I enjoy cooking, but the things that really excite me are what I call my “food experiments,” fermented or cultured products that rely on the complex interplay of yeast, bacteria, sugar, and oxygen. We regularly brew beer, make kombucha (a fermented tea), yogurt, kimchi, pickles, and sauerkraut all from scratch. Each batch is different, you never know exactly how they will turn out. I have a great fermented foods cookbook called Wild Fermentation with these and many other recipes. It’s written by a quirky guy with a big mustache named Sandor Katz. Katz goes by the nickname, “Sandorkraut,” and crafts all kinds of traditional fermented foods and beverages at his home, on a hippy commune somewhere in the mountains of Tennessee. He lives with HIV and considers eating probiotic, fermented and cultured foods essential to his continued health. I’d love to sit down with this guy over a glass of home-brewed kombucha one day!
So when I came across this Finnish recipe for a fermented lemonade (oh, the things you find on Pinterest!), I was surprised I hadn’t heard of it. This drink, called “sima” is traditionally brewed in Finland on May 1 to celebrate the arrival of spring. It’s the easiest recipe I’ve ever seen for a home fermented beverage, with things that you probably already have in your kitchen.
I was curious about the use of ordinary bread yeast, and the purpose of the raisins–are they there for flavor? To provide more yeast/bacteria? Or just to let you know when its ready (because they rise to the top)? Who knows, it’s certainly a rustic recipe and I can easily imagine old Finnish grandmothers making it in their kitchens.
It’s very slightly alcoholic (<1%), but gets more so the longer you ferment it. It was seriously effervescent and quite refreshing, though with a distinct yeastiness. I’m going to experiment with using other types of yeasts (beer starters, etc.) next time to see how it affects the flavor.
At any rate, this Sima recipe is a good, easy introduction to the world of home fermentation, so give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments!
Day 1: As fermentation begins
Day 3, when I considered it ready and moved it to the refrigerator. The raisins had risen to the top and the pressure was intense when I opened the bottle.
- 14 cups water
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 4 teaspoons sugar, divided
- 2 lemons (organic, if possible), washed and very thinly sliced
- 1/8 teaspoon yeast
- 20 raisins
- In a large pot, bring the water to a boil.
- Add the brown sugar, 1 cup of the white sugar and stir to dissolve.
- Add the lemon slices, stir and let sit until lukewarm.
- Transfer the liquid to a nonreactive (non-metallic) container and add the yeast and stir.
- Partially cover and let sit for 8 hours or overnight. Tiny bubbles should form around the perimeter of the liquid.
- Strain the liquid into sterilized bottles.
- Place one teaspoon of sugar per quart of liquid as well as 4-5 raisins.
- Cork tightly.
- Let stand at room temperature until the raisins have all risen to the top of the bottles. I left it two more days until I could tell it was very fizzy.
- SAFETY NOTE: Be sure to open the bottles AT LEAST once a day to release the pressure so the bottles don’t burst.
- Refrigerate until use, letting out some of the pressure from the bottles from time to time, if necessary (I didn’t actually find this part to be necessary, as once I refrigerated it the fermentation stopped)
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In general I find cooking to be a bore (baking’s a whole different story), but experiments are the best. This looks like a fun one. I haven’t done any fermented beverages due to my lack of enthusiasm for beer, so this might be just the thing for me to try.
That’s funny, because I can’t bake! It’s so much less forgiving than other types of cooking, I always screw something up. I tend to substitute for things I don’t have, which is pretty risky! All I bake are chocolate chip cookies, using the Toll House recipe! I find that one easy and foolproof. Something like this or a soda would be right up your alley though! The only mistake to be made with something like this is letting it ferment too long, you’ll wind up with vinegar. I’ve done that with kombucha a few times and wound up using it to clean the drain 🙂
Love ur page and should apply to study with Sandor at his home in TN- it was one of the best choices I made as a small fermentation company – very inspiring indeed , it was attended by 15 small fermentation companies and Sandor went through every ferment known as we learned to make it all and ate like kings and queens with amazing fermented spread every meal. It is 5 days long and offered every spring and fall. Check it out on his website! He is an amazing mentor, very down to earth and ITS FUN!!!~ https://www.wildfermentation.com/upcoming-events/upcoming-events-sandors/#0
kifer, do you know how to make homemade ginger ale, because if you do, i’d like to know how. also, what is your recipe for homemade yogurt?
