Almost all of us have known the taste of birch sap since childhood. With a little sourness. A slightly sweet, pleasantly thirst-quenching drink given to us by nature itself. It is available fresh only in early spring, not earlier than April. You can preserve its benefits in order to enjoy a pleasant taste not only by preserving it, but also by preparing a wonderful drink from the juice, which is no less famous and also quenches thirst well - namely kvass.
But kvass itself is not only drunk, but also used for cold soups - okroshka or kholodnika. You can add any dried fruits - raisins, for example, or cereal crops - barley. Thanks to this, you can vary not only the strength of the drink, but also enrich it with additional minerals and trace elements. As a result, the taste will also change - from a delicate “honey” to a strong, sweet-sour, rich one.
Kvass using fresh juice can be prepared either without yeast or with the addition of yeast; you can use a special starter or malt for preparation. 
- The technology is very simple and includes only a few steps that any housewife can handle. Having prepared the raw materials, you need to combine all the ingredients and wait for the drink to ferment. The last stage can take from a couple of hours to several days - everything will depend on the chosen recipe. The finished kvass is carefully filtered from the wort and placed in the refrigerator for storage and cooling.
- Any berries can be used as a raw material for kvass with birch sap - both fresh and dried or frozen. Of the cereals, not only barley is used, but also buckwheat, rye or oatmeal.
- Despite the natural sweetness of birch sap, to prepare kvass it is necessary to add sugar or liquid honey. There are some exceptions - if dried fruits are added or intoxicated kvass is prepared with beer and birch sap, then there is no need to add sugar.
- If kvass with birch sap is made without adding yeast, then it turns out slightly carbonated. Therefore, to add strength to the already bottled drink, you need to add 10 washed raisins.
Refreshing kvass made from birch sap with the addition of fresh mint and barley
The drink is perfect for quenching your thirst; kvass is light and can be enjoyed even by the smallest children. And mint gives an additional feeling of freshness and coolness. How to make kvass from birch sap with the addition of barley and mint?
- 10 liters of birch sap;
- 300 gr. granulated sugar;
- 500 gr. barley;
- 100 gr. fresh mint;
- One and a half loaves of Borodino bread;
- 10 pcs. raisins for every one and a half liters of drink (raisins are added after the finished kvass is poured into storage containers).
The process of preparing kvass with mint and barley:
- Borodino bread is better than yesterday's bread, cut into small pieces and dried in the oven, without adding sunflower oil. There is no need to add any spices; the bread already has a spicy and piquant aroma and taste.
- Pour granulated sugar into a thick frying pan, and without adding oil or water, heat until it turns caramel color.
- In another frying pan, heat the barley grains in the same way until it turns golden and a “nutty” aroma appears.
- Pour fresh, recently collected birch sap into a large saucepan, straining it through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. Bring to a boil and boil for no more than 2-3 minutes.
- Chop fresh mint and add to juice. If there is not enough fresh mint, then you can use dry mint at the rate of up to 5 tablespoons per the above amount of ingredients.
- Now sugar, barley and cooled crackers are added to the pan. Let the mixture swell a little, the crackers will soften, and the sugar will dissolve in the meantime.
- Now all that remains is to mix everything well and leave the pan in a warm room for 2-3 days.
- Pour washed raisins into clean and dry bottles and pour the strained drink. Can be stored in the refrigerator for a week. The remaining liquid can be used to prepare a new batch of a healthy drink.
Average difficulty in preparing kvass.
Preparation time: preparation of ingredients - 30 minutes, infusion of the drink - 1-3 days.
Quantity – up to 10 liters of soft drink.
Yeast-free coffee kvass with birch sap
Coffee fans will really like this slightly invigorating cool drink, and birch sap will make the taste of kvass light and delicate.
To prepare you will need:
- 3 liters of birch sap;
- 75 gr. black raisins;
- A glass of granulated sugar;
- 80 gr. coffee beans;
- 250 gr. black bread.
Preparing coffee kvass:
- Make crackers from black bread by cutting it into small pieces and drying it in the oven.
- Place the crackers in a clean and dry 3 liter jar. Also add granulated sugar and washed raisins, add coffee beans.
- Bring birch sap to a boil and pour in the prepared ingredients so that the crackers and sugar dissolve in the drink. After 5 minutes, mix everything using a large spoon for convenience.
