Artisan Sodas
Cucumber, Mint, and Basil Soda
The recipe for this light, herbaceous cooler is based on a drink served at Seattle's Spur restaurant.
Makes 12
May 2011
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Simple Syrup (click for recipe)
- 1/2 large cucumber (about 8 oz.), thinly sliced crosswise, plus 12 slices for garnish
- 24 fresh mint leaves plus 12 sprigs for garnish
- 12 fresh basil leaves
- 6 cups soda water, divided
Preparation
- Bring 1 1/2 cups simple syrup to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove pan from heat and add cucumber slices (reserving 12 for garnish), 24 mint leaves, and basil. Cover and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain cucumber-herb syrup into a jar, pressing on solids in strainer. Fill a 12-oz. glass with ice cubes. Add 2 Tbsp. syrup and top with soda water (about 1/2 cup). Stir to combine. Garnish with cucumber slice and sprig of mint. Repeat to make 11 more sodas.
Thirsty for More? If you have a question about this recipe, contact our Test Kitchen at askba@bonappetit.com. To see more recipes like this one, check out our Summer Drinks Slideshow.
Nutritional Information
One serving contains:
Calories (kcal) 61.3
%Calories from Fat (kcal) 0.0
Fat (g) 0.0
Saturated Fat (g) 0.0
Cholesterol (mg) 0
Carbohydrates (g) 15.8
Dietary Fiber (g) 0.0
Total Sugars (g) 15.8
Net Carbs (g) 15.8
Protein (g) 0.0
Sodium (mg) 0.2
Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/05/cucumber-mint-and-basil-soda#ixzz2FzIN9kBA
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Lemongrass-Lime Leaf Soda
Chicago chef Graham Elliot uses aromatic kaffir lime leaves to make this sparkler from his sandwich shop, Grahamwich. They're sold frozen, and sometimes fresh, at Asian markets. If unavailable, substitute an additional ½ tsp. lime zest for each lime leaf. Lemongrass can be found in the produce section of better supermarkets and at Asian markets.
Makes 12
May 2011
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup lemon zest (from 6 lemons)
- 1/4 cup lime zest (from 8 limes)
- 20 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 stalks lemongrass, roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup Simple Syrup (click for recipe)
- 6 cups soda water, divided
Preparation
- Combine citrus zest, lime leaves, lemongrass, and 2 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain lemongrass mixture into a jar and chill. Fill a 12-oz. glass with ice cubes. Add 2 Tbsp. lemongrass mixture and 1 Tbsp. simple syrup. Top with soda water (about 1/2 cup) and stir to combine. Repeat to make 11 more sodas.
Thirsty for More? If you have a question about this recipe, contact our Test Kitchen at askba@bonappetit.com. To see more recipes like this one, check out our Summer Drinks Slideshow.
Nutritional Information
One serving contains:
Calories (kcal) 39.7
%Calories from Fat 0.0
Fat (g) 0.0
Saturated Fat (g) 0.0
Cholesterol (mg) 0
Carbohydrates (g) 10.3
Dietary Fiber (g) 0.1
Total Sugars (g) 8.4
Net Carbs (g) 10.2
Protein (g) 0.1
Sodium (mg) 0.5
Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/05/lemongrass-lime-leaf-soda#ixzz2FzIhsSOa
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Strawberry, Lemon, and Basil Soda
At San Francisco's Contigo, chef Brett Emerson created this muddled soda to showcase the small, sweet strawberries he finds at the farmers' market.
Makes 1
May 2011
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon raw sugar
- 6 fresh basil leaves
- 5 small strawberries (or 3 large strawberries, quartered) plus 1 thin slice for garnish
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 3/4 cup soda water
Preparation
- Combine fresh lemon juice, raw sugar, basil, whole strawberries, and salt in a pint glass. Muddle ingredients with a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves. Add ice cubes and soda water and stir until chilled. Strain into a 12-oz. glass filled with ice cubes and garnish with a strawberry slice.
Thirsty for More? If you have a question about this recipe, contact our Test Kitchen at askba@bonappetit.com. To see more recipes like this one, check out our Summer Drinks Slideshow.