Larry, I have a great recipe for ginger ale syrup that you can then add to seltzer water (we have a SodaStream), but I’ve never bottle carbonated it. Here’s the recipe: http://howtomakesodapop.com/how-to-make-ginger-ale/ We are going to try brewing soda in one of Kevin’s beer kegs when it’s tapped out in a few weeks. I’ll keep you posted.
And yogurt is super simple, here’s a recipe similar to what we do http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Homemade-Yogurt-395111 I use a cheap yogurt maker, but I’ve heard you can also wrap the container in hot towels and put it in a small cooler. I alternate between using yogurt starter culture and the remainder of the last batch of yogurt. Flavor it AFTER you incubate it, not before.
thanks, kifer. i will tell you what happens once i’ve implemented these recipes. one of EIT’s previous posts regarding skipping visiting paris’ louvre museum reminded me of the song “ain’t that pretty at all” by the late great warren zevon. also, regarding kitty’s allergies, perhaps she is allergic to the kind of dishwashing detergent/soap used to clean her food bowl and water dish, but that’s just a guess.
Alas, I did actually think the Louvre was pretty and worth going to, just no need passing up something more exciting. It’ll be there next time 🙂
And the dish soap is a possibility, but the major issue is is her seasonal allergies. We got her tested recently and she is very allergic to a few pollens that are common right now, I just need to decide whether it’s worth doing allergy shots or oral allergy meds. Of all the homeless cats in the world, why did I have to get the high-maintenance one?
Interesting thread. My mom had an old oven she kept in the garage for making yogurt and jerkey.
Btw ALL cats are the “most” high maintenance…esp white cats with allergies
Thanks for you comment, Ajj. Interesting! I have a yogurt maker and food dehydrator–two gadgets taking up space, to make things that I could just cook in the oven! 🙂
Yikes, my cat has allergies too, so I understand…
Try benadryl. Also, try using food without meat by products. Another helpful choice to make is to add about 1/4 capsule of floragen digestion to her meal ‘ every time. Recipe sounds good – Im gonna try it.
Yogurt is even easier to make in an Instant Pot
Looks fun. In answer to your question : why the raisins ? The raisins provide nutrients that are needed by the yeast. You can also use a powdered yeast nutrient available from winemaking supply stores. Raisins in fermented fruit drinks are not uncommon and add a nice roundness. I think that roundness would be welcome in a lemon drink. It dates back to the Roman days at least. Cheers !
Thanks for this, Carl! I had put a ton of (white and brown) sugar into the mix so I assumed that was what the yeast were eating, but perhaps they needed the natural sugars, too?
From all the reading I have done on ferments; the raisins are to add minerals to the mix which the “yeast” really like and need 🙂
Interesting! That’s what I’m leaning toward, too. I went to the beer & wine-making store the other day and shared the recipe with the guy there–he thought the raisins were there to round out the flavor and give it a nicer texture, more mouth feel? He said he knows some cider makers that use stone fruit like peaches and plums in their mash to do that.
I’m trying a new batch right now with a packet of champagne yeast I picked up there, I’ll let you know how it goes!
I have champagne yeast on my list now ! Thank you for posting such a nice article.
Hello Cassie,
I found your receipe via pinterest and wanted to share my favourite with enthusiast like you. It is an old blackcurrant leave flavoured version of Sima, called Louhisaaren juoma, “Louhisaari drink” or “Marshals champagne” named after it’s origin of estate Louhisaari where one of the Finnish presidents marshal Mannerheim lived his youth.
