Homemade Soda Expert

Bottle Cap Collecting

2021-05-11T14:27:00.006-04:00

So as I get older and the more my kids want to do extra curricular activities. The less time I have for making homemade soda.

I've filled my time with other projects that can be dropped at a moment's notice, rather than things that have to be finished once they are started. Because of that, I have a not-yet-wet bar in my basement that is now in it's fifth year of construction.

One of the pieces of the bar that I've put in is a booth table the space is a few inches narrower than a typical restaurant booth, and the table I have is from a closed TGI Fridays, so it's a bit beat up.

So I've started a new table. I've collected various bottle caps for the project over the years and now that the project is in full swing, I've discovered that I need a lot more caps.

My impetus for collecting caps.

Thanks to the Reddit (r/BottleCapCollecting) I've been able to make some trades, so I've created a page to as a central place to list available caps for trade.

The Root Beer Lady

2020-09-17T00:20:00.001-04:00

This popped up in my Google news feed and I was intrigued. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/dorothy-molter-root-beer-lady.amp

I never knew Dorothy Molter, but I wish I could have. I would think that an ice cold home brewed root beer at the end of a 15 mile canoe trip would be quite a nice treat. One of my favorite trips I took as a boy scout was a 50 mile canoe trip on Yellowstone lake. Sure, it was only sunny the day we arrived and the day we left with every day in between being rainy, windy, and generally miserable, but the serenity of propelling yourself over a glassy lake in the middle of a national park wilderness even just for one day, made enduring the rest of the trip worth the effort.

It's memories of that trip that fuel my crazy desire to build my own cedar strip canoe someday, even though I've rarely been on the water since and my woodworking skills are mediocre at best.

So that's what makes this story all the more intriguing to me. I envy those canoers of four decades ago who had the pleasure of making this stop to take a breather and enjoy a root beer in the expansive lakeland wilderness of Minnesota.

And while you can still visit the Dorothy Molter museum (https://www.rootbeerlady.com/) and get yourself a root beer there, it seems like it wouldn't be quite the same.

The world needs more Dorothy Molters. I remember as a kid there was an older gentleman in our neighborhood that the kids ask knew as "the cookie man". He was a grandfatherly type that would always bring his cookie jar to the door when kids stopped by and knocked. With the world we live in, that would terrify parents today. It's sad to see what direction the world has gone. Would there be rooting in the streets if there were more of these type of people in the world? Would we be bitterly divided if this type of honest charitable giving were acceptable and not considered creepy? I don't mean to wax political over homemade root beer, but how do we get this back?

Guest Post: Apple Pie Sodas by Andrew Lepper

2017-08-07T17:51:00.000-04:00

I regularly get emails about the book and questions from fellow soda makers and try to get answers to people as often as I can.
Along with this, I always welcome guest posts and today's post comes from Andrew Lepper.

An up-and-coming soda maker, Andrew has made syrups for his Sodastream and has moved on to bigger and better things. Andrew was kind enough to share his recipe for all to follow. I have not personally tried this recipe, but it looks like a pretty solid recipe to me for Apple Pie Flavored Soda, albeit a little on the sweeter side, but you never can tell when starting a new recipe using yeast. This deviates significantly from my Apple Pie Soda recipe, but there's more than one way to get the job done. If you have any questions for Andy, let me know and I will send them your way.

From Andy:

This is my first run at making my own homemade soda! I have dabbled in making syrups before simply for the soda stream, but I decided to take up the hobby of self-carbonating my own bottles using yeast. Here's the first recipe, summer-inspired.

After brainstorming ideas on what my first trial should be, I landed on Apple Pie. I have tried a couple different Apple Pie sodas before and they were delicious! Here I will post two slightly-different recipes and give my reviews:

First of all, I made my own apple cider using this recipe.

Recipe 1: Apple Pie (Extra sweet) - Makes 4 liters
Ingredients:

2 cups pure cane sugar
3.25 cups water (divided)
2 cups apple cider
1/8 tsp champagne yeast
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Dissolve sugar with 1/4 cup of water, bringing to a boil.
2. Add 2 more cups of water, the vanilla, and the cider. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes.
3. While simmering, mix the yeast with 1 cup warm water. (Not too hot or you'll kill the yeast). Let that sit for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. After the syrup mixture cools, pour the yeast mix in. Stir and separate into two 2-Liter bottles.
5. Add room-temperature water, give the bottles a good shake, then let sit for 1-2 days or until the bottle is firm from carbonation.
6. After the soda is well-carbonated, store in the fridge to keep yeast dormant.

This soda turned out very well, yet very sweet! I forgot to add a teaspoon of lemon juice so when I drink it, I would usually add a couple drops to my cup, though this wasn't an issue for anyone else who tried it. The soda itself makes for an amazing ice cream float!

For the second recipe, I did not change much. Therefore, instead of typing up the recipe over again, I'll just list the differences:

Apple Pie # 2
Instead of using 2 cups white sugar I used:

1 cup pure cane sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey

I think this helped add a fuller flavor to the syrup.
And of course, I added 1 tsp lemon juice for the second boil.

Changing the ingredients didn't make too drastic of a change to the final product. The lemon made the drink slightly less sweet, however still pretty sweet. The change of sugar also added a nice hint of fuller, darker flavor.
These recipes are very similar. If you want to try it, just choose which one is easier and more appealing to you.

DrinkMate Home Soda Maker Review

2016-09-27T14:00:00.002-04:00

I recently had an opportunity to review a product from iDrink Products, the DrinkMate.

At first I thought it was just a SodaStream knock-off. But the DrinkMate plays off of what is sometimes considered the SodaStream's biggest downside. The DrinkMate is designed to carbonate virtually anything you can put in it while the SodaStream is designed for carbonating just water. "What will you sparkle next?" it says.

Notice the kiwi smoothie shown on the box. Yeah, that's a challenge that I'll accept! Unfortunately, I didn't have any kiwis on hand at the moment.

Granted the fundamental operation is the same between the DrinkMate and the SodaStream. You could theoretically carbonate anything in the SodaStream, too, but then you've shot your warranty and you risk blasting carbonated *whatever* all over your kitchen.

What makes the DrinkMate different is that it has a removable injector with a slow release valve integrated into the top so that the pressure change is gradual instead of immediate, thus maintaining the carbonation level in your drink. I was pretty impressed with that.

One of the downsides, though is that it comes with this teeny CO2 tank. Now I've been told that you can use the SodaStream carbonators with this, but I haven't tried that yet. Still a burden, but makes it easier to get your hands on more CO2.

So how well does it work? I decided to start off basic and just carbonate cold water. The best I was hoping for was that it would carbonate as well as my kegging setup. Boy was I wrong. It actually carbonated better than my kegging setup. All this time I've been telling people the keg was the best carbonation they can get because you can dial it in to where you want it to be, but it turns out that an ice cold bottle of water in the DrinkMate will get you comparable to a bottle of commercial seltzer. So I decided to give it a more scientific test. Get ready for some numbers.

In the US, carbonation is typically measured in volumes. Something carbonated to 1 volume means that a certain quantity of liquid has an equal volume of CO2 (at standard temperature and pressure) dissolved into it. Most commercial sodas are carbonated to around 3 or 4 volumes. Across the pond, they have a more straight forward way of measuring carbonation and that's g/L. 1 volume is a pretty close equivalent to 2g/L. So if this were to carbonate as well as a commercial seltzer, it should add about 3 or 4 g to my bottle 1/2 L bottle. Let's see how that goes:

I took the tare weight of the bottle. Then I carbonated it as much as possible as per the instructions. After carbonating, I weighed the full bottle. Then I shook and released pressure repeatedly until nothing more would bubble out and took the final weight. The difference would be how much CO2 was dissolved.
Test 1:
Tare Weight 12.3g
Full Weight 514.7g
Shaken Weight 511.2g
Difference = 3.5 g CO2 in 498.9g water = 7.02g/L or about 3.5 vol CO2. Not bad!

But we have to be sure these results are repeatable. This time I let it sit and dissolve overnight in the fridge after carbonating and added more if possible.
Test 2:
Tare Weight 11.9g
Full Weight 505.1g
Shaken Weight 500.8g
Difference = 4.3 g CO2 in 488.9g water = 8.79g CO2/L or about 4.4 vol CO2. Even Better!

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the DrinkMate and it's resultant beverages. I wasn't as happy with the carbonated chocolate milk, though. I thought it would taste better than that. So while you have the freedom to carbonate anything that will fit in the bottle, it's not advisable

To recap, here are the pros and cons of the DrinkMate.
Pros:
-Carbonate anything you want
-Slow release pressure valve to maintain the best carbonation
-Possible 4 vol of CO2 carbonation level in plain tap water, other beverages will vary.

Cons:
-Still requires proprietary CO2 refills.
-Limited availability.
-Limited to about 1/2 L at a time.

I'd say this is a buy for anyone that's looking for a good countertop carbonator. For someone making larger volumes of homemade soda, this would be great for test batches, but wouldn't work well for serving a crowd.