- Now all that remains is to put a clean, sterile rubber glove on the neck of the jar and place the container in a dark, cool place.
- The glove should inflate, filling with air. This will happen approximately in 2-3 days, and then the drink can be considered almost ready.
- Strain the kvass through cheesecloth, pour into clean bottles and put in the refrigerator for a couple of days. After two days, the coffee kvass is ready for use.
You can’t make okroshka with it, of course, but the drink quenches your thirst and invigorates perfectly. Now you know how to make kvass from birch sap with coffee beans.
The difficulty of preparing the drink is average.
Preparation time: preparation of ingredients - 15 minutes, infusion of the drink - 36 hours, cooling and infusion of kvass - two days.
Quantity – up to 3 liters of soft drink.
Honey kvass with birch sap
The mild taste with a pleasant sweetness will pleasantly surprise you; besides, despite the presence of honey, kvass perfectly quenches thirst in the heat. 
To prepare honey kvass you will need:
- 5 liters of fresh birch sap;
- 2 juicy lemons;
- Half a packet of fresh yeast;
- 125 gr. liquid honey;
- A handful of black raisins.
Preparation of the drink:
- By any means, heat some boiled water and dissolve the yeast in it. In this recipe it is not recommended to use a dry product; you need yeast in the form of a soft paste.
- Rinse fresh lemons in water, dry them and roll them thoroughly on the table. During this manipulation, the internal partitions in the pulp will burst and more juice will be squeezed out. You can also boil the lemons for a couple of minutes in hot water, and to add an enhanced citrus flavor to the drink, you can add grated zest.
- Lemon juice, liquid honey and yeast diluted in water are added to the heated birch sap.
- After thorough mixing, the liquid is poured into clean bottles, adding a little washed raisins to each, and the container is put in the refrigerator to mature the drink for a couple of days.
The difficulty of preparing the drink is easy.
Preparation time – preparation of ingredients – 5 minutes, infusion of the drink – 36-48 hours.
Quantity – up to 5.5 liters of soft drink.
Useful tips for collecting birch sap for making kvass
- Birch sap is collected only in early spring, around April and early May, when abundant sap flows in the trees.
- In order to extract juice, you need to choose trees with a trunk volume of at least 20 cm. A hole is made in the trunk, a thin tube is inserted into it, through which the juice will flow. You can place any clean container on the ground so that the liquid flows freely into it. It is even better if instead of a straw you use a thin hose, for example from a clean, sterile dropper. Then one end of it can be inserted into the hole, and the other end can be placed on the bottom of the container. Not a drop of the healthy drink will go to waste!
- Freshly collected juice must be cleaned of debris by filtering it through folded gauze or a fine sieve. To prepare kvass, birch sap is heated to a boil.
Since ancient times it has been the most popular drink in Russian cuisine. However, not many people know that kvass can be prepared using natural drinks. Birch sap is perfect for this, because it does not lose its beneficial properties during the preparation process.
Birch kvass with raisins - basic principles of preparation
Classic birch kvass is made from sap and raisins, but there are also many recipes with the addition of other ingredients. It could be oranges, mint, honey, coffee, etc.
For kvass, it is better to use freshly collected juice, but if you do not have such an opportunity, you can prepare kvass using canned juice. You will need ten liters of drink.
In addition to birch sap, kvass requires raisins and sugar.
The juice is filtered through several layers of gauze. The raisins are thoroughly washed and placed on a disposable towel to dry.
To prepare kvass, use wooden barrels, enamel or glassware.
Pour sugar into the strained juice, add raisins and stir until the dry ingredients dissolve.
The container with the starter is covered with a clean cloth and left in a warm room. The fermentation process takes an average of three days.
The finished kvass is filtered again and bottled. Store the drink in the refrigerator.
Recipe 1. Classic birch kvass with raisins
Ingredients
natural birch sap – ten liters;
50 pcs. dried raisins;
500 g granulated sugar.
Cooking method
1. Clean freshly collected juice from debris and strain through a sieve.
2. Rinse the raisins in warm water. Place it on a paper towel and dry.
3. Pour sugar into the drink and add raisins, stir until the sugar crystals are completely dissolved.
4. Pour the kvass into a glass container, cover with a clean towel and leave in a warm room for three days.
5. Strain the finished kvass again and pour into clean bottles. The drink can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four months.