8 liter hot water
5 liter of fresh blackcurrant leaves
500 g sugar
lemon peel and juice of two lemons
add pea size piece of yeast to lukewarm mixture
Brewing method is like with Sima, some add the lemon when bottled some add up everyting at ones, but you just has to believe beverage is ready after one day as you don’t have the raisins showing when ready. This is best after couple of days in fridge.
Hi Tiina, I’m sorry for not responding sooner, I somehow missed your comment back in January!
Thank you very much for sharing this recipe! I’d love to try this, but I’m not sure I can find fresh blackcurrant leaves in California. I wonder whether there are any similar tasting leaves that I can find out here? Maybe blackberry or raspberry? I’ll talk to the berry guy at my farmer’s market and see what he suggests.
Happy Vappu to you 🙂
Why blackcurrent leaves and not the berries instead? Thanks Martin
Generally, in wild fermentation we use organic raisins or fruit lightly washed to provide the yeasts needed. All fruit has yeast on it’s skin, part of it’s normal flora, and this is how it ferments all by itself when it falls off the tree or vine. We don’t add bread or wine yeast, we allow the wild. Ya never know what you’ll get!
Interesting, thanks for sharing that tip!
Did you ever experiment with different yeasts? The first time I made this, I followed your recipe exactly. I didn’t care for it at first. Almost tossed it – too yeasty. But after a week in the bottles (refrigerated), it really mellowed out. Still smelled funky – but I grew to REALLY like it. I’m currently making my second batch and I used wine yeast instead of bread yeast. It’s going SLOW – but it does seem to be working – I think. I added the yeast after it cooled, but then let it sit for 3 days before removing the lemons – it still wasn’t hardly bubbly at all, but I did see a FEW bubbles sneak up – so figured it’d be ok. Added the raisins (and some craisins) last night. They were floating this morning and there was a LITTLE bit of pressure when I opened the bottle. I’m hoping it’s more fizzy this afternoon – if not I’ll let it go another day or two. Hoping it works. If not, I guess I’ll go back to the original. 🙂 Would love to know if you found any better quality yeasts that work well for this.
Hi Jen! Thanks for sharing your experience! I agree, it’s a bit yeasty and I’ve been wanting to experiment with other yeasts but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m going to look for a winemaking supply store right now and see what I can find there! Thanks for the tip, let me know how it turns out!
Jen, I’m trying a new batch right now with champagne yeast–I’ll let you know how it goes!
Yeast needs a warm liquid in order to get established. Best is around 68°F (20°C, but it has to be warmer than 59°F (15°C). If you want a living organism such as yeast to grow, it needs a bit of warmth.
This is a brew that won’t get a high enough alcohol concentration to kill the yeast. If you won’t be drinking it immediately, then most brewers add sulfites to kill off the yeast. If you do try the champagne yeast, holy cow, be sure to vent the bottles. That WILL get you enough alcohol to kill the yeast.
At any rate, if you look, there should be a sludge of yeast at the bottom of the bottle. Carefully siphon the liquid off without disturbing that layer, and you get a much clearer tasting result.
With champagne yeast, after it’s done fermenting you will likely have a very dry alcoholic beverage. To make it bubbly, you bottle it in sturdy bottles and add a small amount of warm sugar syrup per bottle, maybe a teaspoon. Then use a bottle-capper or do it in a Grolsch bottle to resist the fermentation pressure.
Thanks for this! I really do like the taste of the most recent batch with champagne yeast, but you are right–it did build up a lot of pressure. I left the cap just sitting on the top so that it wouldn’t build up too much, but it didn’t build enough carbonation so I capped it and just released it every few years, but it built up a lot of pressure! It was a scary releasing it!
The reason for putting raisins in the fermenting brew is for extra nutrients for the yeast. If when your fermenting it and you don’t have an airlock for your fermenter use a balloon over the neck of the bottle this will stop any explosions that may happen. Putting any thing that is fermenting in the fridge is called cold crashing and it is used for killing the yeast.