Return of Crystal Pepsi?

2015-12-11T13:58:00.001-05:00

Knowing that the 90’s are “retro” makes me feel old.

While I do remember the 90’s fondly in some respects, there are probably some things that shouldn’t come back. I have a sneaking suspicion that Pepsi thinks its own Crystal Pepsi is one of them. Based on their method of “reintroduction” I believe that Pepsi is certainly playing it as safe as possible with some subtle hints that it may be a reluctant relaunch.

In their teasers leading up to it, Pepsi tweeted a photo of a can of original Pepsi being imbibed by someone named Crystal, (wearing a cheap necklace with bearing her name) with the caption “Is this what you meant?” and later a photo of a can of original Pepsi laying on a bed of crystals with the caption, “So, not this.” I tease my kids the same way when I’m mildly reluctant to give them something they’re asking for. Kind of a, “Are you sure you want this? How about this, instead?” Say what you will about my parenting, I’ll bet I’m not the only one who does this.

Even compared to Coca Cola’s “online only” Surge comeback, the Crystal Pepsi initial offering is extremely limited. As announced, Crystal Pepsi is available as part of a sweepstakes wherein the entry period is 48 hours (ending today). Initially I thought the entries were only limited to Pepsi loyalists who had points in their PepsiPass accounts. Each entry will cost you 1000 points for a chance to win one of 13,000 six-packs of 16oz bottles. It turns out that even if you don’t have the PepsiPass app, you can enter online and you get 5000 points just for signing up. So really it is open to anybody. The only people this weeds out are people who don’t have enough motivation to sign up for an account and people who have already signed up for an account, but have used their points and don’t have motivation to do what it takes to build their points back up in the short time period.

From a marketing standpoint, this gives Pepsi a huge amount data on potential customers. This allows them to really gauge how much interest there is in Crystal Pepsi rather than relying on the rallying cry of a handful vocal enthusiasts. First off, it allows Pepsi to see who would be interested in getting their hands on at least a six pack. I see this as Pepsi asking the question, “By raise of hands, who wants Crystal Pepsi?” When you sign up for the PepsiPass account/app and put in an entry, you give your email address, mailing address, birth date, and phone number. I expect marketing loves information like that. Additionally, not only are they asking “Who wants some?” they can sort out the info by order of “How bad do you want it?” During the two day period, you’re limited to 3 entries per day for a total of 6 entries. So likely 1 entry falls into the “Sounds interesting.” category, 2 entries equates to “I’d try it.” 3 entries tells them “I’ll do everything I can for a single day to get some, but I’m not devoted enough to do this for two days.” 4 Entries means “I’m in, but I’m a bit short on points.” 5 entries shows them “I just signed up for Crystal Pepsi and nothing else.” 6 entries tells them, “I’m a Pepsi fan through and through. I’ll do everything I can no matter what.”

Once the 13,000 winners get their coveted 6-pack, you can bet a fair number of winners will brag about it via social media, showing Pepsi feedback and creating buzz. From here they can make the decision whether they want a wider launch. While I haven’t seen anything official from Pepsi, there is speculation that Crystal Pepsi will hit stores in Summer 2016. I would be very surprised if it lasts very long, given that it flopped the first time around and Pepsi’s penchant for Limited Time Offers, particularly under the Mountain Dew brand. Even 23 years of pining nostalgia won’t keep it afloat if it isn’t any good. Everyone who tasted it the first time around has undoubtedly experienced changing tastes/palettes and preferences over the years, so would people really exclaim “This tastes just like I remember!” after all this time? However, Pepsi is touting it as improved. (Which begs the question, is it really a return if it’s been reformulated?) Supposedly it has caffeine this time around, which I would guess they’re thinking adds to its appeal. I’d imagine that came from focus group data because it kind of pulls it away from its original intent of being more simple and clean than regular colas. But whatever, their Dewshine seems to be somewhat prolific, I wonder if that was a precursor to a Crystal Pepsi relaunch.

I think that the video ad Pepsi released was subtly tongue-in-cheek advertising, mocking their own product in a way. The ad opens with the janitor cleaning the elevator when he finds a hidden button for the 92^nd floor. He’s swiftly transported up there where everything is apparently stuck in ’92/93. Computers, hairstyles, glasses and everything visible seems to indicate it’s still 1992. Everything is also festooned with Crystal Pepsi logos. This does seem to feel like that’s where Crystal Pepsi belongs: in the past. The employees there seem to know the janitor, almost as if he was part of their team at one point. This to me suggests that some people involved with the original Crystal Pepsi didn’t make it very far in life. It was a pretty well remembered failure, though not as epic as New Coke. The employees there, dressed in garb not out of place in early 90’s offices, (though not out of place in some offices today) are celebrating the relaunch to Tag Team’s Whoomp There it is, opening with the line, “Tag Team, Back again…” In review, was Tag Team ever back again? As far as I know it wasn’t a household name. The song, released in 1993 reached #2 on the Billboard charts, but that’s all that I can remember from them (I had to google who even performed the song). The lyrics fit a relaunch, but being a #2 song suggests that while this may be a relaunch, it was never a #1, never really a win. So the commercial opens with ‘92, when Crystal Pepsi was launched and flows to a musical reference to ’93, when Crystal Pepsi was pulled. And that “Whoomp, there it is!” is almost like an in-your-face, “You really want this, FINE! Here it is. Don’t complain later if you don’t like it.” It’s obvious these are 16oz bottles, which were the norm at the time, but rarer in the two decades since. It adds to the nostalgia, but also may be a suggestion that maybe you don’t want it in today’s standard 20oz bottle. If I recall, it wasn’t that bad that you wouldn’t be able to finish a 20oz, but sometimes even something that’s mediocre loses its appeal after just so much. The video ends with one of the employees saying, “Let’s get the word out!” and then you hear the dial up modem sound as they crowd around the computer – and wait. Again, here’s something that suggests maybe Pepsi is a little reluctant to let this go, and maybe it really does belong in the past.

Regardless of their intentions, I’ve thrown my hat in the ring, and if I have a six-pack show up at my door sometime later this month, I’ll let you know and I’ll try my hardest to bring the world a recipe so that even if this is a limited time only coming this summer or worst case scenario a promotion only for the holidays, Crystal Pepsi will live on.

Holiday Gift Guide 2015

2015-11-26T16:55:00.001-05:00

How is it the holidays already? Life has been crazy and time just flies by. While I'm not ready to post new recipes just yet, I've got a couple things up my sleeve, such as a tasty Hibiscus Ginger Ale and a possible Moxie clone. I couldn't however leave everyone hanging for the holidays without a gift guide. This gift guide, now in its fifth year, is a tradition I've started that I can't bear to let slip away. See previous gift guides from 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011

For The Nostalgic
Nostalgia is really what I love about homemade soda. It hearkens back to a simpler time. Even though I wasn't around to see the heyday of the soda fountain, or the dime glass bottle vending machines, that's what I associate with soda.

Nostalgia '50s-Style Single Tap Kegorator

There was something classy when it came to kitchen appliances in the 1940s and 1950s. Chrome and curves accentuated functionality. If you can't get your hands on a 1950s refrigerator to convert to a kegerator, or you don't want to trust your tasty beverages to something that old (though the fact that some of the 1950s fridges are still cranking should be a testament to the fact that they just don't make things like they used to.) A 1950s style kegerator is the next best thing. If you want to convert this for soda kegs, all it takes is swapping out the sanke disconnect for a Ball Lock Keg MFL Coupler Set or Pin-Lock MFL Disconnect Set. When pouring soda instead of beer, it's always a good idea to swap out chrome faucets (even though this one is spring loaded to avoid unintended spillage) with a Stainless Steel Beer Faucet to avoid corrosion.

Anchor Hocking Classic Soda Fountain Glasses

Kick up the nostalgia a notch by serving up your own homemade ice cream soda, coke float, root beer float or ice cream sundae in these classic look glasses. Pick up a Pack of 4 or a Set of 12 .

The Syrup-er
Like the soda fountains of yesteryear and the SodaStreams of today, adding syrup to carbonated water is really the easiest route to go in making homemade soda.

CO2 Tank Paintball Canister Refill Adapter

The SodaStream has brought the popularity of homemade soda to new heights in the past 5 years, but one of the big complaints and probably one of the biggest reason for people to stop using them is the proprietary fill canisters and the expense of replacements. For someone who wants the convenience and compact design of the SodaStream but the cost savings of a larger CO2 tank, this adapter screws onto a standard paintball tank that can be refilled for just $3 to $5 at your local sporting goods store. Refill the tank at the store without the adapter, then plug it into your SodaStream with it on, and you're ready to carbonate. Now you don't have to feel bad about that third blast of CO2 to get more fizz.

