Step 1

Finely chop or grate your ginger and add it to your mason jar. I prefer to grate my ginger with a zester as it does a better job of releasing the juices. (I like this one because it also does a fantastic job with citrus zest and even after eight years of use it’s still sharp, ask my fingers how I know!)

Step 2

Pour the lemon juice (and zest if used), apple cider vinegar, honey or maple syrup and water into your jar.

Step 3

Screw the lid down tightly and shake the dickens out of it. You want all of your honey dissolved and a little frothy tornado of ginger bits in there.

Step 4

Loosen your lid a little and let your jar sit out on the counter for 24-36 hours. This gives the naturally occurring yeast in the honey and ginger a chance to do a little fermenting and makes your switchel a bit fizzier.

Step 5

Strain your switchel through the strainer into a clean jar or Grolsch-style bottle.