Benny Briga and Adeena Sussman - Gazoz

The Art of Making Magical, Seasonal Sparkling Drinks Gazoz Benny Briga & Adeena Sussman Photography by Dan Perez Illustrations by David Schiller Contents

Gazoz gazoz | \g'zz\ a carbonated nonalcoholic drink Out of my tiny , postage stampsize shop in Tel Aviv, surrounded by an ever-growing apothecary derived from natures bounty, I have developed a cultish culture around the fizzy power of bubbles. Every day, hundreds of people from all over the world approach the counter and order a glass of gazoz: a gorgeous, aromatic, colorful, zero-proof, and altogether tantalizing beverage of fruit, fizz, flora, and fermentationliquid magic whose name is derived from the Turkish word for gas. Seltzer, soda water, bubbly waterwhatever you call itis having a moment. In the past few years seltzer has become incredibly popular, and (in my very biased opinion) for very good reason. Lacking the artificial coloring and flavoring of conventional sodas and other beverages, clear, crisp seltzer and seltzer-based drinks are lighter, healthier, and more balanced than their conventional alternatives. Refreshing, caffeine-free, nonalcoholic, and fun, these seltzer-based drinks are something anyone of any age can enjoy at any time of day.

The gazoz drinks that I make in my shopand that I am sharing with you herelet you ride this current wave of seltzer love. By combining seltzer, ice, fruit, homemade syrups, fermentations, and other flavorings in a tall glass, you can elevate that glass of fizz into a custom creation that speaks to your individual tastes and allows you to flex your creative muscles. With gazoz you can always customizepicking the fruit, level of sweetness, and variety of flavorsto get the drink you want to have at the moment you want to drink it. And you will want to drink gazoz all the time. Especially when its hot... but not only then.

Were all trying to increase the amount of water we drink each day, and a glass of gazoz gets you there. Kids want a soda? Give them a colorful, flavor-filled gazoz instead. Looking for a five-oclock-somewhere treat but not interested in a buzz? The answer is gazoz.

First and foremost, these beverages are intended to slake your thirst, but making one has the added effect of jump-starting the imagination of whoever is making the creation. I am blessed to see inspiration for gazoz everywhere I turn, but its the intersection of the urban and the wild that inspires me the most. Many of us, including myself, live in cities.

But rather than be cut off from nature, if we merely open our eyes to breathe, smell, touch, absorb, and observe, there is beauty to be found in plain sight: flowers, herbs, and fruit can all be picked and added to a glass of gazoz. The fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, leaves, and flowers that are at the heart of my creations are the essence of life, something you can celebrate at home by making your very own glasses of gazoz. Where I live, beautiful produce is available year-round. But it is not a requirement, and thats the beauty of gazoz. Whether you have something as simple as a berry or as sophisticated as a dragon fruit, the resulting drink will be delicious.

I call the process of suspending fruit in sugar, then watching it take new form over time, sweet fermentation. I call the process of suspending fruit in sugar, then watching it take new form over time, sweet fermentation.

Fermenting is a process of deprivation and its happy results, when the absence of oxygen and the presence of sugar and the natural yeasts that live in our environment combine in the jar to produce fruit that concentrates in its own flavor, then deepens as fermentation ensues. The complexity of the process, and the equally complex results, lends counterbalance and layered flavor to my glasses of gazozand are delicious (and healthy) enjoyed on their own. Sweet fermentation is about capturing the beauty of nature. A glass of gazoz is the process of nature, arrested and captured in a glass. No two glasses are the same, even if they contain the same ingredients, since the force of nature causes molecular changes even from second to second.

Every drink I make is crafted in the moment, but in truth it contains weeks, months, and sometimes years of maceration, fermentation, and resting timeslowly developed flavor that comes together perfectly in every glass.

In addition to fermented and fresh fruits, my gazoz drinks contain aromatic herbs and leaves procured from the market, foraged in fields, or raised in our own tiny organic garden in Tel Aviv. The sparkling drinks often contain a splash of kombucha, kefir, and jun, of-the-moment fermented beverages Ive been making for years (see page 59). These elements can change depending on the season and your whims, but one thing is certain: There will be bubbles. Life-affirming, tongue-tickling bubbles of seltzer, tiny globes of carbon dioxide floating to the surface, adding a microdose of effervescent life to every sip. Ever since I was a child, Ive been drawn to flowers, plants, fruits, and herbs, their beauty and unpredictability my ultimate comfort zone. I grew up not far from Tel Aviv, in a blue-collar town that had a low-tech magic all its own.

There was one street, one bus line, one bank, no supermarket, and dozens of ethnic restaurants serving honest, delicious food. My Turkish Israeli mother made her own heady, perfumed rose jam from blooms she foraged from the neighborhood, when children still roamed free in the fragrant fields all around, and before highways and housing projects created long shadows from the hot summer sun. On the way home from school, my friends and I would follow the gentle bend of the local river, which swelled during the rainy season. We ran between carob trees oozing syrup from their trunks and would collect butterflies in our palms as we sought out sweet lemons and blood oranges to bring home to our mothers. On camping trips with our scout troop, we would pluck furry loquats straight from their flowering trees and eat them out of hand, the juice running down our cheeks. The sensory memories of fragrant blooms and sweet fruit were imprinted on me permanently, and it is these simple references that have informed my approach to life and work ever since, nourishing me in a multitude of ways.

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