Nutritional Information
One serving contains:
Calories (kcal) 55.8
%Calories from Fat 0.0
Fat (g) 0.0
Saturated Fat (g) 0.0
Cholesterol (mg) 0
Carbohydrates (g) 14.9
Dietary Fiber (g) 0.2
Total Sugars (g) 13.3
Net Carbs (g) 14.7
Protein (g) 0.1
Sodium (mg) 233.0
Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/05/strawberry-lemon-and-basil-soda#ixzz2FzJ3uqdn
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Crème Brûlée Soda
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/crme-brle-soda_n_1061204.html
Aran Goyoaga
Imagine the flavors of a crème brûlée — toasted caramel, slight bitterness, and a touch of sweetness, washed with a lush flood of cream and the innocent scent of vanilla. That’s what you get in this sippable caramel custard.
Recipe from Homemade Soda by Andrew Schloss/Storey Publishing, 2011.
Recipe from Homemade Soda by Andrew Schloss/Storey Publishing, 2011.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups seltzer
Directions
- Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and water in a small heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture turns dark amber, washing away any sugar crystals clinging to the inside of the pan with a damp pastry brush.
- While the sugar is caramelizing, heat the milk to a simmer in another saucepan or in the microwave. When the sugar is fully caramelized, stir the warm milk into it. The sugar will immediately crystallize, and the milk will vigorously bubble and steam. Stand back so you don’t get burned. Then, as the bubbling subsides, stir the caramel until it becomes smooth and fluid again. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and let cool for 5 minutes.
- This syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, but must be warmed until liquid before using to make a soda.
- Divide the liquid caramel among four tall glasses. Stir 1 cup seltzer into each. Fill the glasses with ice and serve. To mix with seltzer 1 batch caramel syrup 4 cups seltzer
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Kick the Bottle: Make Your Own Soda Flavors
http://www.gilttaste.com/stories/1151-kick-the-bottle-make-your-own-soda-flavors
August 8, 2011
Making soda at home is cheaper and I daresay healthier than opening a gas station cooler, since the average amateur pop artist isn’t sweetening their drinks with buckets of high fructose corn syrup. But here’s the real reason it’s better: you get to make up amazing flavors, especially if you use great produce. There are few nobler deaths for overripe fruit.
Start with your basic simple syrup recipe: an even ratio of sugar to water. Two cups of each will make about a pint of syrup, enough to flavor about four liters of soda, depending on how sweet you like it. Add half a teaspoon of tartaric or citric acid, a natural preservative available online or at home-brew shops. The acid will bring balance, clarity and a Sour Patch tang to these sweet syrups, and more importantly, help them keep in the fridge up to a few months, a trick I learned from Katie Loeb, bartender and cordial tinkerer at the Oyster House in my hometown of Philadelphia.
Bring the water, sugar and acid to a boil with your flavoring agents, then simmer 15-20 minutes and cool completely. Herb or spice syrups like mint, chamomile and cinnamon only need to be strained, preferably through a cheesecloth-lined sieve. Ditto for syrups involving juicy berries and cherries; over the heat, these fruits will bleed as willingly as Fangtasia patrons, so there’s no need to puree. A blender makes quick work of the less acquiescent fruits: melons, pineapple, pitted peaches and plums, apples and pears, etc. After they’ve cooked and cooled, puree these syrups on high for a silky consistency. Use the syrups immediately in soda water, and keep the leftovers in the fridge. It’s that easy.
Starting with this basic recipe, you can customize your syrups with anything in the garden and pantry. Cardamom? Jasmine tea? That bergamot bush you planted and now have no idea what to do with? It all plays. The beauty of homemade soda syrups is that they’re very forgiving. You almost can’t mess them up. But before you get simmering, just keep these tips in mind:
- While straight herbal or spice syrups require no adjustment of the 2+2+½ formula, fruit ones do. Remove half a cup of water for fruit syrups that don’t need pureeing and a full cup for syrups ones that do.
- If you’re using citrus juices, add them separately after the syrup has cooled.
- Adjust the sugar based on the natural sweetness of fruit.
But really the best advice is to experiment and have a spoon handy. At-home soda auteurs should apply the same wisdom honored by the best chefs: Taste as you go.
