Parsley Soda: the Preferred Beverage of the Fashionable Elite

by Cool-fool

17K8128

Intro: 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:
https://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.

STEP 2: Strain and Cool

Strain the parsley water into a bowl. Add chopped ice until the water is warm. If it is too hot it will kill the yeast. Add the lime juice.

STEP 3: Filter

You can filter out the lime pulp and small pieces of parsley with a coffee filter. It may take quite some time for it all to pass through, so you may prefer just to pour it through a fine strainer a few times.

STEP 4: Mix, Bottle, and Shake

Using a funnel, pour your concoction into a plastic 2-liter soda bottle. Add 1 to 2 cups of sugar, and the yeast. Add water until bottle is almost full--leave an inch or two of air at the top. Cap the bottle and shake to dissolve the sugar.

Leave bottle to sit for a day or two until pressure has built up to the point that the bottle does not indent when you squeeze it. Put it in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation. If you let it sit too long, the bottle will explode.

STEP 5: Enjoy, Become the Envy of Your Friends and Enemies

The parsley adds a subtle crispness to the soda.

Serve with appropriate panache.

25 Comments

momoking2007 5 years ago

sweeten the lemonade first and chill it in the fridge for 15-20 minitues

watermelon 16 years ago

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

momoking2007 5 years ago

it is normally made with vodka but you could use water as a substitute.

fizil 16 years ago

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 15 years ago

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

Cool-fool 16 years ago

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.

momoking2007 5 years ago

it is normally made with vodka but you could use water as a substitute.

elucify 13 years ago

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 14 years ago

So will this work with other herbs?

Smithington 15 years ago

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

Der Schmetterlingsjäger 16 years ago

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 16 years ago

"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 16 years ago

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

zachninme 16 years ago

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

Cool-fool 16 years ago

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

DDW_OR 16 years ago

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
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