This pine needle soda is a delicious and quick naturally fermented drink made with foraged ingredients. Pine needles have a citrusy, pine, and minty flavor. Some people call this pine needle sprite because it’s fizzy and has a similar flavor, but it is made with all-natural ingredients!
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What Type of Needles to Use
For this quick fermented pine needle soda, you can use any edible conifer needles. Pine, fir, or spruce are all okay to consume and are popular choices.
Foraging for pine needles is a lovely way to spend a winter afternoon!
It’s important to properly identify the conifer needles you are using, as some are toxic such as the Yew family.
Pine and other conifer needles have natural yeasts on them that cause fermentation to happen when water and some kind of sweetener are added, like sugar or honey.
During fermentation, the yeast on the pine needles eats the sugar and outputs bubbles, making for a fizzy drink! This is a super fun winter project to make, and it only takes about 3 days to ferment.
Related: 30+ Pine Needle Recipes, 12 Fermented Soda Recipes
Get more of my favorite food, drink, medicine, and body care recipes that use pine, fir, spruce, and other conifer needles in my ebook Foraged Conifer Recipes for Body, Mind, and Health!
Pine Needle Soda Benefits
Pine needles have tons of herbal properties, namely their high vitamin C content. Drinking fermented pine needle soda has more vitamin C than a glass of orange juice!
Along with herbal vitamin C support, pine needles also provide a boost of vitamin A.
Traditional herbalists use pine and other conifer needles for antibacterial, pain-relieving properties, as an expectorant for coughs, and to help relieve chest congestion.
Along with this fermented soda’s refreshing taste, every time you drink it, you’ll also enjoy its herbal benefits!
For health benefits from other natural fermented sodas, try my turmeric soda, yarrow and rose soda, strawberry rhubarb soda, and even fermented root beer!
Is Pine Needle Soda Alcoholic?
This fermented soda has a negligible amount of alcohol and is considered to be non-alcoholic. That said, everything that is fermented has some amount of alcohol, so keep that in mind.
Since it is a quick ferment with a low amount of sugar, pine needle soda will not produce much alcohol at all. However, if you were to ferment it longer and with more sugar, then it could become more like a pine needle beer, similar to my spruce beer recipe.
Pine Needle Soda Recipe
First, let’s talk about sugar because I know many of you are wondering! The sweetener in this recipe needs to have some kind of sugar in it, so honey, maple syrup, sugar, brown sugar, will all work.
However, sugar substitutes like stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, etc… will likely not work. The bacteria that do the fermentation need to “eat” real sugar, and then they produce bubbles making a lovely fizzy drink!
Ingredients
Pine needles: Whole pine needle bundles with a small bit of the branch still intact seemed to ferment better and quicker than cut pine needles, but feel free to experiment and see what works best for you.
Filtered water: Use filtered water or bottled water to be sure that it doesn’t have anything in it that will disrupt the fermentation process.
Honey: Use raw honey or substitute it with other real sugar, such as brown sugar, maple syrup, or organic sugar.
Optional garnish: Lemon, lime, or orange slices.
How to Make Pine Needle Soda
Once you identify and forage edible pine or other conifer needles, gently rinse them in cool water if they are dirty.
Put the pine needles into a 16 ounce flip top bottle.
Now add the honey to the bottle over the pine needles.
Then pour filtered water into the bottle. It helps to use a small funnel.
Make sure to leave 1-2 inches of headspace at the top so there is room for air bubbles during fermentation.
Close the lid and shake the bottle a little bit to distribute the honey since it needs to mix with the yeast on the pine needles for the pine needle soda to ferment.
Put the bottle in a warm (not too hot or too cold) place to ferment. A kitchen counter usually works great!
The soda should start fermenting and producing carbonation after 2-3 days. Be careful when opening the bottle as it could have a lot of bubbles!
Don’t let the bottles sit longer than 3 days without opening so that the pressure doesn’t build up too much. You don’t want the bottle to burst!
Note: Burping the bottles is not necessary unless you want to ferment the soda for longer than 3 days. If so, burp after 3 days and let it continue to ferment.
Lastly, strain the soda with a fine mesh sieve before serving.
How Serve and Keep
This is a fun foraging and fermentation project to make in the winter! To drink pine needle soda, serve over ice with a lemon, lime or orange slice for garnish.
It’s also known as pine needle sprite because the flavor is similar! It’s light, bright, fragrant and very refreshing. The pine flavor is there but isn’t overwhelming. This is my new favorite soda!
Once your pine needle soda is ready to drink, it can be stored in the refrigerator until it has all been enjoyed. Cheers to natural fermentation!
More Pine Needle Recipes
- Pine Needle Infused Honey
- Pine Needle Cough Syrup
- Pine Needle Tea
- Pine Needle Cookies
- Pine Lotion Bars for Winter
- Winter Spice Pine Soap Recipe
- Conifer Infused Body Oil
- Rosemary Pine Beard Balm
- Pine Salve With Infused Pine Oil
- Conifer Tip Syrup
Pine Needle Soda
Ingredients
- 1 cup pine needles
- 1 ½ cup filtered water
- 2 tablespoons raw honey or sugar
- lemon, lime, or orange slices optional for garnish
Instructions
- If the pine needles are dirty, gently rinse them in cool water.
- Put the pine needles into a 16 ounce flip top bottle.
- Add the honey and filtered water to the bottle using a small funnel if necessary. Leave 1-2 inches of headspace at the top.
- Close the lid and shake the bottle a bit to distribute the honey.
- Put the bottle in a warm (not too hot or too cold) place to ferment – a kitchen counter usually works great.
- The soda should start fermenting and producing carbonation after 2-3 days. Be careful opening the bottle as it could have a lot of bubbles! Don’t let the bottles sit longer than 3 days without opening so that the pressure doesn’t build up too much.
- Strain the soda with a fine mesh sieve and serve over ice with a lemon, lime or orange slice for garnish.
Notes
- Any edible conifer needles such as pine, fir, or spruce can be used for making this soda.
- Be sure to properly identify the tree before using. Yew trees are highly toxic and should not be used.
- Whole pine needle bundles with a small bit of the branch still intact seemed to ferment better and quicker than cut pine needles, but feel free to experiment and see what works best for you.
- Burping the bottles is not necessary unless you want to ferment them longer than 3 days – if so, I would burp after 3 days.
Can you use a yeast to enhance the fermentation and get more bubbles? I used brown sugar and it turned out great. Dont wash the needles unless real dirty and use the branch as well. Calling it Sprite is confusing as people expect it to be similar andits not evven close . Its more like a pine flavvored water thats sweet but not close to sugared sodas in sugar content making it healthier if your trying to reduce sugar intake and its just different. thank you
I would use champagne yeast or another kind of brewer’s yeast, but I have never tried it so I can’t say how it’ll turn out. Let me know how it goes if you do!