A bunch of recipes to get you started
Start with the base syrup recipe of 2 cups water + 2 cups sugar + ½ teaspoon tartaric acid (adjusted to the above guidelines), then add:
- Watermelon Mint = 1 bunch mint + 2 cups cubed seedless watermelon + peeled zest of 1 lime + pinch chili powder
In steamy Bangkok, street vendors sell cellophane bags of cut-up fruit dusted in chili and lime. This syrup echoes those flavors and stars summer’s blushing belle, watermelon.
- Dark & Stormy = 1 cup of fresh ginger, cut into ½-inch pieces + ¼ cup dark rum + peeled zest of 1 lime + juice of 1 lime
One of the earth’s great cocktails distilled into a virgin syrup. (The simmering boils off the rum’s alcohol.) Try replacing a cup of sugar with a cup blackstrap molasses for a richer result.
- Honey Chamomile = 3 chamomile teabags (or 1 bunch fresh chamomile) + peeled zest of 1 lemon + 1 cup honey (replaces 1 cup sugar)
Reputation for relaxation? Not this chamomile syrup; sweetened with honey, it’s a kick-ass complement to gin.
- Cherry Almond = 1 cup pitted tart cherries + 1 teaspoon almond extract + pinch Chinese five spice powder (optional, but very nice)
Sweet almond rounds out the lip-smacking twang of tart cherries. The resulting soda loves dark rum and Tiki cocktails.
- Mexican Root Beer = 1 bunch hoja santa + 1 drop lemon oil
This easy riff on Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s popular herbal green root beer uses the Mexican herb hoja santa in lieu of tarragon. Redolent of anise, cinnamon and birch, these “holy leaves” (find them at Mexican grocers) have all the soda’s flavors in a single package. No wonder the herb’s nickname is “root beer plant.”
- Matcha Melon = 3 green teabags + 2 cups fresh honeydew + peeled zest of 1 lime
Brewed triple-strength, delicate green tea becomes a flower powerhouse that matches well with fruity honeydew. Try it with cantaloupe, too.
- Mint Chip = 1 bunch chocolate mint + 1 teaspoon cocoa powder + 2 drops natural green food coloring
For a soda that drinks like a dessert, start with fragrant chocolate mint (available at many farmers’ markets). Cocoa powder enhances the herb’s innate chocolate flavor.
- Honeysuckle Peach = 2 cups peaches, peeled, pitted and quartered + 1 bunch fresh honeysuckle
Fresh blossoms give this peach syrup an intoxicating perfume and flavor. Quadruple the recipe as a base for sorbet, ice pops or granita.
- Tom Kha = ½ cup coconut cream + 4 kaffir lime leaves + 1 stalk bruised lemongrass + 1-inch piece fresh galangal, lightly smashed
This exotic, ivory syrup is inspired by the aromatics in Thai tom kha, or coconut soup. If you can’t find galangal, substitute with ginger.
- Shiso (or Mint) Orange = 1 bunch fresh shiso or mint + peeled zest of 2 oranges + juice of 1 orange, strained of pulp
Who loves orange soda? Everyone when it’s paired with minty, cinnamony, sawtoothed shiso.
- Spiced Plum = 2 cups plums, peeled, pitted and quartered + peeled zest of 2 limes + juice of 1 lime, strained of pulp + 1 teaspoon cloves
Plums and lime say summer, while the cloves evoke mulled cider on snowy mornings, but this seemingly incongruous trinity go surprisingly well together. I first tried them in a chutney paired with foie gras at Philly’s acclaimed French BYOB Bibou. Turns out, they’re just as happy in glass of soda.
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Ginger-Lemongrass Soda
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/ginger-lemongrass-soda_n_1060869.html
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced peeled ginger
- 4 plump stalks of fresh lemongrass, cut into 2-inch lengths and smashed, plus stalks for garnish
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Lemon wheels and ice cubes, for serving
Directions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the sliced ginger with the smashed lemongrass and 4 cups of the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the sugar. Cover and let the ginger-lemongrass syrup steep off the heat until cool, about 2 hours.
- Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the ginger and lemongrass. Stir in the lemon juice and the remaining 2 cups of water. Refrigerate until chilled.
- Make the soda according to the manufacturers' directions. Serve in tall glasses over ice, garnished with lemon wheels and lemongrass stalks.
