Make your own · Botanical tonic
Brew it like Salted Honey Drinking Vinegar
A starting-point batch to brew something in the spirit of Salted Honey Drinking Vinegar — steered toward its own profile. Treat the amounts as a base and adjust to taste.
Makes about 1 gallon (roughly 10 servings).
Ingredients
- 1 gallon cold water
- your botanical blend (gentian, herbs, citrus peel)
- about 1.5 cups sugar, to taste
- 1/4 tsp champagne or ale yeast (to bottle-condition) — or skip and force-carbonate
Steps
- Heat about half the water; dissolve the sugar, then stir in the extract or aromatics and any tuning additions below.
- Steep off the heat to taste, then strain out any solids.
- Top up to one gallon with cold water and cool to room temperature.
- To carbonate: bottle with a pinch of yeast and ~1/4 tsp sugar per bottle, cap, and leave at room temp 2–4 days until fizzy — then refrigerate (open carefully). Or force-carbonate and skip the yeast.
- Chill well and serve over ice.
To taste like Salted Honey Drinking Vinegar
- Swap part of the sugar for 1–2 Tbsp molasses or brown sugar to deepen the body and add caramel.
- Add a small bundle of fresh herbs (sarsaparilla, dandelion) while steeping.
- Finish with a splash of fruit juice or a few crushed cherries.
- Keep the fizz gentle — a shorter bottle-conditioning or a lighter force-carb.
What you’ll need
Supplies from our store, matched to this recipe.
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