Recipe 2. Birch kvass with raisins, lemon and honey
Ingredients
natural birch sap – 5 liters;
two lemons;
25 g yeast;
four pcs. raisins
Cooking method
1. Wash the lemons, pour boiling water over them and cut into medium pieces.
2. Strain the birch sap through several layers of gauze.
3. Wash the raisins in warm water and dry them on a paper towel.
4. Add honey, raisins and yeast to the strained birch sap. It is advisable to use raw yeast, but if you don’t have it, you can use active dry yeast. Mix.
5. Leave the drink in a warm room for three days. Then we filter the kvass and bottle it into clean bottles.
Recipe 3. Birch kvass with a large dark drink
Ingredients
freshly collected birch sap - three liters;
dark large raisins – 25 pcs.
Cooking method
1. Wash the raisins in warm water and dry them on a napkin.
2. Strain fresh birch sap.
3. In the container where the kvass will ferment, combine the juice with raisins and sugar. Mix.
4. Close the container with the drink with a lid and leave it in a cool place for three months. This kvass retains its beneficial properties for a very long time. You can prepare okroshka using this kvass.
Recipe 4. Birch kvass with raisins and oranges
Ingredients
freshly collected birch sap – 2.5 liters;
yeast – 10 g;
orange;
granulated sugar - glass;
raisins - a pinch;
a few sprigs of mint or lemon balm.
Cooking method
1. Wash the orange under the tap, pour boiling water over it and wipe with a napkin. Cut it into circles. Place in a clean glass container.
2. Grind the yeast with a small amount of sugar and pour it into a bottle with oranges.
3. Rinse the sprigs of mint or lemon balm and put them in a bottle.
4. Wash and dry the raisins.
5. Strain the birch sap through gauze, folding it in several layers, and pour it into a glass container. Mix and leave to ferment in a warm room for two days. We filter the finished drink again and pour it into clean bottles. We put raisins in each. Screw on the lids and place in the refrigerator. After just a day, you will be able to drink kvass.
Recipe 5. Birch kvass with raisins, coffee beans and bread
Ingredients
natural birch sap – 2.5 liters;
a handful of coffee beans;
stale Borodino bread - three slices;
a handful of raisins;
granulated sugar – 100 g.
Cooking method
1. Pour coffee beans into a dry frying pan and lightly fry them over low heat.
2. Place slices of Borodino bread on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Dry the bread at 60 C for ten minutes.
3. Wash the raisins in warm water and dry them on a disposable towel.
4. Place coffee beans, slices of bread, sugar and raisins in a clean, dry three-liter jar.
5. Strain the birch sap and pour it into a jar with other ingredients. Mix. We pull a medical glove over the neck of the container, piercing it with a needle.
6. Leave the jar in a warm place for three days. When the glove is “deflated,” we filter the kvass again and pour it into clean glass bottles. Screw on the lids. Place the drink in the refrigerator.
Recipe 6. Birch kvass with raisins and rose hips
Ingredients
five liters of birch sap;
20 rose hips;
a glass of sugar;
20 pcs. raisins
Cooking method
1. Strain the birch sap through several layers of gauze. Pour it into a wide-necked carboy or bottle. Add sugar and stir until it is completely dissolved.
2. Rinse the raisins and rose hips. Pat them dry on a paper towel.
3. Add raisins and rose hips to the container with birch sap. Close the lid and send it to the cellar.
Recipe 7. Birch kvass with raisins and dried fruits
Ingredients
natural birch sap - five liters;
300 g raisins;
dried fruits - kilogram.
Cooking method
1. Rinse dried fruits in warm water. Place them on a paper towel and dry.
2. Place raisins and dried fruits in a clean, dry glass container and fill them with strained birch sap.
3. Infuse the drink in a warm room for three to four days. Stir the kvass periodically.
4. When the fermentation process is complete, pour the kvass into clean bottles, close the lids and place in the refrigerator.
Recipe 8. Birch sap with raisins and dried apples
Ingredients
20 pcs. dark raisins;
two liters of birch sap;
15 g dried apples;
granulated sugar – 100 g.
Cooking method
1. Pour the strained natural birch sap into a jar.
2. Rinse dried apples and raisins in warm water and dry on a napkin. Place them in a can of drink. Add sugar and stir.
3. Cover the container with several layers of gauze. Leave in a warm room for three days. After the allotted time, the color of the drink should change and the taste will become slightly sour.
