India, Oct. 26 -- Move over kombucha, homemade soda is bubbling up as the latest kitchen experiment. In India, searches for "homemade soda" on Google have risen by more than 5,000% over the past month, while global interest has climbed 130%. On social media, reels on #homemadesoda and #fermentedsoda are pulling in millions of views, as people experiment with fruit, ginger bugs and fermentation.

For some, it is a way to cut back on packaged soft drinks. For others, it is an analogue hobby to tinker with at home. Sahana Acharya, 28, started making homemade soda to reduce her dependency on soft drinks. The internet offered an unlikely solution. "I found a reel where the creator was making pineapple tepache (a lightly fermented Mexican drink...