Are you ready to get insanely creative making refreshing signature beverages? While the market is flooded with an endless variety of soft drinks, energy drinks and what-nots, now you can invent your own concoctions with little trouble. If you have never heard of this or just recently discovering sparkling water makers, then give all the endless possibilities a minute to dance through your imagination. Now that you are ready to discover the perfect drink, let’s figure out how to make soda at home.
The Easiest Way
SodaStream is the leading supplier of sparkling water makers, and deservingly so. They have nine different models that make delicious beverages. They also have a huge variety of flavors, with new ones hitting the market constantly. These nifty machines work in less than 30 seconds. All you need to do is make sure the C02 cartridge is attached properly, press the button, wait until you hear the buzzes, add your flavors and enjoy. This is easier than whipping together a smoothie or milkshake, but equally as tasty.
The Old-Fashioned Way
Most people do not know how their soft drinks are made. If you consider the big soda companies like Coke or Pepsi, then you can imagine how much syrup they make in a day. Making syrup for soda is relatively simple, but prep time can take a bit longer depending on what kind of syrup. If you are using fresh fruits, make sure they are juicy and very ripe and puree them first. Bottled or canned juices should be high in natural juice content and have very low sugar content. Here is the homemade recipe for soda syrup.
Basic soda syrup (Makes about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh fruit juice or concentrated fruit juice (the more concentrated the juice, the more intense the final flavor).
- Combine the ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let simmer until the mixture is reduced by half. (To intensify the flavor, you can add a dash of an appropriately flavored extract.)
- Store the finished syrup in a squeeze bottle in the refrigerator for instant access.
For your homemade soda, simply add syrup to your glass of ice and top off with seltzer water or club soda. You can also use this method for your SodaStream machine.
SodaStreams Delicious Flavors
SodaStream flavors are separated by nine categories; take a look at all the different flavors available. Imagine how many different soft drinks you could create?
1. Clear Syrups
SodaStream makes clear syrups, which create a lightly flavored and sweetened carbonated drink. You can get Green Mango Apple, Clear Passion Mango, Clear Kiwi Pear and Clear Cranberry Raspberry.
2. Cola Syrups
SodaStream offers healthy versions of Regular Cola, Diet Cola, Sugar-Free Cola and even Caffeine-Free Cola. All off SodaStreams coke syrups have less sugar than the canned versions. They resemble those off-brand colas, but after awhile you won’t even notice, just raise the carbonation.
3. Fruit Syrups
These fruity syrups are wonderful, and there are diet ones too. Flavors include grapefruit, orange and pomegranate. Enjoy the taste of both ordinary and exotic fruits in your carbonated drinks.
4. Functional Syrups
Orange Grapefruit flavor was formulated to rehydrate and refuel the body. Compare them to energy drinks. This is a new line for SodaStream, with many more flavors coming.
5. Sparkling Teas
With a mix of traditional tea and vibrant fruit flavors, these SodaStream syrups make tantalizing refreshing drinks. Try Iced Tea Peach, Green Tea Pomegranate Peach, or Green Tea Mixed Berry.
6. My Water
Perfect for adding some flavor to your sparkling water, the My Water Variety pack comes with berry, orange and lemon-lime flavors. If you prefer your soda water on the light side, this is the perfect option for you.
7. Sparkling Natural Syrups
Made with 100% natural ingredients, these are the healthiest options on the list. Flavors include Black Currant Pear, Pink Grapefruit and Orange Pineapple.
8. Kraft Syrups
Kraft SodaStream flavors includes Country Time Lemonade, Kool-Aid Tropical Punch and Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade.
9. Limited Edition Syrups
Flavors that come out randomly are Honey Dew Melon, Pineapple Grapefruit and Orange Peach Passion Fruit.
Now that you are getting the gist of soda making, let’s take it up a level. Your SodaStream can be used for alcohol based drinks as well. If you love wine, consider adding seltzer water to your wine to make bubbly champagne. Or if you fancy yourself a home mixologist, you can wildly experiment with a plethora of classic and signature drinks. This is just the tip of the iceberg; the only limit here is your own imagination.
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