4. Strain the kvass again and bottle it. Close the lids and place in the refrigerator. Serve the drink chilled.
Recipe 9. Birch sap with raisins and barley
Ingredients
natural birch sap – 20 liters;
granulated sugar – 100 g;
a glass of raisins and other dried fruits;
120 g barley.
Cooking method
1. Rinse raisins and dried fruits in warm water and dry on a paper towel.
2. Also wash and dry the barley. Place the dried fruits and barley in different linen bags and tie them tightly.
3. Strain natural birch sap and place in a large saucepan. Place on the fire and bring to a boil. Add sugar and lower the bags of barley and dried fruits. Boil for a minute, remove from heat and cover tightly.
4. Leave the pot with kvass in a warm room for a day. Then remove the bags and strain the drink through a sieve. Pour into bottles and close the lids tightly. Store in a cellar or other cool place.
Recipe 10. Birch kvass with raisins, apples, ginger, honey and mint
Ingredients
two liters of natural birch sap;
100 g sugar;
five apples;
3 g fast acting yeast;
5 ml light honey;
ten mint leaves;
40 g fresh ginger root;
half a lemon;
75 g raisins.
Cooking method
1. Wash the apples, cut them in half, remove the core and cut into slices. Place them in a saucepan and fill with birch sap. Place on the stove and cook from the moment it boils for three minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
2. In half a glass of warm broth, dilute the yeast with a teaspoon of sugar. Leave in a warm place for 20 minutes.
3. Pour the diluted yeast into the birch broth, add honey and squeeze the juice of half a lemon into it, add sugar.
4. Peel the ginger root and chop it on a fine grater. Wash the raisins. Rinse the mint leaves.
5. Add the prepared ingredients to the broth and stir. Cover the container with a clean, thick cloth and keep in a warm room for 12 hours.
6. Strain the finished kvass, cool and pour into clean, dry bottles.
- If you use freshly collected birch sap, be sure to strain it to get rid of wood debris.
- It is better to prepare kvass only using natural birch sap.
- Do not use plastic containers for fermentation.
- During the cooking process, you can add various medicinal herbs to kvass.
- Under the right conditions, kvass can be stored for up to six months.
If you like to drink cold drinks in hot weather, you will probably like birch kvass. If you are not allergic to pollen, this product will become a useful component of your diet, because it contains many vitamins, salts and microelements. The drink gives a slight diuretic effect, improves the functioning of the liver, digestive and biliary systems, and removes harmful substances from the body. Let's learn the simplest recipes for making birch kvass.
How to collect birch sap for kvass
When the quality of a store-bought product remains in doubt, there is nothing better than going into nature with a sharp knife and convenient utensils. But remember: birch tears can only be taken from old trees and in areas far from dusty roads and large populated areas. In addition, you need to go to the forest in the morning to get birch sap for kvass, since its flow slows down at night.
When choosing a tree, pay attention to a plant with a circumference of about 25 cm. To extract the useful elixir, cut the trunk at a height of 0.5 m from the ground and attach a groove to the notch. Once a sufficient amount of juice has accumulated, cover the cut with soil or moss.
Recipes for making kvass from birch sap
Birch kvass is usually prepared with the addition of bread and various aromatic ingredients (mint, orange, honey, raisins). The classic recipe for kvass with birch sap involves mixing natural nectar with raisins.
- Dry raisins – 50 pcs;
- Granulated sugar – 0.5 kg;
- Natural juice – 10 l.
Wash and dry the raisins, strain the nectar. Following the recipe, add sugar and raisins to the juice and wait until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cover the container with a thick towel and move it to a room with an air temperature no higher than 22°C. After 3 days, carefully filter the drink and bottle it.
With large dark raisins
There is no sugar in this recipe. Take 25 units of large dark raisins, wash and dry. Strain 3 liters of juice and mix the ingredients in a starter container. The drink should ferment for 3 months in a sealed container and in a cool room.
With barley
Products:
- Barley – 3 tbsp;
- Sugar – 2 tbsp;
- Rye crackers – 150 g;
- Birch elixir – 3 l;
- Dry yeast - use the tip of a teaspoon to scoop it out.
Combine all the ingredients in a 3-liter jar and let them sour for 2 - 3 days. Strain the liquid and drink with pleasure.