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Pineapple Mint Soda Recipe
Jul 18, 2011 2:21 pm
How to make refreshing pineapple mint soda
BY
Reprinted with permission from Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It And Other Kitchen Projects by Karen Solomon, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.
Servings:2 1/2 cups
Ingredients
7 cups pineapple chunks, (from about a 2-pound fruit)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
1 bunch fresh mint, well washed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, (from 1 lemon)
Directions:
- Combine the pineapple and both sugars to coat in a large, covered pot and let it macerate, stirring occasionally to help the sugar dissolve, for at least 12 but no more than 24 hours. (Setting this up after dinner and stirring periodically before bedtime is sufficient.) The fruit will shrink in size and release its juice and the sugar will dissolve in the liquid. If necessary, cover the bowl loosely with a kitchen towel tied with string to protect the sweet syrup from insects.
- When the fruit has macerated, move the pot to the stovetop. Tie the mint together at the stems with kitchen string or unwaxed, unflavored dental floss and dunk the leaves into the fruit and syrup. (Leaving the stems sticking out will help with easy removal later.) Cover the pot and bring to a gentle boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the mixture steep, still covered, for 30 minutes.
- Remove the mint with tongs or your fingers and squeeze out as much of its liquid as you can through a sieve back into the pot. Strain the pineapple from the liquid and save it for another use (such as eating). Stir in the lemon juice.
How to Store It:
Pour the syrup into a glass bottle for storing in the refrigerator, where it will keep for up to 6 weeks.
Plus: Pineapple Mint Soda (two ways)
Stir 3/4 cup Pineapple Mint Syrup into 1 1/2 cups sparkling water (or any quantity in a ratio of 1:2). Add ice cubes and enjoy. Shot of rum optional. To make carbonated soda, see How to Carbonate It. Drink within 5 days. Note that soda left for longer than that, even at cold temperatures, is in danger of becoming explosively overcarbonated.
Level of Difficulty:
Easy
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cooking Time:
30 minutes
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Blackberry Shrub
http://www.kitchenkonfidence.com/2011/08/blackberry-shrub/
Azalea. Bougainvillea. Oleander. Honeysuckle. Hydrangea. Bramble. Rose. A short list of shrubs that I will not be covering in this article. Instead, I am going to describe a shrub you might be unfamiliar with. Tart and refreshing, a shrub is mixture of fruit and vinegar that can be enjoyed in a cocktail or with sparkling soda water. The origin of these drinking vinegars dates back to the Roman Era where acetified wine diluted with water was consumed as an everyday thirst quencher.* Shrubs came to America via England during the Colonial Era. Recently, I’ve seen many recipes for shrubs sprouting up around the Internets. This Blackberry Shrub is a bold blend of blackberry syrup, balsamic vinegar and fresh rosemary. The finished shrub has the most amazing aroma and a complex flavor that gleefully dances across your palate.
PS. I’ve been drinking this shrub all week at work. I get a large soda water from a nearby restaurant (for free). Then I stir in a few ounces of the Blackberry Shrub. Homemade soda is really that easy. But I warn you. Your coworkers might become extremely jealous. Continue reading for the recipe.
Blackberry ShrubAdapted from here.
2 3/4 cups blackberries
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup good quality balsamic vinegar
3 sprigs of rosemary
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup good quality balsamic vinegar
3 sprigs of rosemary
Add blackberries, water and sugar to a medium saucepan and cook on low until the berries are soft (10 – 15 minutes). Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon, slightly mashing the berries each time you stir.
Pour the mixture through a fine mesh basket strainer then return to the saucepan. Discard solids. Add balsamic vinegar and rosemary sprigs. Increase the heat to medium-low and bring the mixture to a slow boil.**
Take the mixture off of the heat and carefully remove the rosemary sprigs. Let cool then transfer to a pitcher or bottle. Chill shrub in the refrigerator before using.
Makes about 4 cups.
* I loosely quoted some information from here. I urge you to check out this article if you want to learn more about shrubs.
** You will know the mixture has come to a slow boil when you first start seeing bubbles come up from the bottom of the saucepan. At this point, stir the shrub. If the bubbles quickly come back, you have reached a slow boil.
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More developed posts—some of them east and southern Africa-inspired!—coming soon.
Plum-rosemary fizz
Just a general recipe—tweak as needed. Serves about two, but makes more syrup than you'll need.
