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DIY Soft Drinks

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Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#171

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

bsder wrote: post #44
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear, it made about 1.75L of syrup , not cola. I kept the cola syrup jug in a fridge for like a year, and when I wanted a glass of "cola" I'd add about an oz of the syrup concentrate to a glass of carbonated water (which I pre-carbonated with my DrinkMate), and stirred to combine. I used like half the amount of sugar the cube-cola recipe recommended, because it seemed high. It wasn't Coke sweet but it was stil…

How is the cleanup with DrinkMate? Washing everything was my primary problem with SodaStream.

Not hard? I mean you need a dedicated bottle brush, but the bottle itself is the only thing I recall having to clean. The DrinkMate advertises itself as being able to carbonate other things (juice, flat soda, etc.), but I never carbonate anything other than water in the bottle, then add my syrups only after decanting. It prevents the bottle from getting sticky.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#172

Post by hackerInnen »

peaxkl wrote: post #24

I recently started getting into homemade ClubMate production. The goal was to create a drink that has caffeine, less sugar than regular mate and is still tasty. It took me 4-5 tries to get to a recipe that tastes good. Earlier tries involved cooking the mate, which led to a bitter taste. Cold brewing led to way better results. Here is my current recipe for 5 bottles (á 0,5l): - 60g mate tea leaves (coarse) [1] - 500m…

To be honest, I don't have that much fun in playing around with the recipe, but I found this one and it just works for me: https://github.com/xil-se/FreeMate

But nowadays I just drink plain yerba mate with a splash of lemon juice, no added sugar. I do the FreeMate in summer a bit.

Edit: Btw, if anyone of you bought yerba mate before and thought it didn't taste great, for me personally there are huge differences between them. I like the milder ones a lot more that don't have much powder. If you have been disappointed before maybe try again with a different brand and don't forget the splash of lemon juice, that makes a crazy big difference

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#173

Post by IAmBroom »

xarope wrote: post #116
cogman10 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IDK if it'd apply here, but there are technically laws on the books in the US against price and purchase discrimination for grocers. It was specifically one of the things Lina Khan was investigating on the way out of office and something I believe she's going to be using for the NYC grocery stores. A food seller isn't allowed to cut out a grocer because they are too small. However, I believe they get around this toda…

can't several small hometown grocers get together to be able to make that volume/quantity? Surely that would be better than just buying from costco?

[dead]

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#174

Post by pizzafeelsright »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #16
IanCal wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean L? ml to me would be millilitres and one fluid ounce is ~30ml.

Yes, typo on my side. Thanks for catching!

This is why normal folk use quarts and gallons so there is no confusion. An mg vs ng of astrophage is deadly.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#175

Post by wongarsu »

genericuser256 wrote: post #152
wongarsu wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One advantage of standard tabletop carbonators is that you can get versions with glass bottles. I quite like the 0.7l glass sodastream bottles. You could probably get them to work on a DIY setup with the right pressure regulator settings and the right adapter. But I'd like to avoid the flying glass shards if I get it wrong

Do you mind my asking which ones you use? The only ones I've been able to find (Canada) don't work with the standard soda stream

I use SodaStream Crystal. There is the older Crystal 2.0 that uses the old generic screw-type CO2 cylinders, and the newer Crystal 3.0 which uses the patented quick-connect cylinders.

Looking at the Canadian website, neither is sold in Canada (1 for a link on the German website). There is the SodaStream Duo which supports a different type of glas bottle. Might be easier to source locally, but exists only with the quick-connect cylinders and is a bit expensive for what it is, at least if you buy it new

[1]: https://sodastream.de/products/crystal-3-0?variant=404654832...

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#176

Post by flobosg »

hackerInnen wrote: post #172
peaxkl wrote: post #24

I recently started getting into homemade ClubMate production. The goal was to create a drink that has caffeine, less sugar than regular mate and is still tasty. It took me 4-5 tries to get to a recipe that tastes good. Earlier tries involved cooking the mate, which led to a bitter taste. Cold brewing led to way better results. Here is my current recipe for 5 bottles (á 0,5l): - 60g mate tea leaves (coarse) [1] - 500m…

To be honest, I don't have that much fun in playing around with the recipe, but I found this one and it just works for me: https://github.com/xil-se/FreeMate But nowadays I just drink plain yerba mate with a splash of lemon juice, no added sugar. I do the FreeMate in summer a bit. Edit: Btw, if anyone of you bought yerba mate before and thought it didn't taste great, for me personally there are huge differences betwe…

Tereré is also a milder alternative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terer%C3%A9

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#177

Post by IAmBroom »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #146
peaxkl wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me using the cold brew method instead of cooking the leaves had the biggest effect on the bitterness. The taste goes in the direction of ClubMate, but has a stronger tea taste than the original ClubMate. I think reasons for that are the reduced amount of sugar and the fact that ClubMate uses natural flavor in their tea extract.

Isn't this a tannins issue? I've not done mate before but with black tea my understanding is brewed tea cooled down is bitter while tea just left in cold water in the fridge is smooth because brewing it releases tannins.

Water-soluble taste compounds all dissolve with similar time profiles (all other things being equal), which are exponential curves that asymptote at zero and saturation. The time constant and the saturation level are the true variables, and saturation is "chosen" by the molecule itself, but when you superimpose exponential curves, a slower-dissolving "bad" taste can be minimized by finding the right balance point between "enough" of the good solutes before the unwanted solute rises much.

"All things being equal" = that time constant is itself a function of temperature, so lower temperatures slow down (spread out) the process, allowing a broader "balance point" at which to stop the process.

IOW, if you're brewing a hot cup of tea, leaving the bag in an extra few minutes can really increase the bitterness without making it much "darker", but even a few extra hours in the fridge-brewed tea is no big deal.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#178

Post by GetTheFacts »

tdeck wrote: post #93

I enjoy the flavor of kvass - a Russian / eastern European malt flavored soda - but it's hard to find where I live. The process involves really aggressively toasting some rye bread, boiling it with eaisans and sugar, straining it, and then brewing it with ordinary baking yeast in 2-liter bottles until it reaches your desired carbonation level. The end result is really refreshing.

If you can get it where you are, have you considered trying malta[0][1]?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta_(soft_drink)

[1] https://www.findmeabrewery.com/blog/malta/

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#179

Post by wink »

foresto wrote: post #41

If you want to carbonate water but don't want to buy a countertop carbonator or its overpriced CO2 refills, you can get a ball lock valve cap that screws onto 1L or 2L soda bottles for around $8-16. That valve will attach to a standard female fitting, which you can put on the end of a hose coming from a pressure regulator, which will attach to a full-size CO2 cylinder available from a brewing or gas supply shop. CO2…

I guess the definition of "overpriced" varies, but I pay 7 or 8 EUR for one bottle of CO2 and it lasts like 3-4 weeks for 2 people, just to put it into perspective.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#180

Post by williape »

userbinator wrote: post #76
Scoundreller wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> acetic acid (Vitamin C) ascorbic acid!

Acetic acid is vinegar. Not something I'd like to taste in any soft drink.

Soadly is getting popular in Australia as an alternative to sugar / artificial sweeteners soadas. Most use vinegar: https://www.remedydrinks.com/collections/sodaly
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