D47 yeast is a great all around wine yeast can tolerate a vast range of temperatures. All good brew supply stores should stock it.
Yes! D47 is what the guy at the wine supply story sold me! I just tasted my most recent batch and it is much better than with the bread yeast.
Traditional recipes use honey in place of brown sugar. Organic raisins will provide the yeast (it occurs naturally on the skin) and that’s their original purpose in the recipe. If you don’t get fermentation starting, then add a bit of beer yeast. BUT WHATEVER YOU DO, do not cork or seal these bottles tightly! As yeast metabolizes sugar, it makes alcohol and CO2. That gas does carbonate the drink, but if you get too much it will shatter the bottle like a bomb. A better choice is to use a brewer’s vapor lock, or a balloon to cover the opening, to allow excess gasses to escape.
Thanks for these tips, C.L.! I need to buy a vapor lock. Thanks for the reminder!
Mason Top Pickle Pipes are very simple to use and easier to clean then a vapor lock … I have them for fermenting veggies. When I decided to add mead to my fermented beverage experimentations the article said that Pickle Pipes work for letting the gas off fermenting mead … which uses champagne yeast so it should work for Sima too … I’m excited to try Sima along with the mead … I just picked up my champagne yeast last night … Thanks for the recipe!
I am interested in using kombucha yeast. Do you know how I should do it? Starter? Actual brown strands from the brew? And how much? TIA, I am very new to the fermentation world 🙂
You mean, use kombucha starter to make this Sima? Or use kombucha starter to make kombucha? The former won’t work, but if you were talking about getting started brewing Kombucha, I’d definitely give it a try!
You can either buy a kombucha starter (sometimes called a “SCOBY” or “Mother”) from someone in your town if you can find them posted on Craigslist, or you can buy them from various vendors online. I bought this brand of kombucha starter before after finding it at a health food store near my house and it worked great! http://amzn.to/1GmFuzY (It comes with flavored tea for the initial batch, but on subsequent batches you can use whatever kind of black or green tea you want–just don’t use a purely herbal/caffeine-free blend, the infusion has to have actual tea leaf in it).
Hi Cassie, thanks for posting this – a friend mentioned your article because he knew I was looking for spring fermentation recipes. I love finding ancient/rustic wines – this looks quick, easy, and wonderfully bubbly. I’ll be starting a batch tomorrow!
Happy to inspire other fermentation enthusiasts, Russ 🙂 Let me know how it goes!
Hey!
I was reading Sandor Katz’ Art of Fermentation for more information on fermented sour tonic beverages and found this tidbit “One traditional way of gauging carbonation is to add a few raisins to each bottle of ferment you are seeking to carbonate; as the contents of the bottle carbonate, the raisins float to the top.” Looks like raisins actually serve multiple functions in fermented beverages! Thanks for the recipe, I am looking forward to trying it out today.
Interesting tip! I don’t have that book yet, but it’s on my wish list! Let me know how the recipe turns out for you!
Would an air lock used in wine making work better than having to open the cap every day?
Hi Scott, I had to think about this one for a second, as I’ve used airlocks making beer before. In this case, I think that since Sima is a fizzy drink, using an airlock would allow the pressure to consistently escape, resulting in a flat beverage (like wine, or like beer before conditioning). Opening the cap regularly allows you to balance between having some pressure in the bottle during fermentation, and essentially creating a pressure grenade in your kitchen that would be capable of bursting and causing a mess (or hurting somebody).
good points.
I was thinking that the airlock might be better to keep from having an explosion in the kitchen in case someone forgot to release the pressure but it does make sense that you need some pressure for the fizzyness
I grew up in a Finnish community in Northern Minnesota drinking Sima during haying season. Our neighbor would make the Sima and squeaky cheese and bring it over for an afternoon break for the farm crew.
My sister and I made Sima last summer in an effort to remember our youth. We substituted the farms maple syrup for the sugar and grated the lemon peel (organic lemons) which brought out more of the lemon oils and enhanced the flavor.
