Darra Goldstein's Raspberry Kvass
In Darra Goldstein’s new cookbook, Beyond the Northwind, she lovingly culls heavily researched recipes from the Russian countryside or Dacha, into a collection of authentic russian dishes, drinks, spirits, and bites.
Kvass, a naturally fermented drink made in countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Latvia. It is often made from rye bread but can come in many varieties. Goldstein shares beet kvass, bread kvass and a bright pink raspberry kvass recipe, perfect for sunny summer day. Using honey, water, yeast and berries, the kvass is ready to drink the next day. You will need some time to boil and cool down the mixture to the right temp, another 12 hours or overnight to ferment, and once bottles, another 6 hours to ferment inside the bottle where it will develop carbonation and the bubbles that make this lightly alcoholic drink so refreshing.
There will also need to be some chilling time in the fridge so definitely give yourself a day or two to make this and have it ready for the weekend. The recipe makes 4 bottles and you will need some special equipment such as a gallon jar (i used a very large pyrex bowl), cheese cloth, old school flip top or seltzer bottles which work very well too.
The kvass also has some probiotic qualities so consider this homemade drink a healthier option than soda if you are looking for something refreshing.
Raspberry Kvass Photo by: Stefan Wettainen Used by Permission of Ten Speed Press
Serving Size: Makes 4 bottles Kvass
Ingredients
1 quart raspberries
4 quarts water
1/2 cup mild honey
1 tsp. instant yeast
12 raisins
Equipment:
You will need a strainer, cheese cloth, thermometer, gallon size glass jar or a very large glass bowl (a jar is much more effective and less messy), 4 swing top bottles (I used seltzer bottles from our sodastream.
Instructions
Pour raspberries into a large stockpot and crush them with a potato masher. Add water and bring to a rolling boil.
Immediately remove the pot from heat. Cool the liquid to lukewarm about 105 degrees F. This will take several hours.
Strain berries through a double layer of cheese cloth into a clean gallon size jar. Stir in the honey into the warm liquid and discard the berries.
In a small bowl dissolve the yeast into 2 Tbsp. of raspberry water. When it foams add to jar with rest of liquid. Cover with cheese cloth (fruit flies can’t resist this fermenting kvass) and leave overnight or for 12 hours.
Scald four 750-ml swing-top stoppered bottles. Drop 3 raisins into each bottle and divide the kvass among the bottles. Seal and leave the kvass to ferment at room temperature for 6 hours. Transfer to the refrigerator. This kvass keeps for several weeks. Serve well chilled.
Cook's Notes
I didn’t have a full quart of raspberries so I used half blueberry and half raspberry and the results were wonderful.
I also left a little space in the bottle for the carbonation between the kvass and top of bottle. Use caution when opening.
I didn’t have a mason jar large enough to hold all the liquid so I used a very large pyrex bowl. However the cheesecloth fell into the liquid preventing it from doing the job of keeping out any flies. So! I then places a colander on top (so the rims of the bowl and colander played flush against each other) and layed an airy muslin cloth over top. This did the trick.