Drinks Real Food 101 Real Food Tips

Fermented Cherry Almond Soda

July 18, 2015

Turn those juicy, sweet summer cherries into a fun bubbly fermented soda filled with nourishing probiotics!

Fermented Cherry Almond SodaCherry season in Michigan is, hands down, my favorite of the summer fruit seasons.

There is nothing like these beautiful, sweet cherries right off the tree. Our area is known nationwide for the cherries – and they just burst with flavor.

Fermented Cherry Almond SodaThere is also nothing like those juicy, sweet cherries putting a smile on the girls’ faces!

Fermented Cherry Almond SodaThis year we froze and ate fresh the majority of the cherries. The frozen ones make for great soaked oatmeal or smoothie add-ins on busy mornings, and stir into yogurt too! I did manage to swipe enough for cherry pie though ๐Ÿ˜‰

Fermented Cherry Almond SodaAnd I couldn’t pass up on making cherry almond soda! This is my very favorite of the summer sodas we enjoy on the weekends in the summer.

Fermented Cherry Almond SodaI hope you can get a chance to make this amazing cherry almond soda this summer!

Fermented Cherry Almond SodaProduct links in this section are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of โ€œwhat brand do you use?โ€ Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldnโ€™t use on my own family.

Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Fermented Cherry Almond Soda

Turn those juicy, sweet summer cherries into a fun bubbly fermented soda filled with nourishing probiotics!
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Ferment2 d
Total Time20 mins
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: fermented cherry soda, how to ferment cherry soda
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

  • 5 cups pitted cherries
  • 1 cup organic pure cane sugar I get this brand at Costco
  • 7 cups of water
  • 2 TB almond extract
  • 1/2 cup whey Just scoop a container of plain whole yogurt into a dishtowel, tie it up onto a cupboard door and let it drip into a jar - the liquid dripped off is probiotic rich whey! The leftover yogurt in the towel is like Greek yogurt or cream cheese - yum! If you are dairy free you can use water kefir grains or a ginger bug.

Instructions

  • Put the cherries, sugar, and water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer about 15-20 minutes.
  • Squish the cherries in the pot (I use a potato masher), and pour the cherry sugar water through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl.
  • Add the almond extract and whey to the cherry sugar water in the bowl and stir. Pour the soda mixture into flip top bottles and set in a warm area of your home.
  • After a couple days you can open a bottle to check for taste and let the fermented gasses out so it doesn't build up too much. Fermentation can take anywhere from 2 days to a week. Move the bottles to the fridge once they are ready.

For more nourishing drink ideas you can follow my Drinks board on Pintrest!

More real food recipes you might like:
Fermented Lemonade

Simple Fermented Lemonade :: Bring that classic summertime drink up a few notches with a big probiotic boost from this simple fermented lemonade! Refreshing *and* nourishing all in one!Strawberry Soda

Fermented Strawberry SodaCherry Coffee Cake

Cherry Coffee Cake :: Gluten & Refined Sugar FreeGluten Free Cherry Pie

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23 Comments

  • Reply Jessica July 19, 2015 at 11:15 am

    Mmmm…what a great treat.

  • Reply linda July 24, 2015 at 10:34 pm

    Want to make this low carb and cane sugar free. Can I use honey or agave , say 2 tablespoons ? I’m concerned if I don’t use sugar or honey or agave, that bad bugs will populate during the fermentation process

    • Reply Renee Kohley July 25, 2015 at 8:01 pm

      Hi Linda! My understanding is that the probiotic bugs do not feed on honey, maple syrup (have never heard about agave but considering agave is not a health food and not recommended I would suggest not going that route) as well as cane sugar. I, however have never tried it so you could try it with some honey on a smaller batch if you want. The probiotic bugs feed on most of that cane sugar so I wanted to be sure you understood that part – the end product does not have that much sugar. 2 TB of honey will definitely not be enough for the probiotic bugs to feed on to ferment in this recipe.

