The Hirshon Finnish Fermented Lemon Soda - Sima

Sima Image Used Under Creative Commons License From pinterest.com

Citizens, I occasionally post beverage recipes I am fond of – Sima is definitely an unusual and delicious recipe straight from Finland, where your adventure-seeking Leader will be in December (far above the Arctic Circle on vacation!). 😀

Sima was originally mead, an alcoholic beverage produced by brewing a solution of honey and water. Nowadays the honey is usually replaced mostly or entirely by different kinds of sugar and there is only a very low alcohol content due to limited fermentation. Sima is nowadays a sweet sparkling brew that is mainly seasonal and connected with the Finnish Vappu festival.

It is usually spiced by adding both the flesh and rind of a lemon. During secondary fermentation, raisins are added to control the amount of sugars and to act as an indicator of readiness for consumption — they will swell by absorbing carbon dioxide and rise to the top of the bottle when the drink is ready. Sima is usually accompanied by a munkki (donut), a tippaleipä (a special Vappu funnel cake), or a rosetti (rosette).

Sima’s ingredients include lemon, active dry yeast, and raisins. Sugar is added as brown sugar, white sugar, honey or some combination of them. Hops are also called for in some recipes. The concoction of water and the lemon and sugars are mixed, boiled, and cooled to room temperature. The yeast is added and the mixture left to stand overnight. Then it is carefully decanted into bottles and a few raisins are added to each bottle.

The sima will be ready to drink when the raisins rise to the top of the bottles, about three to seven days depending on the temperature of the room where they are stored. It is usually served chilled. Usually, the alcohol content is low and the drink is suitable for children. Carbonation is produced by the yeast, and the drink is traditionally cloudy and not clarified or filtered. Because of this, traditional sima is a fresh product that does not store for long because fermentation may continue in a bottle and the alcoholicity may rise.

A commercial and possibly foreign cheap “sima” is produced by mixing apple wine, grape juice and flavor with carbonated water; this doesn’t produce the soft flavor of traditional fermented sima

I have made one small change to the classic recipe, Citizens – I’ve added a tiny amount of powdered ginger to the yeast starter as I find it really kick the yeast into high gear! You won’t taste any ginger in the final product, I assure you!

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The Hirshon Finnish Fermented Lemon Soda – Sima

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Beverages, Recipes

Ingredients

14 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup plus 4 teaspoons sugar, divided
2 lemons (organic, if possible), washed and very thinly sliced
⅛ teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
20 golden raisins

Instructions

In a large pot, bring the water to a boil.
Add the brown sugar, ginger, 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. Leave it up to two more days until 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. Fermentation should stop once refrigerated, however.

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