With orange
If you decide to make kvass from birch sap and orange, you will get a tasty and healthy treat that will help wean your kids off store-bought drinks that are not always healthy.
You will need:
- Yeast – 10 g;
- Raisins - a pinch;
- Orange – 1 fruit;
- Sugar – 250 g;
- Melissa and mint - several sprigs;
- Liquid natural product – 2.5 l.
Process ingredients according to recipe:
- Divide the orange into slices;
- Grind the yeast in a small amount of sugar and place in a bottle;
- Throw the orange slices, lemon balm and mint into the jar;
- Fill everything with nectar.
After 2 days, pour kvass from birch sap with the addition of aromatic products into half-liter bottles and pour raisins into each. Place the container in the refrigerator, wait 1 day and enjoy.
On honey
Kvass, obtained from birch sap and honey, is an excellent antibacterial and preventive remedy against colds. The recipes for its preparation include the following products:
- Raisins – 3 berries;
- Lemons - three medium fruits;
- Liquid honey – 30 – 40 g;
- “Live” yeast – 50 g pack;
- Forest birch sap – 10 l.
Strain the nectar over a large container and pour in the juice squeezed from the lemons. Add raisins and yeast, add honey. Mix the mixture thoroughly and pour into bottles. Seal the container and take it to a cool place for 3 – 4 days.
With dried fruits
Let's look at how to make kvass from birch sap and dried fruits. Wash and dry the raisins and dryers. Combine all ingredients in one container and leave in warm conditions for 3 – 4 days. Stir the future drink periodically. As soon as it stops fermenting, bottle it.
Kvass made from coffee beans, birch sap and bread
If you like regular bread kvass, for variety you can prepare a version with bread and coffee beans made with birch sap. It is more useful because it additionally contains raisins.
What you will need:
- A handful of raisins.
- Sugar – 100 g.
- 2 - 3 slices of stale Borodino bread.
- Birch elixir – 2.5 l.
- Coffee beans (the quantity is based on raisins).
Fry the coffee in a frying pan without oil, dry the bread in the oven, rinse and dry the raisins. Place all ingredients into a 3-liter bottle and fill with juice. Place a rubber glove over the jar and poke it with a needle. This will make it easier to understand whether the drink is fermenting. Place the kvass in a warm place for 2–3 days and wait until air stops flowing into the glove. Strain the liquid and keep in the refrigerator for 3 days. The product is now ready for use.
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Hello friends!
How are you? We haven't seen you for a long time! There were all sorts of different things... I promise that I will improve. And today we have an interesting topic. After all, the busy time for collecting very healthy birch sap has now begun. And so let’s look at what can be prepared from this product.
How do you know what you can already collect? To do this, observe the buds of birch trees. As soon as they swell, they immediately make punctures in the wood. If a drop appears, you can collect the useful liquid. It is important to make only one hole on one tree so as not to destroy it. Then all holes should be covered with clay.
Collect moisture in jars, bottles or bags. The so-called taste, in my opinion, is not particularly aromatic or tasty. It may seem slightly sweet. Therefore, various ingredients are added to the juice, which will give the drink the desired taste and aroma. But at the same time it remains very useful, which treats many diseases.
Let's look at what kind of ambrosia can be made from birch water. And as always, you can leave your recommendations and reviews below in the comments.
Useful properties and contraindications of kvass drink
Why is our ready-made drink so useful? First of all, the absolute absence of any chemicals. The same cannot be said about store-bought lemonades, which contain too much sugar and other preservatives.
It will perfectly refresh and quench your thirst in the summer. At the same time, the body will receive beneficial prebiotics that normalize the digestive system. Therefore, the fermentation product is good to take before meals. That is, I drank a glass and you can sit down at the table for dinner.
It is interesting to know that our ancestors called birch sap with the beautiful word “birch tree”.
B vitamins will perfectly improve the health of your skin and hair. They will help get rid of pimples and acne from the body. In this case, it is better to apply lotions to problem areas.
Berezovitsa improves health well during the spring season of colds. For prevention, it is good to take it several times during the day, and also add crushed cranberries or lingonberries.
Birch kvass does not promote active weight loss. But it helps get rid of excess swelling due to its diuretic effect.
Kvass has no particular harm. But it is better not to drink it for those people who have diseases associated with the gastrointestinal tract. Effervescent liquid with sourness is contraindicated for pancreatitis, cholecystitis and gastritis with high acidity.
