Ginger Quas with Fibre

Ginger Quas is our sourdough kvass with fresh ginger. We press whole ginger root ourselves, and every can carries the pressed juice of 10g of raw ginger root. There are no ginger flavourings in the recipe.

The result tastes of the root itself. A malty base is lifted by a bold hit of fresh ginger, rye and barley bring warmth and a satisfying cereal depth, and a bright tartness keeps it clean. The sweetness is naturally muted, so it never drinks like a sugary ginger beer.

Ginger won a Great Taste award in 2026. Try it if you like ginger beer but want something less sweet, or if you want a drink with enough heat to stand up to food.

Each 330ml can is high in fibre, with 6.7g from chicory root, and low in sugar, with 2.5g of sugars per 100ml and about 63kcal per can. It is plant-based and suitable for vegans. It contains gluten from rye and barley.

Like all our Live Quas, Ginger is unfiltered and unpasteurised, with over 500 billion live cultures in every can. Keep it in the fridge at 2–6°C. It keeps for six weeks, so check the best-before date on the can.

Kvass is a traditional fermented drink made from rye and barley, drunk across Eastern Europe for around a thousand years. It is malty, lightly tangy and naturally sparkling. Quas is our sourdough fermented take on it, made in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In the glass. Deep coloured and gently cloudy, with a fine tan head.

Nose. Malt and toasted grain, lifted by the fresh, zesty smell of just-pressed ginger.

Palate. Rye and barley warmth over a cereal backbone. The ginger arrives as a rounded, warming prickle, sharpened by the natural carbonation, rather than a raw burn.

Finish. Bright tartness and a gentle heat that lingers. Dry, not syrupy.

Coming from ginger beer? Expect less sweetness and more grain. Ginger Quas leads with malt and fresh root, then dries out, so it rewards slow sipping with food rather than gulping on a hot day.

Why fresh root. Pressed ginger tastes rounder and more aromatic than a flavouring, with bright, citrusy top notes and a heat that builds slowly across the sip instead of arriving all at once.

How to serve. Fridge-cold and straight, in a stemless tulip glass or a wine tumbler. No ice and no garnish. The ginger needs no help, and ice would flatten the sparkle.

With food. Ginger loves the aromatics of South East Asian and Chinese cooking: lemongrass, galangal, coconut and fish sauce. Pour it with a fragrant Thai green curry, Vietnamese summer rolls, or sushi and sashimi with pickled ginger. Its heat and tartness slice through richness too, so it stands up to crispy pork belly, roast duck and a crumbly aged cheddar. Sugary ginger beers tame chilli with sweetness, but Ginger Quas is dry, so favour fragrant dishes over fiercely hot ones. To finish, it brightens a sticky toffee pudding or a slice of ginger parkin.

When to open one. With a Friday night takeaway, on a cold evening when you want warmth without alcohol, or as a mid-afternoon drink with some bite.

Malty and tangy, with a clean, dry finish. Original leans towards dried fruit and gentle spice, Ginger brings fresh ginger warmth, and Mint & Lime is bright and zesty.

Ginger starts from the same base as Original, then adds fresh ginger.

• Scottish water. Most of what is in the can, and the base of every batch.
• Rye and barley. The grain gives Quas its colour, body and malty depth, and it feeds the sourdough culture. Both contain gluten, so Quas is not suitable for people with coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity.
• Ginger. Fresh root that we press ourselves, 10g of raw root for every can. It brings the aroma and the warming heat.
• Chicory inulin fibre (2.3%). A plant fibre from chicory root. It is why every can is high in fibre, with 6.7g per 330ml.
• Sugar. A small amount gives the culture something to ferment. Part of it is used up during fermentation, and the finished drink has 2.5g of sugars per 100ml.
• Erythritol. A natural sugar alternative that comes from plants, used in a small amount to soften the sourness without adding sugar.
• Ginger extract. We prepare it in house, and a small amount rounds out the fresh ginger.
• Sourdough cultures. Our 180-year-old starter, with over 100 types of yeasts and lactic acid cultures living together. They make the sparkle and the clean sourness.

What is not in it: no ginger flavourings, no artificial flavourings, no preservatives and no acidity regulators.

Original has 2.4g of sugars per 100ml, and Ginger and Mint & Lime have 2.5g, so every flavour is low in sugar.

Quas is a rye and barley sourdough fermentation. We ferment Scottish water, rye and barley with our 180-year-old sourdough starter, a living culture with a natural community of more than 100 types of cultures, yeasts and lactic acid cultures among them.

