how to make homemade soda
Aaaaah, sweet, bubbly soda. How I drank thee all throughout college with no idea what you were doing to my health. Like your high-fructose corn syrup, caramel color and chemical preservatives. Don’t consume these imposters. Put them down. PRONTO. And read on for how to make homemade soda instead. Your waistline and health will thank you!
How to make homemade soda with just three ingredients
- carbonated water, club soda or sparkling mineral water (I like Perrier, but I have an affinity for all things French)
- a flavoring agent such as root beer extract or fresh/frozen fruit
- organic granulated sugar (or even coconut sugar or honey)
The ratio + method
A good formula is 1 tablespoon of simple syrup or fruit purée for every 6 ounces of club soda. For a basic simple syrup, bring one cup of sugar and one cup of water just to a boil, then let it cool.
From there you can add vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste (look at all those beautiful specs of bean!) or even citrus peel. Or root beer extract. You can also blend fresh fruit and mix it with sugar before boiling like we did with blueberries. The options are truly endless.
Recruit the kiddos for added fun
This is a GREAT activity to do with kids. My littlest one is constantly stealing my bottle of Perrier, so he was game. Plus, crafting your own fizzy drinks at home gives you (the parent) control over the sugar content (and resulting sugar high) of each cup. But they’re not just for youngsters.
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For us big kids, homemade soda is refreshing, guilt-free and satisfying. But we can do better than that. You didn’t hear it from me, but on a Friday night you could easily trade in the club soda for a little bubbly. Or simply add a shot of vodka. Or both. You just made homemade soda. You deserve a little reward.
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Simple Syrup Recipes for Homemade Soda (Paleo/GAPS)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 10-20 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup simple syrup 1x
- Category: Drinks
Description
Feel free to mix the fruit up to your fancy!
A plethora of extracts can be found online. If you have vanilla extract and heavy cream, you can add a splash of cream to vanilla soda for a cream soda! For orange cream soda, do the same but with an orange-flavored syrup.
Ingredients
For Blueberry Syrup
- 1 cup fresh fruit, blended
- 2–4 teaspoons granulated/coconut sugar, or 1–2 teaspoons of honey
- Squeeze of lemon
For Basic Simple Syrup
1 cup granulated or coconut sugar (or 1/2 cup of honey for Paleo/GAPS diet)
1 cup water
Instructions
For Fruit Syrup
- Blend fruit with lemon juice until smooth.
- Strain through a fine sieve/mesh strainer.
- Combine fruit purée and sugar in a small saucepan, and bring just to a boil
- Cool completely, and serve a couple spoonfuls with a glass full of club soda or sparkling mineral water.
For Basic Simple Syrup
- Combine sugar/honey in a small pot.
- Bring just to a boil, them remove from heat.
- If making a lemon/lime/grapefruit/orange/ginger syrup, add fruit peel or crushed ginger and steep for 30 minutes to an hour. Remove fresh ingredients and cool completely.
- If using a concentrated extract such as vanilla or root beer, add 1-2 tablespoons depending on how strong a flavor you’d like. Taste and see is the best method.
Notes
When replacing sugar with honey for Paleo or GAPS diets, a good place to start is cutting the amount in half. Honey is about twice as sweet as table sugar.
Keywords: simple syrup, homemade soda, berry simple syrup, lemon simple syrup, homemade cream soda, gluten free, paleo, GAPS
We’re doing this! Awesome idea.