baking soda to bubble CO2 thru a tube

Also, I've heard that you can just drop a small piece of dry ice into a bottle, seal it, and in a few minutes it'll be carbonated.

[zachninme]

I don't reccomend the dry ice method -- just because "a small piece" isn't descriptive enough.

[Cool-fool]

I've heard "thumb-sized" is the way to go. Experiment by using very small and working your way up.

[watermelon]

Is this beverage alcoholic? Can kids drink it or not?

[Cool-fool]

watermelon, it will contain about as much alcohol as orange juice, so fine for kids. You'd have to use an airlock (lets air out but not in) and probably yeast nutrients and more sugar if you wanted it to make parsley beer. ddw_az, I'm not sure but I don't think lagers will ferment in a reasonable amount of time in a fridge (takes 1-3 months if I remember in a cold basement), but it's not relevant unless you're using top-fermenting lager yeast. I figured people would use the more widely available bottom-fermenting ale yeast (baker's yeast is bottom fermenting). The cold of a fridge won't completely stop fermentation but will slow it down so much that it will take a few days to build up pressure again, and much longer to convert all the sugar to alcohol.

[fizil]

I'm sure this is like the cream sodas and root beers that have minuscule amounts of alcohol in them. Unless your child is a recovering alcoholic that can go into relapse with < !% alcohol [if that], it should be safe.

[bustedit]

yes. i work w a few hispanic/puerto rican/latino kids, and they all say there are small amts of alcohol in the Malta sodas they bring for lunch sometimes

[ddw_az]

Refrigeration does not stop fermentation.
Beer Lagers are fermented at a low temp.
Maybe use an airlock to allow the fermentation to complete.

thebrewhut

brewrats

[Tool Using Animal]

I'm guessing that's a pretty large sprig of parsley.

[canida]

I'd call it a bunch, myself.

[Cool-fool]

Thanks for pointing that out, I changed it as well as "clean the bottle with soup" :p.

[canida]

Neat! I love foods that follow along with my favorite books. Nice job.

[GorillazMiko]

Ohhhhhh man, this looks delicious, I so want some! (added to favorites)

[WoodWinds]

Sounds quite...different. Especially the part where you say to clean out the bottle with "soup", hardy har har. How's this stuff taste? Sweet? Has a bite I suppose? Cool instructable. Very clear and easy to follow and good pictures +1