LorAnn Flavoring Oils

There's a secret formula locked up in the vaults of the Coca Cola Co. that details the ingredients in their more than a century old classic formula. It's been somewhat elusive to many, but some recipes have surfaced over time that seem to hit close to the mark. The Open Cola Project is one that has been kicking around for a few years now and uses flavor oils as the flavor base. Cola is not the only one that can be made strictly from oils. Crush and 7up also started their lives with flavor oils as well. You can pick up flavors for syrup for all those and more using Lorann Oils. These can sometimes be picked up at pharmacies for flavoring hard candies, they are super concentrated and some are straight up natural flavor oils. A little goes a long way, so picking up a Pack of 10 or 12 1-dram vials should be plenty for a foray into syrup making. (The 12 and 24 pack links will let you pick the flavors.)

For the Connoisseur

One of the appeals of homemade soda is the gourmet side. The Connoisseur will try any new flavor (No matter how weird ) they can get their hands on and has a running list of the ones that are the best.

The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes and Ideas for the Creative Cook

Flavors are funny things. If they lean one way or another towards something else, it can make the difference between something delectable and something horrific. For anyone who wants to brush up on their flavor pairing skills, the Flavor Thesaurus is the go-to book for mixing up something new. Want to know if a bacon chocolate soda would work well? Consult the thesaurus.

Rox Ice Ball Maker

Part of being a connoisseur is consuming things in style. For someone looking to make homemade soda say classy, swanky and hip, there's the Rox ice ball maker. This mold will swank up your soda party with perfectly round ice balls. After all, if you're bold enough to serve up a hibiscus-ginger-cucumber-melon-turmeric soda, shouldn't it be served on the Rox?

For The Budding Pro

One of the common questions I get is "How do I take my soda commercial?" That's not a road that I've trod, but I've seen some of the people that have. It's got a lot of road blocks and obstacles, but one way to have the confidence to face them head on is with custom branded items.

Bottle Cap Mount Starr X Bottle Opener

Build your brand the easy way by picking up a cap mount Starr X Bottle Opener. These are available in many colors and are the classic wall mount openers that haven't changed in nearly a century. Just get yourself a custom cap, and mount it on the top nub. If a cap mount isn't your style, you can get a special order one with your own logo from the Cap Monger on Etsy.

For The Health Nut

While I'm not opposed to difficult to pronounce ingredients, there are those that have made dietary choices to avoid artificial ingredients and chemicals. Some found homemade soda a great way to feel good about what they put into their body and still enjoy some tasty fizz.

SipWell Stainless Steel Straws

Sipping sodas brings back memories of a bygone era, but concerns about chemicals in plastics and filling landfills may be on the forefront of a sodamaker's mind. For some piece of mind, pick up some reusable stainless steel straws that can be cleaned and sanitized at high temperatures and reused indefinitely. Careful, though, they're likely to get pretty cold in an ice cold beverage.

Carbonator Cap

While there are health merits to making your own soda, there is still a likelihood of consuming simply too much sugar. So while having kegs of soda on hand seems like a wonderful idea, it may be a bit much for most people not serving a crowd. The carbonator cap brings all the benefits of owning a kegging system down to a more manageable scale by allowing the carbonation of 2 liters or less at a time. The cap fits on most standard 2L bottles and some smaller and hooks up to a ball lock disconnect attached to a regulated CO2 supply. Just chill, pressurize, shake, and enjoy your favorite beverage, and unlike a sodastream, you won't ruin any warranties by carbonating whatever you please. Water, apple juice, milk, pudding, jell-o; you're only limited by your imagination (and the laws of physics, and your ability to get it out of the bottle).

More recipes in the works… somewhere… eventually…

2015-06-19T12:30:00.002-04:00

So there haven’t been a lot of posts from me lately. I know I don’t have a huge readership, but I feel bad leaving everybody hanging.

Just to let everyone know, I’m no longer in grape country. I’ve taken a new job closer to family and made a move from Pennsylvania to Utah. So I traded views like this…

For this views like this…

So what does this have to do with sodamaking? Well, a lot actually as I’ve discovered. There aren’t many beer or winemaking stores very close nearby, so getting my hands on caps and some different ingredients isn’t going to be as easy.

Additionally I’ve discovered that I can’t fit my bottle washer on any of my sinks in my new home. Not a huge issue, I just need to take a trip to the hardware store to figure things out, but it does put a damper on things.

Instead of having my vintage fridge in a dedicated space in the basement where it sits somewhat out of the way, it’s now in the garage, typically with a minivan in front of it, not allowing me to open it up. And there’s no way it’s going in the basement either. Getting it out of where it was I thought we were going to smash someone.

The cost of CO2 tank refills is going to be a challenge. The two places I’ve called are around $18 per fill versus the $10 per fill in Erie. Unfortunately, at the same time, funding is down. While I took a better paying job, the cost of moving across the country, a longer commute, cost of living changes, and a few other things has shaken up my finances a bit, so it will probably take a while to sort things out. In conjunction with that, I’ve put my ebay sales on hold (which usually finance my hobbies) with moving, and since I don’t seem to have a post office nearby which is a new experience for me, that will probably stay on hold until I can figure out a way to make it a bit more convenient.

Moving to a new place obviously means leaving good folks behind. We had a lot of good friends back in Erie, and it hurt to make the move in a lot of ways. It seemed like there were lots of get-togethers that warranted lots of tasty, bubbly beverage. Being in a new area doesn’t seem to come with as many gatherings right off the bat. And no one here is expecting me to provide a keg yet, so I haven’t had many requests. Sure we have family close by, and our summer schedule is quickly filling up, but it seems a lot of family members are dieting, including myself. (Which is definitely commendable, don’t get me wrong).

So, although the summer is a perfect time to make and enjoy a cold homemade soda for family picnics or holiday BBQs, my soda projects are on hold for the moment, or at least toned down. I have some great recipes planned to post, but they will unfortunately have to wait. They are coming, so stay tuned. I haven’t left the sodamaking hobby behind.

I will gladly accept guest posts for the time being, and I would love to hear from fellow sodamakers and their challenges that they've seen.

Lessons Learned from a Homebrew Competition, Episode 2 (with 3 Recipes)

2015-03-07T13:07:00.003-05:00

Once again I attended the Brewerie’s Annual Homebrew Fest, the Brewer's Cup. And once again I had an interesting experience serving soda at a beer event. Even though I did this two years ago I feel I've come out with a few more lessons to learn for any homebrew event.

1. Serving from real faucets makes things so much easier.
This past year I picked up some fabulous Stainless Steel Perlick faucets for serving from my kegerator. I had them mounted on some wooden slats that clipped to the beverage tub so I didn't need a drip tray. These are by far the best thing I have done for dispensing soda. The picnic taps I used two years ago got sticky, they were difficult to keep in place, and didn't adequately show what I had available to taste. The Perlicks kept things cleaner, more organized, and the oversize bottle cap tap handles let people know what's on tap. Though, people who see them and are familiar with draft dispensing equipment are always amazed I would spend that much "just for serving soda". I think a lot of people don't realize the big difference there is between serving beer and serving soda. Soda is lower pH (more acidic) and thus would eat through chrome plated brass faucets much more quickly. So stainless steel is a must. Soda is also higher in sugar content and stickier, so having a forward sealing design with less space for residual liquid to accumulate seemed like a better idea. I've never let beverage sit in my faucets very long, so I don't know how long it would take for the standard faucets to gunk up, but since the stainless Perlicks were only marginally more expensive than standard stainless faucets, the choice was simple, really.

2. If you're selling something, have a clearly marked price.
I took some copies of my book to sell in case anyone was interested in further recipes. I didn't mind people asking how much I would sell for, and I did sell more than I expected, but I might have sold them all had I clearly marked them as for sale. I also left my gold sharpie for autographing at home accidentally, so that didn't help.

3. When there's 60+ beers available for tasting, people will get pretty drunk.

I don't know if it was because this year was an evening event and last time was an afternoon event, but people seemed to imbibe a little more liberally than I remember last time. I had a couple that were shouting at each other at my table and she was telling me not to give him any thing more to drink. I was a bit perplexed since mine had no alcohol, so I didn't really heed her advice. I served him some cherry pie soda and she started throwing popcorn into his glass and they started shouting obscenities at each other. They had a friend there with them, that squeezed in between them to hand me his glass and was either oblivious to their raucous behavior or trying to deter it. As he held out his glass he asked for one of my flavors and said quite matter of factly, "I'm not with them." I'd seen him with them the first (more sober) time they came around to my table, so I knew better, but I give him a lot of props for being able to deal with it. One girl had taken off her jacket and was in a tank top, despite the sub-freezing temperatures outside (granted there were a lot of people there and we were inside, but I still thought it was a bit chilly). I saw her swaying a bit with glazed eyes talking to a guy there, I thought she was going to fall over onto him. Some people that came to my table near the end of the night I had a hard time understanding their slurred speech. One person saw the tall green bottles and excitedly asked if I was serving wine, I don't think she quite understood what I was saying when I explained what it really was. I don't often hang out with heavy drinkers, so this was not normal for me.

