If you are doing the GAPS Intro stage where you use sauerkraut juice only, this recipe is a lot easier than making the full sauerkraut recipe. It's also easier to sip this if you don't like eating sauerkraut.
I found this recipe on a NZ website Jacqueline Organics. Here is her recipe with a couple of my own comments below:
Fill a blender with chopped green cabbage and distilled water, which is available at the warehouse - bottom shelf in drink section, called Pure Dew. (Deb: We use artesian well water from the Petone aquifer, and that works fine too)
Add water till 2/3 full - beat at high speed in the blender for one minute and pour out into bowl and repeat with two more batches.
Cover with gauze or stocking and let stand at room temperature. After 3 days, the cabbage juice solution is ready to use. It is preferable to keep this in warm place out doors as it has strong smell and some may find it unpleasant! (Deb: Or keep it in a chilly bin in the laundry or garage.)
Strain the mixture to separate the liquid and the pulp. Place cultured cabbage juice in the refrigerator.
When your supply gets low, make a second batch just like the first one, except, add 1/2 cup of the juice from the first batch to the second batch. Your second batch will be ready in 24 hours.
Drink up to ½ cup 2 to 3 times each day, but start with small doses. Dilute with equal part of water.
The lactic acid in the cultured cabbage juice will purify the G.I tract and kill most strains of fungi, parasites and other pathogens. You should drink this drink until your stools float in the toilet bowl and are odour free. You can gain some benefits from eating the cabbage pulp (which is what you separate off from the liquid).
My experiences so far making it:
Batch 1:
The cabbage I bought from Commonsense Organics was quite small, so it didn't make 3 blender loads - only 1 .5. As she said, it was very smelly, right from the start and did need to be fermented outside. It took about 6-7 days to be tangy enough, rather than 3. It wasn't that great tasting, but not too bad either. Since I bottled it, it has been left on the bench and not refrigerated, and it seems to be tasting better as it gets older. Or I'm getting more used to it. Either way, its all good.
Batch 2:
As she says, I added some of the first batch to it, but since my cabbage was again small, I only added 1/4 cup. Funnily enough, it doesn't smell anywhere near as bad as the first batch and although you can smell it when you get within a couple of metres, I have been able to keep it inside. It's currently on Day 3 and tastes nearly ready.
Later updates:
Another way of controlling the smell is to keep your jar inside a chilly bin, if you haven't got a suitable outdoor area to keep it in.
I have found that you can also ferment red cabbage juice, and it doesn't smell so much. Though I think it's also not quite as effective a digestive tonic.
So I have been doing a mixture of red and green cabbage, which is a nicer flavour and smell, but still helps digestion. Build up to 1/3 or 1/2 glass before each meal.
Another variation:
Add some chopped raw beetroot, and a small amount of salt and extra water to each batch, so you are also getting the benefits of beet kvass.