People with allergies due to pollen should drink fizz with extreme caution. Well, in other cases there is no harm, only benefit. The low alcohol content of up to 1.2% does not harm anyone, including children. It happens that even kefir contains much more of these same alcohols.
So drink with pleasure and for your health!
Recipe with raisins without yeast at home
This is perhaps the easiest way to prepare a foamy dish. The condition requires only three ingredients. And the drink itself can be stored until late autumn in a dark and cool place.
We need:
- Birch sap - 10 liters;
- Seedless raisins - 10 small handfuls;
- Sugar - about 400 grams.
Preparation:
1. Wash the raisins in running water and dry on paper towels.
2. Strain the juice into a large 10-liter container. This way all the debris will settle on the gauze and we will get the purest liquid.
3. Add and stir all the sugar. And then we pour it into liter or one and a half liter bottles.
4. Add a small handful of raisins to each liter. We cork the bottles and put them in a cool place.
Our kvass will be ready in 4-5 days. You will need to carefully open the bottles and pour into glasses. If we do everything quickly, the effervescent liquid will run away)
We drink with pleasure!
Delicious drink prepared on bread
Berezovitsa with bread gives a light color. And, of course, a very pleasant taste. For lovers of dark shades, I recommend adding malt, but more on that in the recipe below.
The most relish still remains in the bread crusts. It is important to take black bread.
It is important to dry the crusts until slightly burnt. But don’t overdo it so that you don’t end up with really charcoal.
We need:
- Birch sap - 15 liters;
- Black bread - 1200 grams;
- Sugar - 3 cups.
Preparation:
1. Pour the freshly collected juice into a large enamel pan without chips. At this stage, we leave it for a couple of days so that the fermentation processes begin.
2. Cut the black bread into slices. Turn on the oven and set them to brown at 100 degrees. If there are black barrels, remove the peels and cool.
3. Then add sugar and put it on a small fire. Stir until the sugar dissolves. If you prefer without sugar, you can safely replace it with honey or another sweetener.
Do not bring to a boil! The juice just needs to warm up and all the sugar dissolves.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the crusts there and stir. Cover with a lid and leave for a couple of days in a dark place at room temperature.
After the allotted time, all our liquid foams and swells with bubbles. We filter it through a strainer and pour it into jars or bottles.
Please note that we have prepared an excellent dressing for okroshka. And below I suggest looking at another version of delicious kvass for a summer dish, but with the addition of malt.
Video about how to make kvass dressing for okroshka
Without a doubt, the best dressing for this is kvass. Do you agree with me? With sour cream and mustard, cold soup in the summer is simply amazing!
Therefore, let’s get ready and make not only a tasty, but very healthy liquid for any okroshka. How - watch a short video.
Prepare according to recipe with added yeast
Tutochki is the simplest recipe with compressed yeast. And really, why bother. And then you can sweeten it to taste or add berry and fruit juices as desired.
We need:
- Birch juice
- Fresh yeast
Preparation:
1. I specifically did not indicate the number of products. But we take it this way: for 2.5 liters of birch bark, 40 grams of fresh yeast.
2. Strain the juice through two layers of gauze into a saucepan. All unnecessary twigs, sticks, leaves and dust will remain in it. It even happens and often comes across insects. Therefore, it is better to strain the whole thing.
3. Place the pan on the fire and bring it to a temperature of 35 degrees. Dissolve the yeast and put it in a cool place for four days.
4. Now you can drink the drink. Or you can preserve it by simply rolling it into jars. It is stored for 6 months.
Delicious kvass made from birch sap for long-term storage
In advance, you need to dig small holes in the ground that can be lined with boards. In these homemade small cellars we put bottles of birch.
I recommend several more ways to sterilize jars.
Throughout the year, the containers can be taken out and the preserved, healthy kvass can be consumed. It turns out slightly fermented, sour and incredibly healthy.
Another way we need:
- Birch juice
- Lemon acid
- Granulated sugar
Preparation:
1. Pour the purified juice into a stainless steel container. Add citric acid and sugar to taste. Bring all the liquid to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then remove from heat.
2. Sterilize the jars and lids. Pour into containers and sterilize again in water at 90 degrees for about 15 minutes.
3. Now you can store lemonade all year. And if necessary, we take jars out of the pantry and use them with pleasure.
Needless to say, it’s both tasty and healthy!