4. Don't assume the inebriated to reason as well as the sober.

So this is a lesson that is a combination of #2 and #3. Because I had my books out and not clearly priced, a couple of copies walked off when I wasn't looking. Ouch, there goes $40. I saw a girl carrying them out the door, but couldn't catch her in time and wouldn't know what to say exactly if I could. It was more or less my own fault by not clearly labeling them as "for sale" instead of as freebies. I saw a couple of people walking around with copies of Zymurgy magazine, and I figured probably someone was giving those away. My books were apparently mistaken for the same. I also had business cards out, so if you've come to this blog from my card and happened to pick up a couple of "free" copies of my book, I'd be more than happy to autograph them for you for the small price of $20 each. (That's $5 off the list price, so you know you're getting a deal!) You've (hopefully) got my card, so you know how to contact me.

5. Keep it simple

Having learned from last time not to make too much, I planned accordingly this time. One keg of Cherry Pie, one keg of Sarsaparilla, and one keg worth of Orange Creamsicle in bottles. It was a lot easier to lug all of that in this time around rather than last time when I brought double that amount. I still only went through a portion of that, but I have a lot less left over than last time. I also paid better attention to the note on the entry information that said ice was provided, so I didn't have that to lug in this time either. Simply cutting back on what I brought made it a lot less stressful and easier to handle. I'm also glad that even though I was serving from faucets, I didn't need to lug around a draft box like I had wished I had had last time. The event wasn't long enough for the kegs to get too warm and they served pretty cold without a problem.

As promised to the attendees, here are the recipes that I served at the event:

Cherry Pie Soda
Nearly identical to the Blueberry Pie Soda Recipe I posted last year, this recipe uses cherry juice, caramel malt, butter flavor, and vanilla extract to make you think you're eating a real cherry pie.
For a 4 gallon batch, I used:
32oz R.W. Knudsen Just Tart Cherry juice
1 cup Caramunich III caramel malt
7 cups sugar
4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp butter flavor
top up to 4 gallons with water

Crush and steep the malt in about 2 cups of water. Strain and set aside. Heat the sugar with 1/2 cup or so of water to dissolve or invert if you wish. Combine the sugar, liquid from the malt, juice and flavorings for your syrup. There's a pretty heavy volume of water, so it is a thin syrup. This recipe works well to add the water and then carbonate in a keg for the best carbonation, but it does still work as a syrup + seltzer version as well.

Sarsaparilla

Sarsaparilla root is not as strong as sassafras, but it is a common ingredient for root beer. The flavor of this one lands somewhere between a root beer and a cream soda. I yeast carbonated this on in the keg to showcase something more akin to homebrew for this event.

For a 4 gallon batch, I used:

1/2 oz Sarsaparilla Root
1/2 oz Wintergreen Leaves
4 lbs light brown sugar (dark brown sugar can also be used for a fuller flavor)
1/2 tsp Red Star Pasteur Champagne Yeast
4 grams Fermaid K Yeast Nutrient
4 gallons water

Begin with as much water as is practical to strain, add the sarsaparilla and wintergreen and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to steep for about an hour. Strain the liquid through a coffee filter to remove as many of the solids as possible. Add that to the keg. Heat the brown sugar in a small amount of water to dissolve, then add to the keg. Allow to cool below 100°F before adding yeast. Hydrate the yeast in a small amount of room temperature water (with a bit of sugar added) and add to the keg when cooled. Top up to 4 gallons and add the yeast nutrient. Close up the keg (pressurize with enough CO2 to ensure a seal if necessary). Allow to ferment at about 80° for 24-36 hours or to appropriate carbonation level. My OG was 1.044 and I ended with 1.040. Refrigerate immediately and serve when chilled

Orange Creamsicle
Orange juice and vanilla combine to make a classic creamy orange flavor.
For a 5 gallon batch, I used:
10 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups orange juice concentrate
5 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 drops Natural Orange Oil Flavoring
1 Tbsp lemon juice
top up to 5 gallons with carbonated water

Invert the sugar by combine with the lemon juice and 4 cups of water and heat to 240°F. Remove from heat and add 2 additional cups of water to cool the mixture, then add the orange juice concentrate, vanilla and orange oil. Stir until thoroughly combined and use as a syrup to add to carbonated water. If adding to a keg, fill to 5 gallons and carbonate. If mixing in smaller amounts, syrup to water ratio is between 1:5 and 1:6 depending on what suites your taste.

Year in Review - Top 5 Homemade Soda Recipes of 2014

2014-12-30T14:23:00.002-05:00

Another year has come to a close and it's been a decent enough one. The biggest thing to happen this year is that my book hit store shelves and is now available to the masses. I didn't dream up as many recipes as I have in past years, but I was somewhat focused on book marketing and other things, so I don't feel too disappointed, especially considering that they've been pretty good quality. There's still time to whip up something tasty for New Year's Eve, so here's the top five in case you missed them:

#5 - Blueberry Pie Soda

This was a little something I made as a special treat for some friends as a fun way to announce the gender of our next child. I figured boy=blue, so blue...berry pie would be perfect. It seemed appropriate for the approaching summer and was quite a hit among friends, even though it wasn't all that blue.

#4 - Blue Bubble Gum Soda

This was my take on both Jones' Blue Bubble Gum and as a checkmark off my Recipe Challenge pinterest board. The recipe is not mine, but comes from Cherry Tea Cakes. It turned out fine, though not an exact match to Jones. I think I prefer the fruitier version that I put into my book, even though it's not blue.

#3 - Psych Roasted Pineapple Soda

Every bit worthy of a fist bump, this was a tribute to the final season of USA network's Psych. The only show where there is a pineapple in every episode. A smoky version of the tasty fruit, this recipe incorporates smoked malt for the grilled notes for a more in depth flavor. I love that the pineapple juice adds a little bit of head at the top.

#2 - Grape Lime Rickey Soda

This was meant to be a match to the Arizona Beverage Co.'s Grape Lime Rickey and tastes very refreshing for a summer afternoon. This was a very popular recipe this year and even got served at my sister-in-law's wedding.

#1 - Mockter Pepper

With the release of my book this year, I had the opportunity to do some radio interviews and participate in a few giveaways. It was quite a blast to enjoy the 15 minutes of fame. As part of the marketing and probably the best revealed recipe of the book has been the recipe for homemade Dr Pepper. It's not meant to pull out every nuance of the 23 mysterious flavors or topple the beverage giants, but this is a pretty good representation of a classic Dr Pepper for your homebrew keg or sodastream. There are even instructions for fermenting it to get the carbonation. Plus, gorgeous photography.

So there you have the top recipes of 2014! I hope you have a Happy New Year and enjoy some tasty homemade soda along the way! There are many more recipes to come, so stay tuned. I'm excited to see what 2015 will bring.

Holiday Guide 2014

2014-11-28T19:33:00.001-05:00

I don't know about where you are, but here, it's snowing. Again. It probably won't let up for another six months, so the only thing left to do is embrace it. Luckily, with it comes the Holidays. And even though Holiday shopping can be a stress, trust me, there are worse things you could be doing in the snow. There's no reason to fret for the soda maker on your list. I've got you covered.

For The Nostalgic
You know the type, always wishing it was the 1950's again. He's always wishing he could pop a nickle in the vending machine and get an ice cold glass bottle of CocaCola, wondering what happened to the fountain in the corner drugstore.

-Vintage Diner Stools

Nothing says nostalgia like a an old style soda shop or 1950's diner. If you're making soda in your home and especially if you have a home bar space, serve your soda to your guests in style with this Retro 3-Piece Chrome Bar Stools and Table Set.

-Vintage Bottle Cappers

Why buy a new plastic bottle capper when you can buy something that has stood the test of time. I bought a brand new bench capper and while I'm pretty happy with it, I shortly thereafter realized that there are some nice sturdy vintage cappers to be found and put to good use. Ebay always has a

Selection of Vintage Bottle Cappers at various prices.

-Soda Pop! Book

For the book shelf. As a sodamaker, it always helps to know your roots. Soda Pop!: From Miracle Medicine to Pop Culture is an interesting read that looks at the history of soda pop in general as well as the history of a few specific flavors and brands.

For The Copycat
So what do you pickup for someone that's like a chameleon? Someone who is always copying what other people do. Mimicking the classics down to the last detail. Give her something to copy.

-Root Beer of the Month Club

One thing that a copycat needs is something to work from. Some inspiration can be found in the selection of many root beers available. Signing up for a Root Beer of the Month Club is one way to bring fresh inspiration on a regular basis. The Root Beer Store based in Washington State has a monthly subscription that can be cancelled anytime. Beverages Direct offers a 3 month subscription for either root beer or gourmet soda, and they also offer various sampler packs.

-Copycat Recipe Books

My own Making Soda at Home has some copycat recipes for Mt. Dew, Dr Pepper, Cola and a few others. Another book that's been around a while that has a handful of soda recipes among other drink recipes is Top Secret Recipes--Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits, and Shakes.

For The Fermenter
For someone who doesn't mind blurring the lines between soda making and homebrewing, there are a number of options. Usually the homebrew store has a plethora of options, though some homebrew stores don't cater much to soda makers, and some places simply don't have homebrew stores. Here are some sure bets.