Working together, they make a complex fermentation. The yeasts give the gentle natural sparkle and the bready aroma, and the lactic acid cultures give the clean sourness. Ginger gets freshly pressed ginger, Mint & Lime starts with a spearmint tea base and a dash of lime juice, and everything is made in small batches in Edinburgh.

Quas is never filtered, and Live Quas is not pasteurised, so the cultures are still in the can when you open it.

A sourdough starter is a living mix of yeasts and lactic acid cultures, kept going by regular feeding with flour and water. Ours has been fed and kept going for around 180 years, and it holds over 100 types of cultures.

We never add single cultures or brewer's yeast, so the starter does all the fermenting. Different cultures make different acids and aromas: the yeasts give the gentle sparkle and the bready notes, and the lactic acid cultures give the clean sourness. That mixed community is why Quas tastes layered rather than simply sour.

We count them. Samples of Live Quas are diluted many times and spread onto plates of growth medium. Over a few days, each live culture grows into a visible colony, so counting the colonies and multiplying back up tells us how many were in the can. These are called colony forming units, or CFU.

Testing across batches finds over 500 billion live cultures in every 330ml can. The figure applies to Live Quas only, because it is unpasteurised. You can see how the counting is done on our science of kvass page.

Filtering removes cultures from a drink, and pasteurising inactivates them with heat. Both extend shelf life, which is why so many drinks go through one or the other.

We leave Live Quas unfiltered and unpasteurised because much of its character comes from the culture. The trade-off is a shorter shelf life and a drink that has to live in the fridge.

Live Quas is unpasteurised, so its cultures are still active in the can. Cold slows them right down and keeps the flavour where it should be. Keep every can in the fridge at 2–6°C at all times, and unpack your box into the fridge as soon as it arrives. Our process is designed so Live Quas can travel unrefrigerated for the short next-day journey to you, but from the moment it arrives it needs the fridge.

Live Quas keeps for six weeks. Check the best-before date on the can. The cultures stay gently active even in the fridge, so the flavour slowly becomes more sour and less sweet with time. That is fermentation at work, not a fault.

Every box comes with Free Next-Day Delivery. Order Monday to Thursday by 4pm for next-day delivery. Shipping is included in the price, and every box travels by Royal Mail Tracked 24 or APC Overnight, with a tracking number.

If cans arrive damaged or leaking, our Safe Arrival Guarantee gives you credit or a discount on your next order, or a free replacement, with a full refund as a fallback. Live Quas is also covered when delivery is delayed by 5 days or more.

Yes. Choose two or all three flavours in the picker above and we will split your box between them.

Kvass and beer both start with fermented grain, and Quas shares beer's malty body and natural carbonation, so it sits comfortably beside a pint. The differences are in how they are made.

Most beer is brewed with hops and fermented with brewer's yeast, which turns sugars into alcohol. Alcohol-free beer is usually made the same way, then has the alcohol removed, or is fermented less. Quas has no hops. It is fermented with a sourdough culture of yeasts and lactic acid cultures, which gives it a tangy, bready character and a dry finish instead of hop bitterness. It is non-alcoholic, and Live Quas is unfiltered and unpasteurised, so the cultures are still in the can.

Kombucha is fermented from sweetened tea with a SCOBY, a culture in which acetic acid cultures are prominent. That is where its tart, vinegary edge comes from.

Quas is fermented from rye and barley with a sourdough culture dominated by lactic acid cultures. The result is malty and bready, with a clean, rounded sourness rather than a vinegar tang. If you find kombucha too sharp, Quas is a different lane: closer to a dark ale in body, and good with food.

Kefir and kvass are both fermented drinks with long histories in Eastern Europe, and both can contain live cultures. Milk kefir is made by fermenting milk with kefir grains, so it is dairy and can contain lactose. Water kefir uses sweetened water and its own grains.

Quas is made from rye and barley with a sourdough starter instead of kefir grains. It is plant-based and suitable for vegans, though it contains gluten. In flavour it is malty and dry rather than creamy or yoghurt-like, and our starter holds over 100 types of cultures.

Kvass on shop shelves varies a lot by producer. Some is not fermented at all, just sweetened, flavoured and carbonated. Some is fermented with baker's yeast, then filtered or pasteurised so it keeps for months without a fridge.

Live Quas is fermented with a sourdough culture of over 100 types of cultures, then left unfiltered and unpasteurised, with over 500 billion live cultures in every can. It contains no preservatives or acidity regulators. That is why it lives in the fridge and keeps for six weeks. To compare sugar, check each drink's label per 100ml: Quas has 2.4g to 2.5g.