How To Make Your Own Soda At Home
Want to add a little bubble to your beverage? Homemade soda can be like a masterpiece in the making. Simply call upon your inner artist to help create endless and delicious flavor combinations. Implementing fresh ingredients and limiting sugar and additives may produce your best work yet: a drinkable work of art of Van Gogh proportions.
Blank Canvas
Producing soda from scratch can be time-consuming, but if done well, it can be delicious and often more healthy than store-bought alternatives. Begin by selecting and sanitizing either plastic or glass bottles. For a general do-it-yourself soda recipe, combine the following ingredients to fill a 1-gallon bottle: 2 cups of sugar in the raw (or sweetener), 2 tablespoons of flavor extract (root beer or vanilla), and ¼ to ½ teaspoons of yeast (champagne or ale).
Heat 1 gallon of water to 100 to 110 degrees in a stockpot. Funnel sugar and flavoring into the bottle, in addition to warmed water. After adding the yeast, cap and shake the bottle, making sure to leave a couple inches of space from the top.
Paint by Numbers
If you're short on time and pained by precision, try this more simple approach to soda making. Rather than fermenting your own yeast (responsible for producing carbonation), utilize soda water as a recipe foundation. Simply add fresh ingredients like lemon, basil, ginger, and fruit to create your own refreshing masterpiece. To add sweetness to your summer selections, add a little sugar in the raw.
Starving Artist
If you'd like to carbonate at a faster rate, invest in a soda machine. SodaStream, for example, offers a line of "Sparkling Naturals." The absence of additives and preservatives and the addition of delicious flavors — like black currant and pear, apple mango, and pink grapefruit — make this soda machine a worthy investment.
— Erin Davis, HellaWella
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