19 February 2009
Making my own soda?
Will writes:
After reading more news about the nasty effects of HFCS, I was thinking about making my own sodas for times when only something fizzy and non-champagne-ish will do. Do you have any tips (I’m thinking of mixing some fruit juices and carbonated water)? And are there healthier ways to do this?
I’ve addressed why it’s sort of pointless to drink lots of juice here (in a nutshell, you should get most of your calories from food, not beverages). We all know why regular soda is bad (it’s sugar water—er—HFCS water). I told you why diet soda isn’t much of an improvement, either.
So what’s a fizzy beverage-loving person to do? Will has the right idea: make your own using club soda/sparkling water and juice. You can use almost any kind of juice you like, with a few caveats:
- Make sure the juice is 100% juice
- Try to find juice with no sugar added. Fruit is sweet enough on its own.
I love making ”pop” using 100% pomegranate or blueberry juice and sparkling water. Those flavors have a little bit of tartness to them and aren’t too sweet. 100% juice or nectar is really potent, though, so you only need a little bit of juice in the mixture (maybe a 1:4 or 1:3 ratio).
If you don’t want to or can’t make your own, try Izze or Izze Esque soda. Izze Esque (the lighter version) has 60 calories per bottle and contains sparkling water and a blend of juices. Almost exactly what you’d make yourself, just a little more refined. You can also try GuS (“Grown-up Soda”). They’re lightly sweetened with cane sugar and have 90-100 calories per 12 oz. serving (and with flavors like pomegranate, valencia orange, and meyer lemon, trust me, they’re GOOD).
A few more suggestions for more… jazzy?… non-soda drinks:
- I love plain sparkling water with a good squeeze of lemon or lime. No calories, no sugar, just a delicious, tart thirst-quencher.
- My boyfriend makes cucumber water by soaking cucumber slices in water overnight (also makes for good cucumber pear martinis… hint: add pear nectar and vodka). The cucumber water by itself is really refreshing, light, and summery.
- Make or buy unsweetened iced tea and add a little 100% juice for a more flavorful sweetener. You could also add some sparkling water if you want the fizz.
Any other ideas for healthier soda alternatives? Send them here. Also, if you sent me a question and I haven’t gotten to it yet, I will! Some of them require a little more thought so they’ll take longer to answer.
