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I recently ordered the Sodastream Fountain Jet in order to learn to make my own sodas. Tired of all the HFCS-infected beverages out there and the nasty artificial sweetener drinks so wanted to work on making my own soda sweetened with sugar, they way it should've been. Root-beer has always been my favorite soda but have quit buying them from the store because of the HFCS.
I know that you can order the soda-mixes that Sodastream has but, since I read that they contain Splenda which I don't drink, I wanted to see what other syrups were available out there that contain sugar and is more natural.
I have also read about their proprietary CO2 canisters you use with it--would be nice if I had my own CO2 tank to use with it to where it will last a long time. And since I don't drink soda as much as I used to (mostly on weekends), then it may be the way to go.
Lately I have been in the mode to try different things to where I can make myself and enjoy it better without worrying about alot of the chemicals and other fake stuff they put into food and drinks nowadays (I plan to order a breadmaker later this week).
I just got a sodastream. I can't wait to make my own syrups! But I primarily wanted one because I love sparkling water.
I haven't made any syrups yet, but I am thinking of:
iced tea, something delicate like a fruit flavored green or white tea
elderflower (they sell syrup at ikea, it i delicious)
ginger mint
lemon ginger
pomegranate lime (if you have a middle eastern store, you can purchase pomegranate molasses)
I'd like to make something with cucumber or vanilla, but this seems a little tricker.
We had a seltzer-maker at home growing up. It was just basically a thermos, a thumb-sized CO2 cartridge, and a nozzle. Pour water into the thermos, half a glass of orange juice into a glass with ice, line the cartridge up under the nozzle, twist the nozzle on, and spritz into a glass. Boom - instant orange soda.
I think this fancy soda-maker is just a really "neato" gimmick that will go the way of the french toast grill in a year.
Also, the type of sweetener in the syrups, should be the least of your worries with them. I mean really - it's SODA. There is nothing healthy about soda unless you're just adding carbonated water to fruit juice. And even then, you're better off eating a piece of fruit and drinking non-carbonated water.
You can just make simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water simmered until the sugar dissolves) and flavor it any way you like, either by steeping ingrediants in it (like fresh herbs; basil and mint are especially good), fruit. extracts or things like ginger.
We used to make homemade root beer with yeast for carbonation. I think it was McCormick that made a root beer extract. Check online (or local if you are lucky) for stores that specialize in wine and beer home crafting for interesting flavors.
We bought a soda stream over a year ago and use it primarily for plain water but it does get used at least once a week here. It was smart purchase for us and I am happy more stores are carrying the supplies.
Incorrect. All of the "regular" flavors contain sucralose(Splenda) mixed with some sugar.
It's why I'd never buy one, I'm not eating Splenda.
Who says you need to buy the flavors. The primary trick is the bubbly water. Once you make the water you can use it for whatever. Personally, I got one and I plan to trash the flavors (or donate them). I don't even want to try them. But making your own or buying a natural syrup is no problem.
High Fructose corn syrup is known to be a danger because it is so inflammatory. It creates inflammation in our bodies. You think of it as a sweetener and a sugar. The chemical fructose is actually in the aldehyde family and is not digested like glucose. It can only be digested in your liver, and in so doing it is changed into LDL fats. Those LDL fats hang around in your liver and give you fatty liver because you have no way of regulating the speed at which you digest the fructose. With that comes inflammation through the FOX1 gene. Fructose is just plain trouble.
So, what’s the big deal? Well, I have been led to believe that high fructose corn syrup is 55% fructose and 45% glucose. That’s pretty close to the proportion of table sugar, which is exactly 50:50. Hence, we have confidently been stating that drinking a fully sugared soda is as bad as having so many teaspoons of table sugar, but no worse. What the article from the journal, Obesity, shows is that we have been sold a subtle bill of goods by the soda industry. While the common knowledge is that HFCS is 55:45, the industry is actually given a 20% leeway in which the fructose content of soda can range. In other words, the fructose content of the soda can be as high as 20% off their registered label of HFCS or 55:45.
Guess what the researchers found? Coke and Pepsi both push the limit of the 20%. Instead of being 55:45, they run 64:36. That’s not just high fructose, that’s REALLY high fructose. The deceit is that fructose is so bad for you. Instead of getting a drink that is 50% fructose (really awful for you), both Coke and Pepsi are TWO THIRDS fructose (really over the top bad).
............in 1931, French chemists isolated and identified the glycosides which give the plant its sweet taste: stevioside and rebaudioside. These glycosides were found to be anywhere from 40-300 times sweeter than sucrose, able to withstand very high temperatures, and non-fermentable. Stevia is widely used in Japan as a sweetener and is also popular in other countries such as: Brazil, Mexico and Russia. Seelect Stevia Flavor Syrups are a great alternative to ordinary sugar because they contain less than five calories per one ounce serving, but still achieve the sweetness you are looking for. The glycosides present in Stevia which give it its natural sweetness cannot be metabolized by the human body, which leads to the low calorie content of Seelect Stevia Flavor Syrups. So if you are looking to cut calories without sacrificing taste or sweetness,............stevia syrups are a great choice. Another benefit of using Seelect Stevia Flavor Syrups is that stevia does not raise blood sugar levels in humans and may in fact lower them, so they are beneficial for people with diabetes or who are on carbohydrate-controlled diets. Also, studies have shown that replacing sugar with stevia in meals may lower blood glucose levels and aid in the control of type 2 diabetes...............
There are lots and lots of fruit flavor syrups and Italian Soda flavors as well as cola and nut flavors on the various web pages. FWIW, the last quote is found on both the Natures Flavors website and the Seelect Tea site.
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