-Ginger Beer Kit

There are a few different fermentation soda kits out there. This year Williams-Sonoma has jumped on the band wagon with kits for Ginger Beer, Root Beer, and Hibiscus Lime.

-PET Bottles and Caps

Mr. Beer has been around for a number of years and they have various beer kits and at least one root beer kit. For fermenting soda, all you need is the bottles. If you don't want to reuse commercial soda bottles, Mr. Beer offers different sets of new PET bottles including some 740 mL PET Bottles and additional sets of Plastic Caps for fermenting safely.

For The Health Nut
The health nut jumped into home soda making for obvious reasons. You control what you put into it. You can sweeten with natural sweeteners, or you can put in no sweeteners.

-Stevia Sweetener

Stevia extract is a great way to sweeten without sugar, and it's considered all natural. This Stevia Liquid Extract is easier to work with than the powders, using only a few drops per cup. If using for larger amounts of soda, the powders work fine as long as you measure them precisely.

-Water Filter

While there's usually nothing wrong with your usual tap water. It does typically have residual chlorine. I don't often notice it in plain tap water, but I can taste it in carbonated water for some reason. Though it's more of a flavor choice than a health choice, an activated carbon filter is sure to get rid of any off flavors that might be in your tap water. A filtering pitcher is fine, but a Whole House Water Filtration System is surprisingly inexpensive, especially considering the capacity of how much it can filter.

Book Signing: Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

2014-11-12T10:40:00.000-05:00

Once again I'm hitting B&N with a book signing.
The Barnes and Noble at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA has graciously invited me for a book signing where I will be signing books, serving samples, hosting a demo and answering questions about my book.

Click to add to your calendar:

For everyone attending, here is what I have planned: I will be presenting a demonstration showing how to make the Jamaica (Hibiscus) Soda on page 80. I will also be serving up some bottled samples of flavors including Ginger Ale (p. 88), Caramel Apple (p. 121).

Feel free to stop by and chat, buy a book, drink a soda, or just hang out!

When: Saturday Nov. 15, 2014, 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Where: Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University 400 Market St. Lewisburg, PA

Mauna Loa Luau Chili

2014-11-09T00:38:00.002-05:00

Fall seems to be the season for chili cook-offs. I entered this one twice, making it initially sort of on the fly, and it ended up placing both times.

Let me preface this by reminding everyone that Mauna Loa is a volcano, so yes, it's hot. (Even though Mauna Loa hasn't erupted for quite some time, I am told it is still active.)

Putting this recipe together, the theme was exotic ingredients. While pineapple isn't exactly the most exotic thing you can throw in a recipe, it's not very common in chili, so I built it from there.

I've never been to an actual Luau, but I imagine the things that might be served there would include pork, something spicy, and there would be lots of fire and grilling.

Here's what you'll need -

To be grilled:
1 lb of pork chops, boneless is best
1 can pineapple in heavy syrup
1/4 medium red onion diced
2 cloves garlic
1 or 2 small habeneros (depending on how deathly hot you want it and the strength of your habeneros)

For the chili:
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
flake red pepper
1/4 c soy sauce
1 Tbsp corn starch
dash black pepper
dash garlic powder
1 1/2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 c water

It seems like a long list, but it's easier than it looks.

Start by straining the pineapple, saving the syrup in a saucepan. Throw them on on the grill with the garlic and onion in a grill basket or sheet of foil. If you're using a gas grill, get some smoke pellets for flavor.

Get them nice and toasty before you start grilling anything else. The pineapple is very moist, so it takes the longest to start to brown.

While the fruits and veggies are grilling, go back to your saucepan. Mix the syrup with the soy sauce, corn starch, black pepper, garlic powder, brown sugar, and red pepper. Bring it to a boil as you whisk until it thickens, then add the water.

Back on the grill, throw on the pork chops and the habenero(s). You want some black on the peppers and the pork to be cooked thoroughly.

You don't have to grill the habeneros on the pork, it just looks really good that way.

After grilling, dice up the pork, and the peppers. I like to really mince the pepper so they blend well with the rest of the chili. Add the diced meat, peppers, beans, and your pineapple/onion blend to the saucepan. Let that simmer for about five minutes so everything is nice and hot (temperatue and seasoning).

Dish it up and serve. And remember it tastes like a volcano.

Book Signing: Barnes & Noble Wilkes-King's in Wilkes-Barre, PA 10/11/14

2014-10-07T14:29:00.002-04:00

The Barnes and Noble at Wilkes University/King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA has graciously invited me for a book signing where I will be signing books, serving samples, hosting a demo and answering questions about my book.

For anyone attending, here's what I have planned out:
-Demonstration showing how to make the Jamaica (Hibiscus) Soda on page 80

-Samples of Strawberry (p. 61), Ginger Ale (p. 88), Lemon Mint (p. 91), and Caramel Apple (p. 121) as syrups to be mixed with carbonated water.

-Samples of Harvest Apple (p. 109) on tap from a keg.

Feel free to stop by and chat, buy a book, drink a soda, or just hang out!

When: Saturday Oct. 11, 2014, 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Where: Barnes & Noble Wilkes-King's, 7 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA

SodaStream Genesis Kit

2014-08-16T00:48:00.001-04:00

So I'm not a huge fan of the SodaStream. I have a keg, so I don't need to be. But I do recognize a deal when I see one.

Groupon is running a deal right now for a SodaStream Genesis Kit which includes the Genesis, two bottles, a mini carbonator (3oz - I'm guessing that will carbonate 12-15 L of soda), 4 syrups, and a $20 mail in rebate. You pay 79.99 up front, but you essentially get the whole thing for 59.99 because of the rebate offer. That seems pretty reasonable to me, considering what you get with it.

You pay 79.99 up front, but you essentially get the whole thing for 59.99 because of the rebate offer. That seems pretty reasonable to me, considering what you get with it.

The $20 mail in rebate is pretty ubiquitous, though. I've seen them on store shelves with the same rebate attached. If you purchased on recently and didn't get the rebate, you might be able to still pick up that $20 if you still have your receipt, just visit the link below:

And once you run out of the four flavor mixes included in the kit, there's always more recipes here, or I came across a super why-didn't-I-think-of-that easy way to make your own with Crystal Light packets and still use the same ratio of syrup in your SodaStream bottle. See the instructable for all the details.

Pinterest Recipe Challenge: Blue Bubblegum Soda

2014-07-18T02:47:00.000-04:00

I need to make a confession. I'm a dude, and I use Pinterest.

In my defense, the place is getting a lot more dude friendly, so I know I'm not the only male using the site. When it first came out, I didn't understand what all the rage was about, and when it was referred to as a social media site, I was confused. At first glance I couldn't see that it was anything more than a bookmarking site and I thought it was appalling that our social communication had digressed from well scripted eloquent letters to sloppy, hasty emails, to the limited canvas of SMS messages and Twitter to the "let me show you because it's easier to explain it if I take a picture" of instagram, to being so lazy that we have to steal someone else's picture and say "This!" In order to make our point. Yeah, we can't even take our own pictures, now? Wow.

But I've come to see it as what it really is. A collection of things we wish we could do that someone else with a nicer camera has already done.

I have a board that I've chalked up as "recipe challenge" with the express purpose of attempting to make the sodas that others with nicer cameras have already made to see how they stack up. First up is kind of two fold. This is a recipe from Cherry Tea Cakes for blue bubble gum soda.

Blue bubble gum soda from Cherry Tea Cakes, clearly taken with a better camera.

Now, it's not specifically stated, but with a name like blue bubble gum soda, why would you not mention Jones? Bubble gum in my childhood was usually pink, so 'fess up. Tell it like it is. You're trying to do a Jones knock-off.

Basically the recipe is equal parts (by volume) gumballs and water, boiled to extract the flavor and sugar, then mixed with carbonated water to taste. Make sure you read the caveat about not letting the gum stick to the pan, it's important.

One thing that is interesting about this recipe is that at first glance it may seem like it's a natural thing; not using some artificial extract, but pulling the flavor straight from the source. But really? Where do the gumballs get it? Think about that for a minute. Why not just get a bubble gum flavor and some food coloring? It's the same thing, and without the mess. But oh well, every now and again we need to do things the hard way. I have a bubble gum flavor in my book using fruits and juices that mostly avoids extracts, if you want something more natural.

So here's the two fold part: how does the recipe turn out, and how does it compare to Jones? Here's my experience.

My attempt at blue bubble gum soda, taking on the competition.

The flavor is a bit flat. It pulls out enough from the gum without much problem, but the sweetness is lacking a bit. If I were a fan of bubble gum, and I'm not, and I were going to make this again I would definitely add some more sugar. Adding 1/4 cup of sugar per cup of gum seemed to do the trick, other than that, you'll probably subconsciously attempt to blow bubbles with this, because it tastes like bubble gum.

How does it compare with Jones? Jones has a bit more fruity flavor from the citric acid which makes it a more pleasant drink than I remember. In a taste test, I'd pick Jones every time. Which is not to say that you can't add in some citric acid to the homemade, that's easy enough, even if just in the form of lemon juice, it would perk it up.

