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DIY Soft Drinks

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Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#201

Post by BizarroLand »

dlcarrier wrote: post #71
the__alchemist wrote: post #65

It is wild seeing someone drink something labeled with the irritant, health hazard, and environmental hazard warnings. It also begs the question of disposal regarding the environmental hazard one. I know it's safe due to the doses, but made me pause in horror briefly. (Reality check: Many drugs have the health hazard, or even the skull-and-crossbones. But anecdotally, many of the health-hazard-marked substances I've…

If those kinds of warnings were required on naturally occurring products, pretty much everything in your pantry would need them. A 28-oz cylinder of table salt, that can be easily had for $1 at a grocery store, could kill eight healthy adult men, if they each consumed a third of a cup in one sitting. A five-gallon carafe of water used in most water coolers holds enough water to kill two adult men, if they drank it as…

Everything in the universe, given the correct proportion and duration, is lethal to human beings.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#202

Post by littlexsparkee »

amelius wrote: post #170
rootusrootus wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> aspartame (yeah yeah not proven to cause cancer, but still not a great sweetener) Compared to what? Aspartame is almost certainly the most studied artificial sweetener in existence, and the safety profile looks very good.

Yes, I wish aspartame was used more. I hate those stupid sugar alcohols, and stevia as well. Yuck.

I've found the taste of Monk Fruit to be preferable.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#203

Post by atombender »

projektfu wrote: post #190

I love the saccharin/cyclamate combo, but it's actually illegal in the USA. I use ZeroCal from Brazil. If you ever see it in a market in the USA, enjoy the tiny act of civil disobedience. Saccharin was almost made illegal in the USA, until Teddy Roosevelt stepped in. He liked it in his tea. The soda industry generally prefers aspartame/acesulfame potassium, as it has the right aftertaste profile to replace sugar.

Cyclamate is used in some parts of Europe (like Germany) together with aspartame and acesulfame-K. I find the cyclamate smoothens the somewhat bitter aftertaste.

Cyclamate is banned in the US based on a flawed 1969 study that supposedly showed it to be carcinogenic. It's legal in most of the world, including the EU.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#204

Post by apparent »

> I like my drinks really sour, so I might add another… 10 g of citric acid to this batch.

IIRC it's not a great idea to drink carbonated beverages with lots of sugar or acid. Each of these elements weakens your teeth, and in combination the effect is much greater.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#205

Post by redblacktree »

bombcar wrote: post #168
malloryerik wrote: post #162

I'd be interested in soft drinks that were unsweetened altogether and not just sugar free. Sometimes I have sparkling water + apple cider vinegar + lemon/lime juice and it's wonderful when well mixed.

Sparkling iced tea would likely hit a spot.

The problem is that carbonic acid is bitter, and if you have a carbonated beverage, you have carbonic acid. Usually, this bitterness is balanced by sweeteners.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#206

Post by mattmaroon »

qmr wrote: post #160
mattmaroon wrote: post #22

One pro-tip as I now somehow have a commercial bottling license these days: get pre-hydrated gum Arabic. Much easier to work with. Almost everybody who messes this up will make the mistake at the hydrating the gum Arabic stage. Blend it with any dry ingredients like sugar before using. If you can’t source it, I’m not going to tell you that you SHOULD pretend to be a bottling company and ask a gum provider to send you…

What's the use in ice cream? My ice cream is just ... ice cream. Cream, milk, sugar.

Several reasons. Texture and freeze-thaw stability are the main reasons. The latter being an issue for home use mainly.

Your freezer’s self-defrost works by getting a little warm and then cold again. That causes ice crystals to melt and re-freeze, which is the opposite of what you want. Gums help with that and that’s why it’s in most of the ones you see at the grocery store.

They also can be used to give body to things that don’t have as much protein, like sorbets.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#207

Post by wongarsu »

michael1999 wrote: post #186
wongarsu wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 qui…

How's the durability of the Crystal? I had two of the original Penguin systems, and the seals broke down and the frame stretched. I'd prefer to go back to the glass bottles.

No issues with the Crystal so far. It's pretty sturdy. But that's the old 2.0 model, looking at the reviews the new 3.0 is a downgrade in terms of quality, in addition to the downgrade of being forced into the proprietary cylinders

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#208

Post by Nexxxeh »

dlcarrier wrote: post #66
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 found it cheaper and much, much more convenient to get an adapter to refill the countertop carbonator's CO2 cylinders from a standard 20 lb CO2 cylendar. That way, you can carbonate from the much smaller and easier to use countertop unit, you can service multiple countertop carbonators from a single larger tank, and you can leave the larger tank shut off and away from living areas so that a leak doesn't pose a haza…

Before the plague shut down the place I got my larger bottle refilled, I got a mid-size standard CO2 to SodaStream adapter from Ali Express. Saved me a fortune hooked up direct to the SodaStream, especially as sparkling water was intermittently surprisingly difficult to get hold of during those times. I should contact the gas supplier, see where the nearest point is now.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#209

Post by jolt42 »

oldgregg wrote: post #20

Jumps through 100 hoops to make coke... doesn't add cocaine?! :) Add modifinil and peptides and you'll have your latest soylent startup.

Heh, I knew that Coca-cola didn't still have cocaine, but TIL it doesn't have Cola (nut) either! Its name is completely ridiculous now.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#210

Post by jolt42 »

jfengel wrote: post #159
mattmaroon wrote: post #22

One pro-tip as I now somehow have a commercial bottling license these days: get pre-hydrated gum Arabic. Much easier to work with. Almost everybody who messes this up will make the mistake at the hydrating the gum Arabic stage. Blend it with any dry ingredients like sugar before using. If you can’t source it, I’m not going to tell you that you SHOULD pretend to be a bottling company and ask a gum provider to send you…

I wonder how they pulled off Crystal Pepsi. A neat trick, even if nobody cared.

Why? Is it just not put caramel coloring in it? It didn't taste like actual Pepsi to me, which I suppose might be more difficult?
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