This fermented spritzer is a great alternative to expensive store-bought kombucha. It’s full of probiotics, even without using a SCOBY. The best part is you can forage for the ingredients!
Fermented Christmas Berry Spritzer
December is around the corner and seasonal winter recipes are calling my name. Here in Baja California, and Southern California, we welcome fruit like persimmons, pomegranates, lemons, oranges, and apples in late fall and winter. All of these fruits make for wonderful sweet and tart recipes just in time for Winter Solstice and Christmas.
But, did you know you can use free berries in your winter recipes? It’s true, if you don’t have access to fruit orchards and don’t want to spend that extra holiday money on expensive fruits, you can forage for your ingredients! Check out our extensive guide here if you’re new to foraging: Foraging For Wild Food & Herbs – A Beginners Guide.
Here in the Southwest region of the U.S. and the Northwest region of Mexico we have access to quite a few delicious berries that bloom in late fall and winter. There are holly leaf cherries, lemonade berries, blue elderberries (make sure to get to these before the birds do), juniper berries, rosehips, and the berries we will use for this recipe – toyon berries (Christmas berries).
If you live in other parts of the U.S. there are still winter berry options to choose from such as: blackberries, black elderberries, cranberries, partridge berries, hawthorn berries, and wild grapes (just to name a few). For an awesome winter foraging list, check out one of my favorite blogger’s post on What To Forage in Winter.

Note: Christmas berries and some other winter berries contain a chemical that produces cyanide when the berry is eaten raw. This can be toxic when consumed in large quantities. Luckily, the fermentation process removes any amount of toxicity there may be in the berry product.
How to Make a Christmas Berry Spritzer
This recipe is made with only two ingredients: Christmas Berries and Water. You can add Honey at the end of fermentation to have a little extra sweetness in your spritzer. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Christmas Berries (Toyon Berries): This recipe uses Christmas Berries native to Southern California/Northern Baja, but you can use any type of Winter Berry you have access to! If foraging is not your thing, you can use all those cranberries Auntie Liz left behind from Thanksgiving dinner.
Water: Spring water or filtered water is best, but use what you have!
Honey (Optional): I like to add local honey after the fermentation process, but this ingredient is totally optional.

Let’s Make a Fermented Christmas Berry Spritzer!
First you’re going to pick off all of the berries from their stems. Some people like to use a fork to separate the berry from the stem easily, but I find doing this by hand to be meditative.

Next you’re going to smash the berries in a molcajete (mortar and pestle). You should smash the berries until they are visibly squished up and in a juice type of liquid.

Then you will transfer the berries to a clean glass Mason Jar. Fill the jar full of berries with drinking water.
Put the spritzer mixture in a dark place and let sit for 5 days. Make sure it’s room temperature or colder for the fermentation process to happen without the mixture spoiling.

Note: the colder the outside temperature is, the longer the fermentation process takes. If there’s no bubbles by 5 days, then let the mixture sit another 5 days.
After 5 days strain the berries from the mixture using a fine strainer. You can strain the mixture into another wide mouthed jar if you intend to add honey, or you can use a small funnel if you intend to put your spritzer in a small necked bottle.

If you’re adding honey, mix the honey into the spritzer with a whisk or spoon. Mix well until the honey is dissolved.

If using a glass flip tip bottle, transfer the mixture into the bottle using a funnel. Seal the spritzer up and store in the fridge if you intend to drink as soon as possible, or let sit out room temperature if you intend to do a double fermentation (if you would like more bubbles or a more fermented taste). Enjoy your delicious spritzer!

Fermented Christmas Berry Spritzer
Equipment
- 2 Glass jars – one medium and one large
- 1 Fine mesh colander
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Molcajete
- 1 Cheesecloth or mesh bag
Ingredients
- 1 Cup winter berries - washed
- 4 Cups water
- 1 Cup honey
Instructions
- Pick off the berries from any remaining stems.
- Smash the berries in the molcajete (mortar and pestle) until the berries are in juicy chunks. You will hear a squishing sound that indicates the berries are ready to be added to the water.
- Fill the smashed berries in a clean jar of the water.
- Mix up the berry and water mixture with a large wooden spoon and place a cheesecloth or mesh bag over the top of the jar.
- Let the berry and water mixture sit somewhere dark for 5 days. In a cupboard is ideal.
- Check the berry and water mixture each day to make sure there is no mold and/or bugs getting in. Taste it once in awhile to make sure it is tasting fermented (it will be sour and bubbly).
- Strain out the berries by placing a smaller glass jar underneath with a fine mesh colander on top (or cheesecloth). Pour out the berry and water mixture so only the spritzer goes into the glass and the fermented berries stay in the colander.
- Mix well and add honey (if desired).
- Refrigerate right away (if not doing the double fermentation) and enjoy!