So the takeaway? If you want to make your own, get your hands on some bubble gum flavor from somewhere like LorAnne's and skip the gooey mess. If you want something natural, use fruits. Or if you want a Jones, buy a Jones.

Recipe 34 - Peanut Butter Soda

2014-07-16T21:41:00.000-04:00

Continuing on with the celebration of my book's release, I bring you a second recipe this week. Considering that new recipes have been a bit sparse lately, I think you, the reader, deserve it as the least I can do.

Anyone who's familiar with Rocket Fizz will know that this isn't a novel idea. I'm pretty sure I've seen (but never tasted) both a peanut butter soda and a pb&j soda from them, though the reviews weren't all that great. If I remember right, the complaints stemmed from the fact that they tried to give theirs some sort of creamy, thick mouthfeel. I think this should be something that you don't need to drink with a spoon, so I went the powdered peanut butter path. I've heard of homebrewers using this for their peanut butter porters because it has a low oil content and mixed well with water.

Basically it's ground nuts that most of the oil has been pressed out of, so if this gives you the impression that you're mixing up some artificial "just add water" stuff, then you are gravely mistaken. This is all natural "just add water" stuff. And if you had a blender, and an efficient way to press 85% of the oil out, you could probably make your own.

Anyway, when I saw this on the shelf at the local Wal-Mart and discovered that I wouldn't have to order from Amazon, I knew that peanut butter soda was in my future.

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter,6.

2 cups water

1 gallon carbonated water

Bring the water to a boil and add the peanut butter powder and remove from heat. Stir and allow to cool. Strain out the larger peanut granules using a fine mesh strainer. Add the sugar and heat to dissolve. Mix the resulting syrup with 1 gal carbonated water or to taste.

It worked out well, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too oily or gritty. There's enough fine powder to get a nice smooth syrup with minimal filtering. It could use some jelly flavor, or possibly an addition of chocolate flavor.

Now, there are likely easier ways to do something similar. Watkins makes an artificial peanut flavor extract which would probably get you the same effect. But that's kind of cheating, unless you happen to be allergic to peanuts, and then it's probably a good idea.

Book Release Party: Lemon Basil Soda

2014-07-16T00:03:00.001-04:00

So today is the official release for my book, Making Soda at Home. I should probably be celebrating with friends and family, making all kinds of beverages and hors d'oeuvres to celebrate the occasion.

But I'm not. I'm spending my week in Kansas learning about baking breads for my "real job".

I thought about going to the local Barnes and Noble to see if they have it in stock yet, but apparently Manhattan, KS doesn't have one. Being a college town, they seem to only have need of campus bookstores filled with textbooks, and used book stores. Oh well. I guess I'll celebrate properly some other time. For now, I'll make myself a soda, and share it with the internet. Lucky you, internet. Enjoy!:

I keep seeing a lot of drink recipes with basil lately. I first came across this combo in Andrea Lynn's Artisan Soda Workshop. At first it disturbed me. Having spent some significant time in Italy, experience tells me that the only liquid that should have basil flavor in it is olive oil. I don't think an olive oil soda would work out so well. However, Lynn did an excellent job of pairing basil with pineapple, and I enjoyed that.

So, with its prevalence and pairing with numerous fruits, I'll give my own a shot. I figured citrus was a safe place to start and chose lemon as basil's dance partner for this party.

1 cup sugar
2 chips water
6 large fresh basil leaves, plus one our two more for garnish. (My garnish looks like canned spinach because it accidentally got frozen)
1/4 cup lemon juice
2-4 liters carbonated water, to taste

Heat the water to boiling and add the basil to steep. After about 20 min, remove the leaves and add the sugar, stirring to dissolve. After it has cooled somewhat, add the lemon juice. To this syrup, add 2 to 4 liters of carbonated water to taste.

Frequent visitors will notice that this recipe is quite different from what I normally post. It was designed to be less intense in both sweetness and flavor than some of my usual recipes. Why? Because it's summer, and the flavors lend themselves well to subtlety for a more refreshing, cooling, thirst quenching beverage closer to an infused sparkling water than a soda. I was quite surprised that the basil was a nice addition to citrus. In fact I was pleased enough with the flavor that it almost didn't need citrus at all, it would drink well with just the basil straight up.

Book Preview and Book Plates!

2014-06-09T12:53:00.000-04:00

Ok everyone, at about one month out there is some exciting things happening for the book. There's been a couple of sneak peaks at the Quarry Spoon Blog for the Butterbeer recipe and the Limonata recipe. Special thanks to Paul and Deanna Sobota for awesome photography and styling. And for anyone wondering, those are the actual sodas, not just colored water stand-ins. (We actually drank some of the soda with lunch on one of the photo shoot days.)

I received an advance copy last week and everything is looking great! It's so amazing to watch something go from scratches on a notebook to photographed, printed, and bound and ready to be cracked open and read in one of the easy chairs at Barnes and Noble.

Yes, I skipped cleaning the house that night in favor of a little light reading.

If you haven't pre-ordered the book yet, now is definitely as good a time as any. The first 100 people to email me their proof of purchase will receive a personally inscribed book plate to adhere inside the book. Which will look a little something like this:

Cheesy Inscription with Autograph: check!

This gives anyone anywhere the opportunity to make their book a special, limited edition, autographed copy.

So here's all you have to do:
1. Pre-order the book from anywhere. Links are below, but the giveaway is not limited to those retailers.
2. Email me (1) your receipt or proof of purchase and (2) the address to which you'd like the book plate sent. Feel free to include anyone special you'd like me to inscribe it for. Mail to homemadesodaexpert(at)gmail.com.
3. Wait patiently for your book plate and book to arrive. They likely won't arrive at the same time, don't worry, that's normal.

Pre-Order from any Online Retailer:
Qbookshop, IndieBound, Indigo, Barnes & Noble , Amazon , Powell's, Walmart , BooksAMillion, Bookish,

Recipe 32: Blueberry Pie Soda

2014-06-07T00:19:00.000-04:00

Hooray for summer! It's time to head outdoors and enjoy time and food with friends and family. It's not quite berry season yet, but I think a blueberry pie soda is in order for any summer cookout on the agenda.

Since the blueberries aren't quite out yet (around here anyway), I'm going to take a slightly different approach with this. I lamented last year or so about not being able to find any pure juices for certain fruits (particularly cranberry, which is usually only found in juice cocktails) and then I discovered R.W. Knudsen. They have a line of "Just Juice" which has Black Cherry, Blueberry, Cranberry, Tart Cherry, Black Currant, Aronia Berry, and Pomegranate. I tried the cranberry straight up and discovered why it's not typically packaged by itself, it is way beyond tart!

Anyway, I found them at Walmart and I was very pleased with the way my Cranberry Sparkling Cider turned out this past holiday season (I made 2 or 3 kegs for various events and I didn't have to mash cranberries), so I figured it was time to try the blueberry.

For blueberry pie, I picked some caramel malt and butter flavoring for the crust flavor, the blueberry juice for that deep berry flavor, and some vanilla flavor to round it out. It may not be the perfect blueberry pie, but it turned out quite nicely. It was a favorite at our Memorial Day picnic.

1 1/4 cup blueberry juice (R.W. Knudsen Family Just Juice, 100% Blueberry)
1/4 c caramel malt (Weyermann Caramunich III Malt works well)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp butter flavor
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 gallon carbonated water

Crush and steep the malt in about 2 cups of water. Strain and set aside. Heat the sugar with 1/2 cup or so of water to dissolve or invert if you wish. Combine the sugar, malt extract, juice and flavorings for your syrup. There's a pretty heavy volume of water, so it is a thin syrup. This recipe works well to add the water and then carbonate in a keg or siphon for the best carbonation, but it does still work as a syrup + seltzer version as well.

Making Soda at Home - Book Updates

2014-05-01T16:32:00.000-04:00

I really must apologize for the lack of recipes lately. There's a lot going on right now, and I did put a lot of recipes into the book. Speaking of...

I promised updates, and the time is fast approaching for my book - Making Soda at Home: Mastering the Craft of Carbonation to be released. (Currently that date is July 15th, but with publishing it is subject to change.)

It's up for pre-order at just about anywhere that sells books. The link above is for purchase directly from the publisher, but they also have links to all your favorite online retailers. I have links below as well. There's also a Goodreads page where you can add it to your "Want to Read" list to get more information on releases and giveaways.
I know it's tough to lay down cash for anything that won't show up for another couple of months, but here are some reasons that pre-ordering is an awesome idea:

10. It's an investment in yourself. Pay for it now, and then by the time it shows up in the mail, you'll have forgotten about the expense and it's like getting a surprise birthday gift! It always feels so good to get something fun in the mail. And it's not even your birthday! (Unless of course it does happen to be your birthday, and in that case, Happy Birthday!)

9. No standing in line at the store. Ok, so I'll admit that I'm probably not famous enough to have people lining up outside the bookstore on the release date, but if you go to the store, you'll likely have to stand in line at the checkout, so why bother.

