From L to R: Peychaud's Bitters, Fee Brothers Bitters, Maple Bitters, Pure Vanilla Extract, Pure Almond Extract, Prickly Pear Cactus Syrup, Lemon & Lime Wedges, Cucumber, Crushed Raspberries, Chopped Mint, Chopped Basil, and a liter of Sparkling Water
Last weekend we had a few friends over to celebrate Matty’s birthday. In addition to the BBQ bonanza (tons of balsamic-marinated veggies, citrus-cilantro shrimp, and soy-sesame halibut…), I thought it would be fun to set up a “SodaStream bar.”
In case you don’t know of the SodaStream
When we first got the SodaStream, we tried their flavor syrups — and enjoyed them. That is, until we realized that they all have artificial sweeteners (if they used only sugar, it would require too much syrup).
Instead, we’ve been experimenting with other home-grown flavors. I’m a fan of adding a dash of Fee Brothers Bitters
For the party we put together the SodaStream bar and encouraged folks to try some recipes — or to experiment and create their own. (I’ll be honest: Just about everyone added booze.)
Start with some sparkling water and ice cubes. Then try some of these recipes…
The Slow RC Cola Up Against A Wall
8 Drops of Almond Extract
Dash of Fee Brothers Bitters
The Lemon Limey
Lemon & Lime Wedges
Dash of Peychaud’s Bitters
The Cucumberist
Scoop of Cubed Cucumber
Chopped Mint Leaves
The Cucumberico Italiano
Scoop of Cubed Cucumber
Chopped Basil Leaves
Raspberilla
Scoop of Raspberry Pulp
6-8 drops Vanilla Extract
and, finally…
The RaspberPeach That Gave Andrew A Headache The Next day
Scoop of Raspberry Pulp
Chopped Mint Leaves
Almond Extract
Dash of Fee Brothers Bitters
Absolut Peach Vodka
Have your own favorite Sodastream recipe? Please share in the comments!
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Hi. My name is Andrew Wilder, and I think Eating Rules! I write about three of them, and everything in between.
April 26, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Oooh I am loving your ideas! I also am not a fan of the artificially sweetened syrups. I like to make tea concentrates and use that instead. I will have to try your ideas now too. Thanks!
April 27, 2011 at 8:34 am
Tea concentrates? Tell me more, please!
April 26, 2011 at 12:45 pm
What a great idea! I was interested in SodaStream until I saw that their syrups all use Splenda (I am mildly allergic to it, to some forms more than others). I didn’t realize you could flavor it yourself!
April 27, 2011 at 8:33 am
Hi Connie,
The trick is that you are only “allowed” to carbonate plain water (otherwise you void the warranty… and risk a foamy mess all over your counter). But once it’s carbonated? You can add anything you want!
Let us know what you flavors you come up with, eh?
- a.
April 26, 2011 at 2:28 pm
I was just told by a coworker that Soda stream is introducing a naturals line in May… hmmm would love to try it or hear reviews!
http://www.sodastreamusa.com/Sparkling-Naturals-C51.aspx
April 27, 2011 at 8:32 am
Interesting… I just took a look at the labels of those. They may be “natural,” (which is a meaningless word) but they still have a lot of sugar! As prepared (with one ounce of syrup and eight ounces of seltzer), it’ll be 24g of sugar. The same size serving of Coke has 26g of sugar. (A 12-ounce can of coke has 39g).
Said another way: That’s eight teaspoons of sugar in one tiny 8-ounce serving. Sigh. (Sorry to be such a downer!)
April 27, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Yeah…. I don’t drink real soda but at least it’s not HFCS?
April 28, 2011 at 10:36 am
I suppose… I’m becoming less and less convinced that the type of sugar really makes a difference. On my to-do list is some research on various sugar types, and sharing my conclusions in a post. Give me a week or two.
April 28, 2011 at 10:37 am
Having just said that — here’s why I still won’t eat HFCS:
http://www.eatingrules.com/2010/05/why-i-do-not-eat-hfcs/
April 28, 2011 at 5:14 am
I love your drink ideas! Since October unprocessed I don’t drink diet coke anymore! I have been drinking carbonated or “fizzy” water. From a healthy point of view Is carbonated water ok?
April 28, 2011 at 10:35 am
I think so, and I certainly hope so! I’ll see what I can find…
April 28, 2011 at 9:20 am
GENIUS. I have a sodastream penguin and I will be trying some of these. Mmm cucumber-basil. That’d be nice with some Hendrick’s gin…
April 28, 2011 at 10:34 am
How did you know that we were adding Hendricks? Best kept in the freezer, by the way…
April 28, 2011 at 11:05 am
Well what ELSE would you add?? I mean!
I disagree with keeping spirits in the freezer. They don’t melt ice cubes enough in the shaker if you do that and then you end up with a too-strong beverage that lacks subtlety. OK, if you’re mixing with fizzy water this is not so important.
April 28, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Who said anything about ice cubes?
April 30, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Love this & all of your creations….think we had one these when I was a kid.
May 2, 2011 at 11:12 am
Thanks, Marla! I’m such a fan of the sodastream, it’s almost silly.
It was great to meet you this weekend! Already looking forward to the next one…
May 6, 2011 at 10:59 pm
Hey there Golden Pinecone winner and fellow Wildcat! It was great to meet you at Camp Blogaway last weekend. I have to say, I am obsessed with this blog entry. I need and crave bubbly beverages. I just saw the sodastream at Williams-Sonoma yesterday now I know that I MUST buy one. Love all your ideas and recommendations here!
