HOW CAN YOU KEEP BIRCH WATER FRESH?
So you’ve heard birch water doesn’t keep fresh for very long and you want to find out more? Here are a few tips to help you:
Shelf life:
Firstly, it is important to note that fresh birch water does not keep for very long. If you store it in the fridge straight after harvesting it, it will keep for around three weeks.
You can extend this duration further by adding lemon juice (1cl/L) or cloves.
It is also possible to use it to make birch wine by controlling its preservation.
Temperature:
In order to keep the birch water fresh and safe to drink, it is recommended to harvest it once a day and place it in cold storage as soon as possible. In hot weather, it is advisable to harvest it several times a day. Indeed, birch sap contains lots of bacteria which are good for our health, but when the temperature rises, harmful bacteria can also develop quickly.
Storage:
When storing birch sap, it should be kept in a bottle that is filled up to the brim. This prevents the drink from coming into contact and reacting with the oxygen in the air. Oxidisation can lead to the breakdown of certain nutrients and the development of harmful bacteria. After a few weeks of being stored in bottles, birch sap starts to ferment, and then spoils very quickly. Many people think that it is no longer drinkable, but fermentation is a natural preservation process of birch sap. It allows it to develop good bacteria while keeping all its nutrients. It has been acknowledged that these living microorganisms have very positive effects on the intestinal flora and digestive system.
To store freshly harvested birch sap, keep it in the refrigerator in an airtight plastic container, rather than a glass bottle. Indeed, when the lactic fermentation process begins, the volume of the water increases slightly. As a result, it needs more space and should therefore be stored in the fridge in a flexible bottle.
