Redbush Ginger Beer is a traditional South African recipe for a classic lightly-fermented drink made from a redbush (rooibos) tea base flavoured with lemons and ground ginger. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic South African version of: Redbush Ginger Beer.
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Ginger beer or ginger ale is made throughout sub-Saharan Africa, this South African variant is interesting as it is made with a redbush (rooibos) tea base. Now that redbush tea tea bags are commonly available you can make it pretty much anywhere.
Ingredients:
6l water
24 redbush (rooibos) tea bags
finely-grated zest of 2 lemons
juice of 2 lemons
3 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cream of tartar
110g seedless raisins
900g granulated white sugar
4 tsp active, dried, yeast
Method:
Place the redbush tea bags in a saucepan and pour over 2l of water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Take off the heat as soon as the water boils then set aside for 15 minutes to infuse.
Take a large bucket (at least 8l) and add the lemon zest, lemon juice, ginger, cream of tartar and raisins to it.
Add 1l of water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer then add the sugar and stir until dissolved. When all the sugar has dissolved take off the heat.
Take the tea bags out of the redbush infusion. Pour this into the bucket then pour over the sugar. Heat the remaining 3l water until lukewarm then pour into the bucket.
Stir the ingredients with a long-handled wooden spoon then sprinkle over the yeast. When the yeast has dissolved, stir the mixture again.
Cover the bucket with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and set aside in a warm place for 6 hours. During this time, stir the mixture every 2 hours. The yeast will begin to work and the raisins should float to the surface.
Strain the mixture then pour into 2l plastic bottles (fill no more that 8cm from the top). Allow the mixture to ferment over night in the bottles. The following morning, very carefully unscrew the cap on each bottle to allow the excess carbon dioxide to escape (if the liquid does not fizz at this point, the yeast was not activated and you need to discard the liquid and start again).
The redbush ginger beer will last for 10 days if stored in the refrigerator.