8. Freedom to order from anywhere you'd like. This is not an exclusive. This is up for pre-sale just about everywhere. See the links below for a number of places that all have it up for pre-order right now.

7. It fuels excitement. I'll be honest, I do want my book to sell well. But more importantly than that, making soda is my passion, so if I can see that other people are passionate about it, too, then that makes me happy. It gives me more reasons to create and post recipes. It's a win-win. I get to feed my self-esteem, you get more recipes.

6. Giveaways! I'll be running a blog tour at some point (probably August), so if there are pre-orders on the table, other bloggers will take note and be more likely to review the book and with that occasionally comes giveaways. Hopefully we'll have more to give away than free copies of the book, so there is reason to pre-order and still participate in the giveaways.

5. Timeliness. The sooner you have this in your hands, the sooner you'll be making the 40+ homemade soda recipes that it contains for summer cookouts. Summer is a busy time, so why not let it just show up at your door as soon as possible.

4. Planning. Using fresh fruits in your summertime sodas is a great idea, and there are plenty of recipes that use them. Remember that they're seasonal. So if you want to get this in time to pick the right berries for your Mixed Berry soda this summer, pre-order is, again, the best way to make sure you have the recipes in your hands before the berry seasons are over.

3. Updates. Want to be sure to stay on top of updates? Pre-ordering will get you the latest up to date information and a sure way to keep tabs on what the publication status is.

2. Book Plates. Basically, this will be a way to turn your pre-order copy into an autographed Special Edition. Who doesn't like special editions? I'll be signing a limited number of book plates for people who have pre-ordered the book. Stay tuned for more details, but you don't have to pre-order the book within a certain time period to get one. As long as you can show a receipt or proof of pre-purchase once we announce the book plate giveaway, you're good. So you might as well get one now, and then jump on it once the announcement is made.

1. You save money. Most of the places where the book is available for pre-order have it at a discount. Typically that discount disappears upon release, so don't wait too long.

Pre-Order from any Online Retailer:
Qbookshop, IndieBound, Indigo, Barnes & Noble , Amazon , Powell's, Walmart , BooksAMillion, Bookish,
Outside the U.S.
WHSmith (UK), Amazon.ca (CAN), Fishpond (AUS), Blackwell's (UK), Bookworld (AUS), SpeedyHen (UK),

Recipe 31 - Grape Lime Rickey

2014-03-20T16:05:00.000-04:00

Whenever I think of Lime Rickey, I think of an Arctic Circle commercial from the late 80's that featured a spoof of the 1981 song "Mickey", so naturally I just expect that Lime Rickey is so fine that it'll blow my mind. Yes, now they're forever intertwined in your head, too. Sorry.

This was also a request from a friend to mimic the Arizona Lime Rickey flavors, (of which I have only tried the grape, but very interesting to find lemon, cherry, and mango thrown into the line as well). When I tasted the Arizona product, I had the sensation of drinking a carbonated grape snow-cone. Not bad.

Mine doesn't taste exactly like a snow-cone, it's a bit more true-to-fruit for that, but it's still pretty tasty. It seems to have become somewhat cliche now that I absolutely love anything with lime in it, but I must say this ranks as one of my favorite recipes.

8 oz grape juice concentrate
Zest and Juice of 2 limes or 1/2 c lime juice and 1 drop lime oil.
1 1/2 c sugar
1 gallon carbonated water

1. Steep the zest in 1-2 cups water and strain to remove, set aside. (skip if using lime oil)
2. Bring the grape juice concentrate and sugar to a boil, then remove from heat and add the lime water or oil and the lime juice to the syrup. Top up with carbonated water.

Be careful boiling the grape juice concentrate with the sugar, if it goes two far it will burn or destroy the flavor of the grape juice. It's also not necessary to serve this with a giant lime wedge as seen above, but no one will complain if you do!

Homemade Soda Comes full Circle. Coke jumps into the "homemade" game.

2014-02-06T11:09:00.001-05:00

Just found out today that Coke wants to jump into the homemade market by partnering with Keurig for their Keurig Cold system.

I'm not seeing the appeal. You want Coke at home? In single servings? Oh, yeah, that's right, it comes in cans, now. I almost forgot.

I can see the appeal of the original Keurig coffee maker. You can't bottle/can fresh, hot coffee and keep it on the shelf, and if you want a special blend just for you, you don't want to make a whole pot.

With soda, there's really not much difference from fresh made, and you drink it cold so it's easier to just pull it out of the fridge. Now if you want gourmet, or you want to avoid specific ingredients, or if you want to "save the planet" by not buying so many bottles/cans, then you make your own. None of those selling points really factor into the Keurig model.
If I want Coke, I'll buy a can of Coke, and if I want gourmet, I'm not going to buy Coke. So no single serve pods there.
If I want to avoid specific ingredients, a single serve pod isn't going to do much for me, unless they start selling Mexican Coke single serve pods, but then how are they going to pack all that real sugar into a single serve pod? How big are these pods?
If I want to save the planet by not buying so many bottles/cans, then maybe the single serve pods make sense. But again, how big are these pods, what is the likelihood that a single serve pod is going to be as recyclable as a soda can? I can see reduced shipping costs due to weight, but that's going to be off-set on the consumer end by the price of the countertop gadget, cost of CO2, and the cost of the premium pod. Currently aren't K-cup pods a little less than $1 per serving. Let's see, I will likely be able to buy a 12-pack of Coke pods for around $10 if I'm lucky, or I can buy a 12 pack of cans for less than $5. Which one am I going to spring for? Hmmm....

Nice job, Green Mountain Coffee. You and Coke have just agreed to bring homemade soda full circle. It went from economical, eco-friendly, and possibly healthier than store-bought to expensive, wasteful, and a wash on the health side.

Psych Soda: Roasted Pineapple Soda and Jamaican Jerk Cola

2014-01-08T04:03:00.001-05:00

Let it be known that I'm a Psych fan. I'm not as die hard as some. I have not tried to spot the pineapple in every episode, nor have I memorized all of Gus's nicknames. But I have been known to quote the phrase, "I've heard it both ways." on occasion.

As a tribute to the fact that Season 8 starts today, I've put together some tasty recipes for all the devoted Psych-O's out there. And since writing/editing/proofing my book put recipes on hold for a while, I'm glad to have the chance to start posting some more, so here goes:

What says Psych better than pineapple. While (as far as I know) Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster have never indulged in roasted pineapple, that has always been my favorite way to eat it ever since my first stop at the Rodizio Grill. With some smoked malt and some pineapple juice (you can crush your own if you want), this is certainly a tasty treat that would surely fit well with my Fist Bump Soda *pseudo* brand. (Someday my friends, some day.)

For one gallon of finished soda:
2 1/2 c pineapple juice
1/4 c smoked malt
2 c sugar
1 1/2 c water
Add to 1 gallon carbonated water or club soda (about 4 liters)

Bring the sugar, 1/2 c pineapple juice, and 1/2 c water to a boil. Using a candy thermometer heat to 240°F. Remove from heat and set aside. Bring the other 1 c water to a boil and remove from heat. Coarsely mill the smoked malt and add to the water just after removing it from boiling. Allow to steep for 15-20 minutes, then strain the solids through a coffee filter and add the liquid to the sugar solution. Allow the syrup to cool before adding to carbonated water.

"Should I slice this up for the road?!" No, Shawn, just grab the bottle off the counter.

And as an added bonus, I've thrown in this recipe for Jamaican Jerk Cola. Even though it's been a while since I've heard Shawn finish a conversation with "Dude, jerk chicken!", I'm certain even Jamaican Inspector Man is sure to imbibe. (Do it Dule. I dare you.) Jamaican Jerk seasoning already shares similar ingredients to the regular cola recipe I've posted, so it really does ends up tasting like a spicier, thymier cola. The differences from straight cola are some allspice, thyme, peppercorns, cider vinegar, and chipotle (sorry, I didn't have any Scotch Bonnet Chiles for authenticity). No chicken necessary.

For one gallon of finished soda:
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1 3/4 c water
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp ground chipotle
1 Tbsp orange juice concentrate
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp rum flavor

Bring the sugars, lemon juice, and 3/4 c water to a boil. Using a candy thermometer heat to 240°F. Remove from heat and add the orange juice concentrate, lime juice, and cider vinegar then set aside. Bring the other 1 c water to a boil and remove from heat. Add the spices to the water just after removing it from boiling. Allow to steep for 15-20 minutes, then strain the solids through a coffee filter and add the liquid to the sugar solution, press the spices in the filter to remove as much of the water as possible. Add the rum flavor and mix well. Allow the syrup to cool fully before adding to carbonated water.

Careful, Gus, it's a little spicy. "Please! I'm 1/4 Jamaican!"

Psych Season 8 Starts January 8th. Supposedly there's a Harry Potter themed episode, so pull out your butterbeer. Come to think of it, I may have to whip up a "Prisoner of Marzipan" soda for that one.

