How To Make Corfu Tzitzibira (Ginger Beer)

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This is the recipe for Corfu Tzitzibira. When the British were on the island of Corfu in the first half of the 19th century, one of the things they introduced was ginger beer. After they left, it remained a traditional drink here and the name became tzitzibira.

It's a delightfully refreshing drink in the hot summer and also extremely healthy. Below is the recipe to produce 5 litres of tzitzibira - if you need to convert this to gallons and pints, then please go to the bottom of the page, where you'll find a Metric Converter.

You will need to use bottles that are either hard plastic or glass, with tightly sealing screw tops. If the bottles are light plastic, then they will expand during fermentation and will not be able to stand upright. Also, the bottles should preferrably be small - 200ml is ideal - as the larger they are, the fizzier they are when opened.

The fermentation process happens due to the sultana raisins that are included in the recipe.


Ingredients

5 litres water
900g sugar
150g ginger root
500g lemon juice
50g lemon flesh from inside of lemons
12 sultana raisins


Preparation

Peel the ginger and along with about ½ cup of water from the 5 litres grind well in the blender.

Heat 1½ cup of water from the 5 litres until it is lukewarm and melt the sugar in it.

In a heavy plastic or glass container (over 5 litres capacity) with a tightly-screwing lid put the water and the ginger, melted sugar, lemon juice, lemon flesh and sultanas.

Stir well and close the lid tightly.

Leave this for 34 hours, and during this period, unscrew the lid, stir well, and screw the lid back on 3-4 times.

At the end of the 34 hours, strain the liquid and transfer it into the bottles, making sure that you don’t fill them more than 3/5 full. Close the bottles tightly.

As a control, take a small bottle made of light plastic (e.g. a small water bottle) and fill it up to 3/5 full. This will expand with the fermentation and show you that it is ready.

Leave the bottles for 7 days at room temperature without moving or shaking them. At the end of this time fermentation will have taken place and the control bottle will have expanded fully as an indication.

Put the bottles into the fridge and they are ready to serve. They can stay in the fridge for 3 months.


If you've tried this recipe please rate it!


Drink and Enjoy!

 

6 comments:

Rovie said...

I bet this one is good for singers as they say ginger helps develop your voice... thanks for sharing..

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Walk with Me said...

This is an interesting drink. I'll try this for my husband since he's a fan of ginger stuff.

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing

mississauga escape said...

Perfect drink escape for this summer season. Healthy and looks delicious too. Thanks for sharing this one of a kind juice here. :")

Jennifer said...

This is a great recipe!


I am definately gonna try this.. Thanks for sharing!

Also check out my another favorite recipe ; https://thirstpals.com/starbucks-pink-drink-with-vanilla-cold-foam-recipe/

jenny said...

thanks for sharing...


also check my madame butterfly drink recipe https://thirstpals.com/madame-butterfly-drink-recipe/

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