You will need
- 1 very ripe plum
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish
Seltzer water
Ice
Directions
- Prepare the rosemary syrup. Crush rosemary gently in your hands to release oils. Mix water, sugar, and whole rosemary sprigs in a medium saucepan, bring just to a boil (sugar should be dissolved). Cool, allowing the rosemary to steep in the simple syrup. Remove rosemary sprigs
Slice up your plum. Remove the skin if you want, but it’s just for aesthetics/texture. Muddle several slices of the fruit to a pulp in the bottom of two 8 ounce glasses (I found that I liked the plum taste to be very mild, leaving the soda much more herbal, but feel free to add more plum if you’d like it to be juicier). Add several ice cubes or 1/2 cup crushed ice. Pour a 1-2 shot glasses of the syrup over the ice (more if you’d like a sweeter or more rosemary-ish drink). Top with seltzer to the rim of the glass and give a quick stir. Garnish with a tiny sprig of rosemary
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cherry-basil soda
http://glutenfreegirl.com/cherry-basil-soda/
CHERRY-BASIL SODA
The first week of having cherries in our lives again, I don’t want to do anything with them but eat them clean and spit out the pits. However, once the cherries come into the farmstands, especially the ones from Eastern Washington, we make them into pies, clafoutis, scones, and cakes. This summer, however, has been the summer of homemade cherry-basil soda.
Cherries and basil go together so well that we’ll think you’ll be cherry-besotted soon too. However, think of the possibilities of this technique with other fruits and herbs: strawberry-mint soda; nectarine-lavender soda; watermelon-lime soda. There are endless possibilities. And then, of course, you could use these syrups to make homemade popsicles too.
There’s no need to buy soda in a can again.
2 cups pitted fresh cherries
1 cup organic cane sugar
½ cup chopped fresh basil
club soda
1 cup organic cane sugar
½ cup chopped fresh basil
club soda
Setting up the syrup. Combine the cherries, sugar, and basil in a large bowl. Toss them around with your hands to coat the cherries. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.
Making the syrup. The next morning, put the cherry mixture into a blender. (A food processor would work well here too.) There should be a lovely syrup at the bottom of the bowl. Be sure to include all of that loveliness in the blender. Blend the cherry mixture until it is smooth. Push the cherry puree through a fine-mesh strainer. Throw away the cherry pulp.
You now have cherry-basil syrup.
Making the soda. Combine some of the cherry-basil syrup with club soda for cherry-basil soda. You’ll know your own ratio of syrup to club soda. Although we’ve always done ours by taste alone, I think our favorite ratio is about 1 ounce of syrup to 6 ounces of club soda.
Don’t forget the ice! Enjoy.
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Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 -3 tablespoons rose water
3 limes, sliced
1 cup mint leaf
1 1/4 liters soda water
red food coloring (optional)
ice cube
rose petal (to garnish)
Directions:
1 Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan.
2 Stir over low heat for 3-4 minutes until sugar dissolves.
3 Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
4 Cool to room temperature, then chill until cold.
5 In a large jug, combine the sugar syrup with the rosewater, lime slices and mint.
6 Add the soda water and a few drops of food coloring.
7 Add ice cubes and stir.
Rose Water is a clear liquid, distilled from fresh rose petals. It is a flavoring that can be subtle when used lightly or soapy when added with a heavy hand. To make rose water: Collect the petals from 3-4 full rose heads that have not been treated with pesticides. Place in a saucepan with 1 pint of water. Heat gently until the petals are transparent, do not boil. Cool mixture, strain, pressing liquid out of petals. Refrigerate up to one week.
Read more at: http://australian.food.com/recipe/rose-water-soda-232934?oc=linkback
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Lavender Soda
Yield:
2 cups syrup
1/2 cup lavender flowers
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
soda water
1 lime
Directions:
1 Bring to a boil sugar, water, lavender and ginger. Lower to a simmer and cook down for 20 minutes to 30 minutes, or until it begins to get a bit syrupy.
2 Cool and strain, add vanilla.
3 You may add a bit of violet or blue dye if you wish.
4 Mix 1 to 3 lavender syrup to soda water over ice in highball glass.
5 Garnish with lime and a few lavender flowers.
Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/lavender-soda-464485?oc=linkback
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