  • Reply linda July 24, 2015 at 10:35 pm

    can I just use 2 tablespoons of honey or agave and then sweeten it with stevia after it is fermented?

  • Reply Gina July 25, 2015 at 6:10 am

    Thank you for showing how easy it is to make soda. I ferment often (kombucha, pickles, sauerkraut, kefir) but haven’t tried soda. The kids will *love* this!

  • Reply Kat August 6, 2015 at 10:28 am

    Okay, I was really excited about making this, but I am new to fermented foods and just read that they could contain enough alcohol (generated by the fermentation process) that could (depending on the time) equal a light beer or wine spritzer. I hadn’t heard about this. What do you know about it? I would post the link where I found the information but I don’t know if that’s allowed. Thanks for your thoughts!

    • Reply Renee Kohley August 6, 2015 at 12:27 pm

      Hi Kat! Great question! If you let it go too long it will but fermenting 2-3 days will not equal a light beer or wine spritzer ๐Ÿ™‚ There is a small amount of fermented alcohol from what I understand .5 or less percent. I hope that helps!

  • Reply 70 Refreshing Summer Drinks - Recipes to Nourish August 22, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    […] Fermented Cherry Almond Soda from Raising Generation Nourished  […]

  • Reply Amy June 30, 2016 at 2:30 pm

    How do you think this would be without the almond extract? My youngest is allergic to all tree nuts, but I’d still love to make this!

  • Reply 101 Paleo Stone Fruit Recipes - Rubies & Radishes July 19, 2016 at 10:02 am

    […] Fermented Cherry Almond Soda from Raising Generation Nourished (pictured) […]

  • Reply Colleen July 23, 2016 at 7:27 am

    Could Frozen cherries be used??
    Costco sells a bag of organic frozen pitted cherries and I wondered if I could use these or do they need to be fresh for the fermentation?
    Thanks in advance ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Reply Renee Kohley July 29, 2016 at 7:53 pm

      Yes! I would thaw and drain them first!

  • Reply Cytel May 16, 2017 at 11:27 am

    5 stars
    I just made a tiny batch of this, about 1/3 recipe. I made it on a whim because I had some cherries that needed to be used immediately, I threw in a couple strawberries too to get the measurement of fruit correct. Also, yes I made changes based on what was on hand.. I strained my whey from honey Greek yogurt… Hopefully that will do the trick. If not, well I learned a lesson. Everything else just as stated above. It is bottled and in the cupboard fermenting now…. I hope it is as good as the mix is , I tasted the spoon when I was done. Now about the cherry mush we strained and the drained yogurt I mixed it all together and ate it for breakfast, it is very good.

    • Reply Renee Kohley May 17, 2017 at 3:42 pm

      That sounds delicious Cytel! I’m not sure how that honey greek yogurt will do, so keep us posted!

  • Reply Sandy Colombe June 24, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    Since you’re gonna mash em and strain out the solids anyway is it really necessary to pit them first?

    • Reply Renee Kohley June 24, 2017 at 9:28 pm

      Hi Sandy! I think you could – I am funny about cherry pits because of the cyanide they contain so I just don’t want that cooking in with the cherries.

  • Reply Billy November 28, 2017 at 11:28 am

    5 stars
    This looks delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe for this soda! I definitely want to give this a try as well as try out other flavors! So happy I get to make and drink something with some helpful probiotics!

  • Reply Phinch August 5, 2021 at 11:36 am

    I made this for my school fermentation project and I’m excited to see how it turns out

  • Reply Marcy Grote August 5, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    5 stars
    about to try this. Am a fan of your fizzy lemonade, and strawberry sodas. So how much juice is this? I have cherry juice in my freezer.

    • Reply Renee Kohley August 9, 2022 at 9:22 am

      Hi Marcy! I have never measured it! I’m sorry that isn’t very helpful!

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