A good and healthy option for dried fruits
I call a recipe with dried fruits a children's or dietary recipe. Because we only put in dried fruits, the birch tree itself, and no sugar. Which only makes it healthier and more natural, in the long run.
For 2 three-liter jars you need:
- Berezovitsa
- Raisins - 300 grams;
- Dried apples - 1 kg.
Cooking process:
1. Clean the juice by straining through a fine sieve or cheesecloth.
2. Wash dried fruits with running water and dry on a kitchen towel.
3. Take 2 three-liter jars and add equal amounts of raisins and dried apple slices.
4. Fill the top with juice up to the neck. In order for our lemonade to breathe, you need to cover it with a lid made of gauze and rubber band. This will protect against insects and debris and also provide enough oxygen for fermentation.
5. Place the jars in a cool place for 4-5 days. Stir the mixture once a day so that everything ferments evenly.
We use it with pleasure!
That's all for today! I wish you to enjoy this fragrant and effervescent drink and please your loved ones with new recipes!
Each of us drinks refreshing drinks in the summer. Without them, it is very difficult to survive the sultry heat. Some people drink soda, lemonade, and others drink iced tea. Everyone has their own tastes and preferences. But what is the best and, perhaps, most popular drink in the summer? Of course, this is kvass. They sell it at every turn. This is explained by the fact that it perfectly quenches thirst. The only thing better than bread kvass is birch kvass. Many will be surprised because they have not heard of its existence. However, this natural drink has been used for many centuries. All that remains is to figure out how to make birch kvass.
The main ingredient is birch sap. In this case, we are talking about natural birch sap, and not about a drink with preservatives and dyes, of which there are a large number on store shelves. Natural birch sap is not only tasty, but also extremely healthy. It contains a number of substances necessary for the human body: carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Thanks to this, it has a number of healing properties:
- acts as a diuretic;
- actively removes harmful substances from the body;
- has a positive effect on human immunity;
- normalizes intestinal function.
Birch kvass also contains many beneficial properties. The difficulty in preparing the drink is that before making birch kvass, you need to collect real birch sap.
How to get birch sap?
In winter, during frosts, you shouldn’t even try to get juice. Nothing will come of this. In the spring, when the frosts are left behind and the sun has melted the snow, you can safely go in search of birches. The optimal time for collecting sap is March-April, before the birch buds bloom. When collecting, do not touch very young birch trees. There will be little sap in them, but there is a high probability that the tree will die after this. The optimal tree thickness for harvesting will be a trunk diameter of 20 cm.
To determine whether there is currently sap in the birch tree, you need to insert an awl into the tree trunk about five centimeters. Then we take out the awl and see if a drop of juice appears from the hole, then we proceed to the next stage.
At a distance of half a meter from the ground, we make a hole in the tree trunk and insert a small groove into it, through which the juice will flow. I would like to immediately warn you that there is no need to look for such a gutter in the store. It is made independently from any suitable materials. You can use a wide tube instead of a gutter.
Place clean dishes down. For example, a bucket, a cut plastic bottle or any other container. From one tree per day you can collect up to five liters of juice. You don’t need to collect a lot, optimally 3-5 liters, otherwise the tree may dry out.
Now, having collected birch sap, we move on to the issue of creating kvass itself. There are a large number of recipes, but we will look at the best of them.
Recipe No. 1 Classic birch kvass
To prepare kvass according to this recipe, you do not need any foreign products.
This kvass will appeal to lovers of classic taste, without the admixture of additional flavors.
To implement it, we will need three liters of birch sap and one hundred grams of barley. 
Cooking process.
First you need to prepare birch sap. We filter it through a sieve with several layers of gauze in order to filter out all foreign objects. After this, pour the juice into a glass container and put it in the refrigerator to cool.
Place the barley grains in a frying pan and put it on the fire. You determine the frying time yourself. Overcooked grains will give kvass a bitter and tart taste. Lightly browned grains will give the drink a soft taste and light golden color.
Pour the grains into cheesecloth and tie. You should end up with a small bag of barley grains.
Dip the bag of grains in birch sap and leave for four days in a warm place. During this time, the kvass needs to be stirred periodically so that it infuses better. After the specified period, the drink should acquire the color characteristic of kvass.
All that remains is to strain, pour the finished kvass into bottles and put it in the refrigerator.