May 9, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Hey, Kristina! It was wonderful to meet you, too.
I’ve had the SodaStream for about a year now, and I’m still using it. In other words, for me it’s not one of those cool kitchen gadgets that you use for the first month, and then it just collects dust (ice cream maker ).
When you get your own, let us know what other fun recipes you come up with!
Oh, one other tip: They’re also available at Bed, Bath, and Beyond — and you can use the ubiquitous 20% off coupons for the CO2 cylinder refills! (That drops the price to $12 per 60 liters of seltzer… quite cost-effective!)
August 2, 2011 at 1:31 pm
ok, silly questions here:
I’d love to find more “organic/natural” drinks but I just don’t get the whole cucumber thing. Do you put the pieces in (if so how do you get the taste?)? do you puree it? What do you do with the raspberry pulp etc? I’m just not getting it. Any ideas for oranges?
August 3, 2011 at 9:38 am
Sure, you can definitely puree the cucumber or fruit. Another easy way to go is to use a muddler (or similar tool) to mash things up. That releases some of the flavors/juices. (If you don’t like things pulpy, I suppose you could mash them up and run through a fine-mesh strainer? Or maybe tie up the fruit in a little cheesecloth satchel?
As for oranges… Squeezing a little fresh orange juice into your fizzy water would be quite nice, wouldn’t it?
February 27, 2012 at 3:51 am
1.5 cups boiling water with 2 cups sugar dissolved in it.
Add the juice and zest of 5 oranges (or lemons) and 4 tsp of citric acid.
Dilute 5:1
August 2, 2011 at 2:49 pm
I make passion tea concentrate from Tazo passion tea and add fizzy water from soda stream. Add some frozen concentrate lemonade to sweeten. Delicious!
August 3, 2011 at 9:38 am
Wow, sounds great! How do you make the tea concentrate?
September 27, 2011 at 10:07 am
That sounds awesome! I know what’s going on my Christmas List!!
Have you tried to make your own flavored simple syrup?
2 cups water, brought to a simmer–throw in your favorite tea bags to flavor. Once fully steeped, add 2 cups of sugar until dissolved.
While the simple syrup recipe has a lot of sugar, I figure at least I know exactly whats in it (and a little bit goes a long way!)
September 27, 2011 at 10:10 am
Nice! I love the idea of using tea bags for extra flavor. (Hmm… Earl Grey, perhaps?)
Matty actually made a batch of simple syrup a few weeks ago for some vintage cocktails he was making. He used “raw” sugar (Turbinado, I think), instead of the regular white refined sugar, which made for a more richly-flavored syrup. It wasn’t “just sweet,” it had some good caramel overtones. Not a regular occurrence in our household, but definitely a nice treat!
December 20, 2011 at 11:06 am
Just found your site and THIS!!! Fabulous idea, I just rem. a vegan place I visit make their own ginger ale- muddle ginger, with maple syrup and pour carbonated water- Voila!
December 22, 2011 at 8:39 am
That sounds delicious! Definitely going to have to give that a try.
(Full disclosure: We have some horseradish root in the fridge — I almost grabbed that by accident, thinking it was ginger! Pretty sure horseradish soda isn’t quite the way to go…)
December 21, 2011 at 11:35 am
Great ideas here! We just bought a Sodastream a few months ago and I am loving it, but I just don’t like plain carbonated water and my kids like the syrups a little too much. I find, by the way, that one ounce of syrup to 8 ounces of soda is WAY TOO MUCH for me. Yuck. I would be surprised if I used half that. I like just enough to give it a little flavor and sweetness. My favorite thing to do is to stir up about an ounce of honey and a similar amount of hot water until the honey is dissolved. Then I add the juice from half a lemon to it, stir, and add that to the bottle (we have the smaller 16 oz bottles, not the larger ones). Serve over ice. It’s like instant summer.
December 22, 2011 at 8:40 am
Nice! If you want to get really fancy, top it with a sprig of mint!
December 21, 2011 at 5:44 pm
This is late I know but i just got one (gotta love guilty boyfriends)…And two things I wanted to add. 1) For people who are still using the syrups and find themselves drinking the entire liter, there are 0.5L bottles available. Not great but still better.
2) I am a huge fan so far. one of my favorite things has been this article by gilt taste. http://www.gilttaste.com/stories/1151-kick-the-bottle-make-your-own-soda-flavors
December 22, 2011 at 8:44 am
Isn’t the SodaStream the best gift EVER? Good idea on the 1/2 Liter bottles.
I’m pretty sure that Gilt article (which is great) is available to everyone, so I removed the cut & paste part from your comment (I don’t want to be stealing their content) but I do encourage everyone to click through and check out those great ideas. Thanks for sharing!
[...] The Slow RC Cola Up Against A Wall [...]
April 18, 2012 at 9:15 am
Has anyone figured out to copy Dr Pepper without the caramel coloring? I would love that idea for sure, but I think I a going to try out some of the ideas here too
Thanks
May 2, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Thanks, I can’t wait to try some of these. Since I watched the documentary “Sweet Misery” I’m cutting out all artificial sweeteners. Today I am researching some homemade ginger ale recipes to use with my SodaStream. I found out the hard way that if you add powdered ginger to your carbonated water you will have a big explosion on your hands. The good news is that you can make the ginger syrup without sugar.