Today I learned how to make some soda pop alternatives at home

Hi. My name is Joy. And I'm a soda addict.

Growing up, my parents had three options of beverage at home: Milk, orange juice and water. We occasionally had Kool-Aid, or some Hershey's choclate syrup stirred into our milk. But soda wasn't a regular thing for us as kids. We got it sometimes as a special treat when we went out to eat. My addiction began when I was in high school. I had begun earning my own money babysitting and there were soda machines in the lunch room. I sampled a variety of types and chose my favorite:

It was citrusy and sweet and always my first choice.

The caffeine in it was also handy because I often stayed up late writing.

(A habit which continues to this day... Well, the writing, but not the caffeine.)

My soda habit followed me through college and young adulthood. I think it was at its worst when I worked at the newspaper. I was in an across-the-country long-distance relationship with my hubby (who was my promised fiancé, serving in the U.S. Navy at the time) and the late night, four-hour phone calls left me feeling a pretty groggy in the morning. I drank about a pot of coffee a day, a 16 oz. Mountain Dew mid-morning and another mid-afternoon. I would get terrible headaches on the weekends and didn't figure out why until one weekend I was going somewhere with my sis and grabbed a soda from a gas station. About halfway through drinking it, my headache stopped and the lightbulb went off. I started cutting my caffeine consumption drastically and the weekend headaches went away.

I got married and moved around with my sailor and we finally ended up spending three and a half years in Japan. Living there drastically affected what I ate and drank. The grape "soda" I drank there was made with real grapes. It was just good old carbonated grape juice made from REALLY tasty grapes. And everything there had a subtle sweetness and a lot less sugar.

There was Mountain Dew available for us to buy at the Navy exchange, but why would we drink that when there was delicately sweet Royal Milk Tea that came hot out of the vending machine? Or hot Calpis. Or Pocari Sweat. Ok, the beverages were tasty, but the names could use some work. People thought it was a hoot when I told them I drank hot Calpis. Because with my midwest accent it sort of sounds like I was ingesting very fresh cow pee.  And Pocari Sweat is a type of grapefruit flavored sports drink. With no actual sweat. For goodness sakes, people. ;)

When I moved back to the states someone bought me a 12-pack of my old favorite soda as a Welcome Home present. I cracked open the first one and it was so syrupy sweet I didn't even make it halfway through. I have dabbled in different types of soda since my return to The States, but never found anything that I liked as much as my Japanese favorites. I dabbled with a few cherry colas. I did vote for Mountain Dew Voltage, and could palate the "throwback" version of the soda. By far, my favorite soda beverage upon my return has been Lipton's sparkling green tea. Aside from being similar to the tea beverages in Japan, it was lighter tasting and had the perk of those antioxidants that made it seem more wholesome.

I saw a commercial for it and figured out the reason why I hadn't given up

my quest to find a decent, not icky-sweet soda:

It's all about the bubbles.

But my big problem is that it's too sweet. And really, I've never been a fan of the taste or chemicalness of artificial sweetener. I kept wishing that I could just make my own soda - whatever flavor I preferred without the extra sugary high-fructose corn syrup taste and calories. And now that I have been learning things, I figured it was time to learn if there was a way to make my own soda.

I learned there is a process that uses yeast to "brew" soda and create the bubbles.

Here is a fun instructional video on brewing soda:

Loving the 'stache. :)

While this was cool and informative, it still seemed heavy on the sugar.
And it takes a long time to make it.

So I decided to look up an easier recipe and found one for "almost Coke" soda.

2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 t cinnamon

1 tsp. lime juice

1 cup club soda

I made some substitutes - agave for sugar and seltzer for club soda.

I substituted the agave because it has a lower glycemic index than sugar

and won't leave you with that crazy sugar-buzzed feeling.

It also mixes better in fluids and has a lighter flavor.

 It's like a thinner, plant-based version of honey without the honey taste. 

I swapped out the club soda because it has added sodium,

and seltzer is just carbonated water.

Basically, you just mix the ingredients and pour in the bubble water.

I licked off the spoon I used to mix the ingredients and it tasted

(surprisingly) very similar to cola.

Now, just add bubbles.
I'll just unscrew the lid to the carbonated water . . .

AAAAAAH!

Oops. Didn't plan on that bonus lesson.

Make sure to set apart the bottle of seltzer water that you dropped on the floor.

*soggy sheepish smile*

So, after a quick mop-up on aisle four, I poured the bubbles into the cup.

Whoa. That's got some froth to it . . .

I wonder if it's because the seltzer had been shaken,

or if agave reacts that way to carbonation.

After the fizzles settled, I gave it a sip.

The verdict:

While the initital syrup was quite promising, when I mixed in the carbonated water

and took a sample sip, it reminded me of apple cider.

Not in flavor, but in the cinnamon grit that attached itself to my teeth.

It didn't taste bad, and actually had an interesting flavor.

It just wasn't cola.

Next I tried another type of kid-favorite soda

flavored with a familiar old staple:

It passed the taste test.

Basically, you follow the recipe for Kool-Aid, but you substitute agave for sugar and seltzer water for plain. Agave is sweeter than sugar so you can use less of it. I poured a pack of Kool-Aid, agave and about half a cup of water into the bottom of an empty selzer bottle, swirled and swished it around until it was all mixed together. Then I poured in the carbonated water. And you don't need to use Kool-Aid. You can use whatever flavor extract you like - root beer for instance. I just used Kool-Aid because it has added Vitamin C and it only cost me about ten cents per packet. And our littlest child is really, really sugar sensitive and has a family history of Diabetes so this is an alternative that she can enjoy, too. 

So far my favorite soda alternative uses the following ingredients:

I just mix the ingredients to taste.

It's like a fizzy raspberry lemonade.

The carbonated version of this recipe for cream soda is really good, too.

Tomorrow I'll be making marshmallows from scratch!

I'll keep you posted.