Wonderful memories of a wonderful time.
Thankyou for this recipe. I made it a couple of weeks ago and found it so lovely. I’m making more today. My first time however, I had no brown sugar so I replaced it with mullberry pekmez syrup. It tasted good and lemony with an added toffee taste, and was extremely fuzzy even being kept in the fridge; I had one explodee. The brown colour of mine was a bit off-putting so this time I’m going to use honey as a replacement for the brown sugar which is hard to come by here in Turkey. I’m really looking forward to offering this lovely beverage to my guests in the summer. Once again thankyou.
The sima-recipe that my parent’s have always used is a bit different from the one you’ve used. It’s not supposed to taste strongly of yeast. Thought I’d share, even though this post is old.
ingredients:
4 l water
2.5 dl brown sugar
3 dl sugar
a pinch of yeast
1 lemon
this makes a basic sima, if you prefer it lighter/darker, adjust the amounts of sugar accordingly.
1. Take a bucket/large pot and add the sugars into it. Boil half of the water and pour it in the bucket with the sugars. Mix.
2. The rest of the water should be added cold. Check that the water is the right temperature for the yeast that you’re using (we use dry yeast which starts fermenting at 42’C). Take a cup-full of the sugar water and add the yeast into the cup. Mix it and pour it back into the mixture.
3. Wash the lemon and then peel off the yellow lemon peel (not the white stuff). Slice the lemon into 0.5 cm slices and then cut off all the white bits from around the slices. Add only the yellow lemon peels and lemon slices into the mixture.
4. Keep in room temperature for 12-24 hours until bubbles form on the surface. If bubbles don’t form, you can add more yeast and ferment it for longer. If you feel like you’ve added too much yeast, you can add more sugar.
5. Pour the sima into bottles adding sugar and several raisins into each bottle. Store in the fridge for 5-7 days until the raisins start to pop up. Open the bottles every day to let off pressure if need be. If the sima tastes too much of yeast, add more sugar and raisins and store it in the fridge for a while longer. Don’t shake the bottles, as the yeast gathers at the bottom of the bottle. The raisins help with “eating” up the yeast.
Awesome, thank you so much for sharing your family’s recipe! I will try it your way next time!
I have a question & was not sure where to post it so I’ll ask you here.
When you “transfer the liquid” (lukewarm) to the container (to which you add the yeast), do you discard the lemon slices or do the slices go into the container also?
Or, after it sits 8 hrs/overnight the recipe says to “strain the liquid”…is this when you discard the lemon slices?
Thank you in advance for your response
with a name like Astrid…i’m going with you, honey!
about to start a sima batch in the next couple days…
Kiitos!!!
I had no idea this is a thing but I think I would love it
I Like ur page and u should Totally do a residency with Sandor! It was the best choice I made as a small fermentation company – he is soo inspiring , down to earth and fun! It’s 5 days every fall and spring at his home in TN And was a bunch of small Fermentation companies attending. We learned how to make every ferment from his genius encyclopedic mind and had an unreal spread of yummy ferments at every meal. https://www.wildfermentation.com/upcoming-events/upcoming-events-sandors/#0 I am so proud to call him my mentor
And friend! InJoy and keep fermenting! Blessings, Manda
I love this! I’m Finnish and my grandmother used to make dozens of bottles of sima before every May 1 for the whole extended family. I’ve never tried making it myself (since she passed) but maybe now would be a perfect time!
I’m going to give this recipe a bash. I’ve been making a very similar recipe using ginger and, having looked online to try and find if I can replace the ginger with lemon, came across yours.
I worked with Swedish-language recipes fairly similar to what you have posted here.
I think it is certainly possible to create a fruited mead or sugar wine based on this recipe but it seems mostly to be aimed at something like a proto-soda-pop. It is certainly delicious.
I have just tried this for the first time. It is very refreshing when chilled. Ideal for those Summer days and because of the low alcohol level (less than 1 percent)when drank after only 2 days, it would be ideal for BBQs.