Last Minute Holiday Deals

2013-12-17T09:00:00.001-05:00

I know I should be posting recipes, but I couldn't help but announce some last minute holiday deals. As Amazon continues their cyber week (going on all month, likely into January like last year) daily deals which can be found here:

There are a couple of items today that might be worth checking out. I'm not sure if the deals can be had by clicking on the product links below, but they are definitely valid by browsing the daily deals on the link above. First, going on sale at 4:40pm (EST) is this portable high top bar:

Basically it's a high table that has a shelf and a skirt that goes around the front. It comes with a black skirt, a football skirt, and a tiki skirt. While Amazon never reveals beforehand what the savings are going to be, I'd guess it will probably be selling for at least 10% off.

Next up is a book that has been reviewed on this site before, and has apparently won some awards since. Winner of the James Beard Foundation award and an IACP Cookbook Awards Finalists (which is funny since it's not much of a cookbook, more a reference), Sandor Ellix Katz's The Art of Fermentation goes on sale tonight at Midnight (EST) on Amazon:

Again, I'd expect at least 10% off, maybe more for this one. There's not a lot of soda information in this one, but what it does have is quite unique and this is very handy for anyone looking to make soda (or anything really) via fermentation.

What's more, both of these items are eligible for free shipping via Amazon Prime. My wife just signed us up for a free trial on this, mainly for the instant streaming (which we do through the Wii) At $79 a year, it seems pricey, but it works out to be about the less than Netflix or Hulu Plus, though admittedly, there's not as much content. But the bonus is the free 2-day shipping, which is absolutely awesome for holiday purchases. Nothing is worse than ordering something online and never knowing when it's going to show up, or waiting forever for it to plop on your doorstep.

Not everything on Amazon is eligible for free shipping, but a lot of things are. If you don't believe me on how awesome the free and quick shipping is, then it's free to try for yourself for 30 days. So you can still order stuff online and get it before Christmas! And you thought it was too late! Give it a try.

Holiday Gift Guide 2013

2013-11-19T14:01:00.003-05:00

So, how did it get to be that time of year again? Where has 2013 gone? Didn't we just play this game? Not that I'm complaining. Don't get me wrong, I love the Holidays just as much as the next guy, but I was really looking forward to this summer. Did it come yet?

Personally, I think this should be on everyone's holiday list:

Walmart

Barnes & Noble

That's right ladies and gents. My book has a release date and it's already up for preorder! Available June 1st! Which I must admit, it's rough putting something on your Christmas list that you won't see for six months, but it's so totally worth it!

Anyway, I've reined in my holiday guide this year and broken it down to a few different categories. This past year I've looked at soda making through some different lenses and here are five soda-maker personality types that I've chosen a few gifts for this year.

For The Nostalgic
This is the one that yearns for a bygone era. The golden age of soda shops, soda jerks, and buying a bottle for a nickel. The Nostalgic collects bottles and caps and anything soda related that looks old. If she's on your Christmas list, you've come to the right place.
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Vintage Soda Tin Signs
Tin advertising signs span generations. You can pick up originals from antique or specialty stores, or you can find some great reproductions on places like Ebay and Amazon. For anyone that has a space in the house dedicated to soda, The Nostalgic is sure to love some decor to spruce it up.

Nostalgia Electrics Dispenser Fridge
I saw this come out sometime this year, but I have heard little about how it works. I've kept my eye out for mini fridges to build kegerators, and I can't help but think that this could be modified to dispense a keg with the built in dispenser. If not, it still looks neat nonetheless.

Soda Siphons
Basically the original soda stream. I picked up one of these glass soda siphons for their retro look, and am pleased that it is basically a self contained alternative to the SodaStream. Plus I can carbonate anything I want in it, I can take it apart to clean it, and I'm working on a solution to be able to hook it up to a larger CO2 source. For now it runs on 8g CO2 cartridges, but that's fine for the time being.

Classic Glass and Metal Mesh Seltzer Bottle also available in Green or Blue

You can also browse Ebay for a soda siphon that's truly Vintage. Though some I would trust only as decor.

For The Copycat
The Copycat is a true DIYer. Like a reformed con-artist, he is proud to offer his version of your favorite beverage. Homemade cola? He's got you covered, do you want the red can recipe or the blue can recipe? Like a connesieur of fine wines, he can name all 23 of the Dr's mystery flavors and whip up a batch for your next party. Not sure what to put under the tree for him? We do.

Sprecher Root Beer Extract
Sprecher has got to be one of the best root beers out there. Rumor has it that Sprecher Brewery's root beer out sells all of their regular beers combined. While it may be hard to get a hold of in bottles other than ordering online, it's much better to just order a jug of extract to make 5 gallons yourself. Not exactly like cracking the secret recipe, but it's the next best thing.

Soda Keg O-Ring Kits
For carbonating in a keg, it's always good to have extra o-rings on hand. There are numerous sets available on ebay and it's always good to have a few extras on hand.

SodaSparkle
The Twist N Sparkle by iSi was sold as an alternative to the soda stream, and while it was recalled last year due to safety concerns, the Soda Sparkle emerges as its replacement. It still runs on CO2 cartridges, but it makes for a very compact setup that stores easily.

White Collar Season 4 on DVD
This one is just a bonus and would inspire any copycat. I particularly liked the episode where Neal has to counterfeit a bottle of whiskey; bottle, beverage, and label. It really struck a chord with the food scientist in me, even though I don't drink alcohol.

For The Syrup-er
As a rather casual sodamaker, the Syrup-er may have gotten into the craft by wanting just a little more variety out of her SodaStream than their off-the-shelf syrups, yet she's not interested in investing in a keg right now. Or she could be a fan of mixed drinks or flavored coffees, and she just really enjoys the versatility of having various flavor syrups on hand. Beyond syrups, what does this gal want? Read on.

Make Your Own Soda: Syrup Recipes for All-Natural Pop, Floats, Cocktails, and More by Anton Nocito
As founder of P&H Soda Co. Anton Nocito seeks to share his recipes with all. Syrups are the foundation of this book, and while they can be adapted to other soda making methods, it's always easier to have the whole recipe and process right in front of you without having to calculate to your own adaptation. With a gourmet flair, Nocito shows how to make some tasty, tasty syrups.

Cuisinart Carbonator and Syrups
Cuisinart usually makes some quality stuff. I have one of their Ice Cream makers, and it's pretty good for the price. While it seems there are few places to get your hands on their elusive carbonator (which looks a lot like the Soda Sparkle), they do have some promising artisan syrups.

For The Fermenter
The Fermenter is patient and not afraid to get his hands dirty with a complicated recipe. For him, that satisfactory hiss of a heavily carbonated bottle outweighs any yeasty off-note or trace of alcohol. Old-school and natural is his style. He may not be as picky as other soda makers, but here are some selections that are sure to please.
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Mr. Root Beer Kit
This is a complete kit sure to get anyone hooked on making soda. There are refills for the items in this kit, but the same items can be purchased elsewhere and the bottles reused. But to gather all of those items can be a chore and so the kit comes in handy for the first-timer.

Brown PET Bottles
Ok, ok, so The Fermenter already has a preferred extract and yeast. Perhaps some more bottles would be more in line so larger batches can be made all at one time. Nothing wrong with that, and if you don't want to empty commercial bottles of store-bought swill, just buy some brand new PET bottles perfect for fermenting.

True Brews by Emma Christensen
Emma Christensen of the Kitchn put this out this year as a guide to all things fermented for those with limited space. She claims that all the recipes are scaled to be able to be made in a small apartment. Not bad for a hobby that is on its way to taking over my basement (and that's just soda, I'd hate to think how much more gear I could amass if I were to actually homebrew other beverages). The soda section may be only a portion of the book, but the recipes are not bad at all. Be sure to check out the watermelon-mint soda that looks to be the red one showcased on the cover, it's fabulous.

For The Budding Pro
Right now in the U.S. craft beer is on the rise, so why not craft soda? The Budding Pro is poised and ready to take on the Big Three in the soda business and has a brand and logo to prove it. On the pro's Christmas list this year, you can be sure that you'll likely find one or more of these:
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Branded Brewski Bell Soda Glass
Glassware is great to drink from. There's something magical about it. There's something even more magical about drinking from glassware with your own logo on it. There is a minimum order and a setup fee, but if you don't mind picking up a few dozen, these are a perfect way to start your own brand. They are available as 6.75 oz and 21 oz sizes.

Custom Patches
Hawk your wares in style with your own logo attached to ball caps, jackets, polos or whatever. The best alternative to embroidering a shirt is buying embroidered patches and then attaching them to whatever you wish. It's more versatile and inexpensive than direct embroidery. ClassB.com primarily caters to the Boy Scouts, but they're open to other orders as well.

Bottlemark Custom Caps
Labels are easy enough to make with a laser printer, but the ultimate in customized bottled beverages is the custom bottle cap. Bottlemark specializes in custom printed caps and they can work with just about any size order. They're pretty popular among craft brewers, though, so order early!

And with that, hopefully you'll get some ideas for that crazy soda-maker in your life. Happy Holidays!