The first and most essential rule of making your own soda pop at home is this: You must not try to re-create something you normally buy at the store.
In other words, don't try to make your own Coca-Cola or 7-Up. It can't be done. Let it go.
What you can make is something healthier, cheaper, greener and, most important, totally delicious and refreshing.
Making your own soda can be as easy adding syrup to soda water.
Or, it can be as complicated as gathering your neighbors, blocking out an afternoon, harvesting some roots and barks from the woods, maybe pulling up a few leaves and herbs and picking some fruits, then crushing and steeping them, adding sugar, cooling it off, introducing yeast, sanitizing some bottles, bottling the mixture, storing it for a few days to ferment, then chilling and serving it.
Pick your poison. But however you achieve it, homemade soda is totally worth doing.
Here's why: Commercial soda pop is ridiculously expensive, a total budget-suck that also creates way too much garbage. And, unless you have the keys to the secret recipe vault, you have no idea what's in that stuff -- and if you did, you might not drink it.
Make your own, using ingredients that you know and recognize, and at least you know what you're getting. Trying to cut back on refined sugar? Use honey, agave syrup, or maple syrup instead. And if you feel like adding a scoop of ice cream for a fizzy summer dessert, or a shot of vodka for a grown-ups-only pop, hey, it's your soda.
Fresh fruits, homemade syrups, hand-harvested herbs -- fizzy drinks are a fabulous way to drink in summer.
Extra points: Start with homemade club soda
There are a few products on the market for infusing gas into water at home. The classic is the old-fashioned soda siphon -- a glass bottle with a CO2 charger screwed into the top; you squeeze the trigger and water is infused with gas on the way out the nozzle. These are dramatic and fun, and just as good for water-fights as for making soda.
A few new products on the market give home soda-makers an idiot-proof option. You simply fill one of the bottles with water, screw it into the unit, hit a button two or three times, and poof! Instant soda water, ready for your homemade flavoring syrup, which is much better than the stuff the commercial companies sell.
RECIPES
Sparkling Honey-Mint Lemonade
½ cup water
⅓ cup honey
About 20 mint leaves, chopped fine
Juice of 4 lemons
Seltzer
Mint sprig and lemon slices for garnish
In a small saucepan, combine water, honey and mint leaves. Stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil, then remove from heat and set aside to steep. When cool, strain out mint leaves, and add lemon juice.
To serve, stir 3 tablespoons syrup together with ¾ cup seltzer. Add ice and garnish with mint leaves and lemon slices.
Yield: 4 servings
Sparkling Agave Cherry Limeade
1 quart fresh cherries, stems and pits removed
⅓-½ cup agave syrup
Juice of 2-3 limes
Seltzer
Lime wedges for garnish
Combine cherries and agave in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until cherries have released their juice.
Cool. Puree in a blender and strain. (Save the pulp and spoon it over ice cream later.) Stir in the lime juice.
To serve: Stir together about ½ cup puree with about 1 cup seltzer, or to taste. Add ice and garnish with lime wedges.
Yield: 3-4 servings
Spiced Ginger-Maple Soda
1 piece ginger, about 2-inches long, finely chopped
3 star anise
¾ cup pure maple syrup
1 cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
Seltzer
Raspberries for garnish
Combine ginger, star anise, syrup, and water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and set aside to steep for 20 minutes. When cooled, strain out ginger and star anise and add lemon
juice.
To serve: Stir together ¼ cup ginger syrup with 1 cup seltzer, or to taste. Add ice and garnish with raspberries.
Yield: 3-4 servings
Strawberry Black Pepper Soda
2 pounds ripe strawberries, washed, hulled, and halved
3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice (about ½ orange)
2 tablespoons crushed black peppercorns
In a giant mixing bowl, combine the berries with 2 cups of the sugar, being sure to coat each berry completely. Cover the top of the berries in a blanket of the remaining sugar. Let the berries macerate for 12 hours, stirring occasionally to help the sugar dissolve. The berries will shrink in size and release their juice and the sugar will dissolve in the liquid. After maceration, stir again to dissolve remaining sugar from the bottom of the bowl. Strain the syrup. Stir in the orange juice and peppercorns and transfer to a glass jar with a lid. Refrigerate 5-6 days to allow the peppercorn flavor to develop. (Syrup will keep, refrigerated, up to one month.)
To serve: Combine ¾ cup syrup with 1½ cups seltzer (or any quantity in a ratio of 1:2). Add ice cubes and enjoy. Shot of gin optional.
Yield: About 4 cups syrup, enough for 12-16 servings
Source: Adapted from Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It, by Karen Solomon
Peach Habanero Tongue Twister
2 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
¼ fresh habanero chile, seeds and interior
membranes removed
Seltzer
Make the puree: Toss the peach chunks and sugar in a small saucepan. Add the lime juice and chile, cover and cook over medium heat until the peaches are soft, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Remove the chile. Mash the peaches with a vegetable masher or fork until smooth. Strain and let cool. The puree will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days, but is best used immediately.
To serve: Pour ⅔ cup puree into glass. Add ⅔ cup seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice.
Yield: 3-4 servings
Source: Adapted from Homemade Soda, by Andrew Schloss
First Published August 9, 2011, 4:15 a.m.