Russian Bread Kvass

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1. 1Step 1: If you wish to sterilise your 1 litre/1 quart glass jar, wash it out and place it in an oven at 120C/250F for 15 minutes. Let it cool.
2. 2Step 2: Toast 1 cup of sourdough rye bread in the oven at 120C/250F for 1-2 hours. You want it dried out and crispy but not burnt. Let it cool.
3. 3Step 3: Fill your litre/quart glass jar with water (previously boiled and cooled, if desired) two thirds full.
4. 4Step 4: Add half a cup of sugar and stir until dissolved.
5. 5Step 5: Add the cooled, toasted bread to the jar and stir gently.
6. 6Step 6: Lightly screw a lid on or cover the glass jar and leave it somewhere warm and out of direct light to ferment. Stir once a day.
7. 7Step 7: Check it after 3 days and taste. If it is sour enough for you, proceed to stage two. If it still tastes strongly sweet, leave it to ferment further (to produce a soured drink, mine usually takes 6-7 days).
8. 8Step 8: Prepare the 1 litre/1 quart swing top bottle by cleaning and sterilising as above.
9. 9Step 9: Put the funnel in the neck and balance your sieve on this.
10. 10Step 10: Pour your fermented kvass through the funnel/sieve, so that the kvass ends up in the bottle and the bread cubes are caught in the sieve. You may have to hold the sieve still and/or use a spoon to scrape out some of the bread to complete this.
11. 11Step 11: Remove the funnel/sieve/bread and put to one side.
12. 12Step 12: Add your optional second fermentation sweeteners/flavourings to the bottle. Cap the top. If necessary (it is with honey) gently agitate the bottle to mix.
13. 13Step 13: Leave this bottle somewhere warm and out of direct light to ferment.
14. 14Step 14: It's ready to drink from now onwards, but will improve over the next 24 hours. Check it regularly, releasing the gas in case it has gotten very bubbly. I find it's best drunk within 3 days. Remove it to the fridge if you want to preserve – this will virtually stop the fermentation but will also mean it loses some of its fizz.
15. 15Step 15: The next batch of bread kvass is ready to make as soon as you've strained the bread from the liquid at the beginning of stage two. You will use this bread as a starter in your next batch.
16. 16Step 16: Wash your previously used 1 litre/1 quart glass jar, or use a new one.
17. 17Step 17: Return to stage one above and repeat the process from the third paragraph. I've found it is possible to use less sugar on subsequent fermentations, so feel free to experiment with quantities and the time they take to ferment.
18. 18Step 18: If you don't want to immediately make a new batch of kvass, you can keep the starter in the fridge for a few days until you're ready.