The Best Spruce Tip Wild Soda Recipe
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Spruce tip wild soda is one that I’m going to make CONSTANTLY. Right now I have a second brew going already and I filled my dehydrator full to the gills with them to save them for drink making later so I can make them year ’round til the next batch. It’s that good.
I’m sure you’ve heard about using conifer needles (pine needles) to make a wild soda that tastes similar to Sprite… but better. Crafting wild sodas uses fermentation and is SO easy, you’ll never want to buy anything from the store again. So definitely get to trying this spruce tip wild soda because you won’t regret it!
For someone who despises kombucha, wild sodas are my thing. Flavored fizzy vinegar water is OUT, and fermented fizzy beverages made with fruits and hand foraged herbs is IN.
What are Spruce Tips?
Spruce tips are the light green new growth on the tips of spruce branches you see every spring. The start in mid-April here in Ohio and you’ll see them through mid-May or even June depending on the weather. They were early this year because April acted like June.
The start as closed little “baskets” on the tips and will slowly open up and fan out to match the rest of the needles on above them on the branches. When they’re closed, they’re the best to use in spruce tips recipes, but opened are just fine, too. I find that closed is just a bit stronger in flavor and more ideal to use. But, if you’re late to the game, open ones’ll do.
This particular spring here in Ohio, the spruce tips came on quick and opened even faster. I normally have more time to play around with them, so I feel like I’m super behind this year. But in reality, April just acted like May so the plants are awake and booming a little faster and now it’s cold again. I honestly won’t be surprised if it snows again!
Spruce tips are an amazing source of natural vitamin C. Once you begin foraging and familiarizing yourself with nature and what’s edible and medicinal, you really start to notice how doggone perfect God’s design is. When you think scurvy, you think oranges… but there are so many other sources of vitamin C and God gave them to us in so many forms tailored to our climates.
The plants that emerge in early spring are there for a reason and many fuel, replenish, and heal our bodies from a long hibernation winter! Learning to live with the rhythms of the land is a very good experience and, in my opinion, has brought me closer to God more than anything. He literally thought of everything when he designed the world and the text in Genesis doesn’t give him enough credit.
Tips for Success with Spruce Tip Wild Soda
Do add ginger and citrus slices, peels, or juice to help the fermentation along. I have found that just spruce tips doesn’t harness enough wild yeast to get nice and fizzy! Plus, it makes the flavor amazing.
Make sure your fermentation vessel (the jar) and all the tools you’re using are sanitized. This means CLEAN to prevent cross contamination with the wrong bacteria.
Flip cap bottles help hold in the CO2 production to lend to a fizzier ferment because they seal really tight, but you don’t NEED them. You can use a canning jar with an old lid and just make sure to really tighten the band down. If it doesn’t get super fizzy, you can mix it with a bit of sparkling water too!
You can reuse the spruce tips, ginger, and orange peels at least a second time for another ferment! So don’t toss them right away.
Other Ways I Use Spruce Tips
Spruce Tip Syrup (cough syrup)
Wild Soda
Lemonade
Dehydrated to make soda or lemonades for later
How to Harvest Spruce Tips
First thing you need to do is be 100% certain with 100% confidence you are foraging what you think you are foraging. Many conifers look alike, and most grow green tips (even the ornamental yew ones that are going to give you explosive diarrhea), so maybe just like….. I don’t know…. identify your trees. Ok?
Not everything that looks green is edible. We don’t need a re-run of Into the Wild.
I found a really nice guide because I don’t know my conifers outside of a blue spruce, so if you’d like to read this check that out here.
I choose to pick off trees that are not near sprayed fields or roadsides just to avoid pollution and unwanted chemicals if I can. You pick where you want to and call it good!
If you’re picking off mature trees, like really really big ones, you don’t have to worry about over picking them as much as smaller, younger trees. The rule of thumb for harvesting spruce tips I’ve been taught is to not pick more that 25% of a trees new growth. Usually less, especially if you have tons of trees to choose from.
Take a little, but don’t take it all.
When harvesting, gently grasp the tips and pinch them off the branch. They’re very tender and come away easily. Remove the brown spots and add them to a jar, bag, or basket. Try to pick first thing in the morning before the morning sun hits them for best potency and strongest flavor and oils.
Foraged food is delightful and best of all, FREE. So I don’t wanna hear about how I’m privileged and you can’t afford my lifestyle because I’m literally eating tree branches over here, ok?
What Sugar Is Best?
You can use honey or a raw sugar is best. But regular ole white sugar works fine too! You just need a sugar source for a good, healthy fermentation. My favorite sugar to use for wild sodas is coconut sugar or turbinado sugar.
Equipment You Might Want
Quart Jar with Lids & Bands
Ingredients
2 cups fresh spruce tips
3 cups warm water
heaping 1/3 cup coconut sugar
orange peels
1 inch piece of fresh ginger
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs lime juice
Step 1: Assemble the Ferment
Into a sanitized quart glass jar, add the spruce tips, orange peels, piece of fresh ginger, lemon juice, and lime juice.
In a separate measuring cup, add the sugar to the warm water and stir ’til sugar is dissolved.
Pour the sugar water into the jar overtop the spruce tips. Cover with a lid and secure tightly with a screw band. Set aside to ferment in a warm place away from direct sunlight.
Step 2: Second Ferment
Burp the jar at least once a day to prevent explosions. When you notice bubbling, it is ready!
At this point, I strain the liquid and add to a flip cap bottle and let sit 1-2 more days to carbonate. Burp once a day if you remember.
Step 3: Store
Place in the fridge and enjoy!
Notes:
You can use orange slices, lemon slices, or lime slices in place of the juice or just peels. Whatever you want, just to get all three flavors in the ferment. I simply use what I have.
Equipment
- Quart Jar with Lids & Bands
Ingredients
- 2 cups spruce tips
- 3 cups warm water
- heaping 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- orange peels
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 Tbs lime juice
Instructions
Step 1: Assemble the Ferment
- Into a sanitized quart glass jar, add the spruce tips, orange peels, piece of fresh ginger, lemon juice, and lime juice.
- In a separate measuring cup, add the sugar to the warm water and stir ’til sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the sugar water into the jar overtop the spruce tips. Cover with a lid and secure tightly with a screw band. Set aside to ferment in a warm place away from direct sunlight.
Step 2: Second Ferment
- Burp the jar at least once a day to prevent explosions. When you notice bubbling, it is ready!
- At this point, I strain the liquid and add to a flip cap bottle and let sit 1-2 more days to carbonate. Burp once a day if you remember.
Step 3: Store
- Place in the fridge and enjoy!
