Roughly chop 1 tablespoon of organic ginger. Put the ginger in the mason jar.

Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the mason jar.

Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of filtered water to the mason jar. Stir to dissolve sugar.

Screw on a fermentation lid and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, open the lid and add another tablespoon of chopped ginger and tablespoon of sugar. Put the lid back on and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. Repeat this step for 6 more days.

As the days pass, bubbles will start to form in your ginger bug. A white residue will settle a the bottom of the jar. These are good signs that the bacteria are working and your ginger bug is healthy.

To use your ginger bug in a recipe, shake your ginger bug to disperse the white residue at the bottom of the jar. Strain out the amount of liquid you need for your recipe. Add the chopped ginger back into the ginger bug jar. Refill with 1-2 cups of filtered water.

To keep your ginger bug alive and healthy, you need to keep feeding it, just like a sourdough starter. You can keep it out at room temperature and feed it daily, or keep it in the refrigerator and feed it every week or two.

One tip: keep some chopped ginger in the freezer and scoop out one tablespoon at a time whenever you feed your ginger bug.