Recipe No. 2 Kvass with fruits
This kvass will have a sweet, fruity taste. In order to prepare this unusual drink, you will need two and a half liters of birch sap and one hundred and fifty grams of dried fruit. Decide for yourself which dried fruits to use, based solely on your taste. 
Cooking process.
We filter the juice and clear it of pieces of bark and other foreign objects. After this, rinse the dried fruits very thoroughly under running water. There is no need to soak dried fruits.
Place clean dried fruits in a three-liter jar and fill with birch sap. We wrap the top of the jar with gauze, previously folded in several layers.
We keep the jar in a warm place for three days, after which we filter the finished product and bottle it.
Recipe No. 3 Birch kvass with honey
This is one of the best recipes. The resulting kvass will be very tasty and aromatic. In this case, cooking will take very little time. To treat yourself to such a delicious drink, we will need:
- five liters of fresh birch sap,
- ten grams of yeast,
- one lemon,
- one hundred grams of honey
Cooking process.
Pour the yeast with a small amount of water and wait until it dissolves. To speed up the process, you can stir with a spoon. After this, add honey and squeeze lemon juice. Mix everything thoroughly.
Pour the resulting mass with birch sap and close the jar with a tight lid. After this, the kvass should ferment in a warm place for several days. The degree of readiness can be determined by taste. The cooking time directly depends on the room temperature.
Recipe No. 4 Bread kvass with birch sap
Bread kvass has been familiar to everyone since early childhood, but bread kvass made with birch sap will reveal a new taste of a long-familiar drink. To prepare it you need to stock up on the following products in advance:
three liters of birch sap,
one gram of dry yeast,
three hundred grams of rye crackers
one and a half tablespoons of granulated sugar.
Cooking process.
Carefully filter the juice through several layers of gauze, then pour it into the pan. Pour granulated sugar into it and mix well until completely dissolved.
After this, bring the juice to a boil and immediately remove from the stove.
After this, add yeast and pour in rye crackers. If you like a milder taste, then yeast can be omitted from the recipe. It's a matter of taste.
Cover the pan with a lid and store in a warm place for forty-eight hours. After the expiration date, the kvass must be strained from the bread crumbs, bottled and stored in the refrigerator.
Recipe No. 5 Birch kvass with orange
This drink with the addition of citrus fruits will perfectly save you from thirst in hot summer weather. This is perhaps the most unusual recipe presented. From the products we will need:
- two and a half liters of fresh birch sap,
- one ripe orange
- one glass of granulated sugar,
- a bunch of mint, a bunch of lemon balm, ten grams of yeast.
Cooking process.
First of all, wash, peel and cut the orange into slices. We put the slices in a jar, then the yeast and sugar. Sprinkle mint on top and add lemon balm.
Pour birch sap into the jar and mix everything thoroughly. After this, put the jar in a warm place. After two days, we begin to check the degree of readiness. The speed of fermentation depends on the room temperature.
Strain the finished product, pour into containers and add a few raisins. This kvass can only be stored in the refrigerator.
As we can see, making kvass from birch sap is quite simple. All that remains is to learn a few recommendations that will protect you from basic mistakes.
- Before making birch kvass, be sure to strain the birch sap through several layers of gauze. Unstrained juice will not only affect the taste of kvass, but also the quality of the final product.
- You need to collect birch sap yourself, as you can buy a low-quality and diluted product with preservatives. In the worst case, they may sell sweetened water instead of juice. Therefore, it is better to collect birch sap yourself, and at the same time take a walk through the forest and breathe fresh air.
- Kvass should ferment in a glass container; plastic bottles are not suitable for this purpose.
- The shelf life of finished kvass is five days. Therefore, you need to make as much kvass as you can drink during this time. It will be very disappointing if the drink disappears and you have to throw it away.
- Ready kvass should be stored exclusively in the refrigerator.
- During fermentation, kvass should be kept in a warm room. Therefore, you should not put the starter in a cold cellar or storage room.
- The most useful will be kvass with honey, since it contains the highest concentration of vitamins and other essential substances.
- Despite all its healing and beneficial properties, abuse of kvass can negatively affect human health. In everything you need to know when to stop.
All these tips will help you make very tasty and healthy birch kvass. The cooking process is very simple and does not require special skills. Once you try birch kvass, you will be amazed by its unique taste and it will become your favorite drink.
