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DIY Soft Drinks

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Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#221

Post by 8593376393 »

LightBug1 wrote: post #124
eek2121 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I Googled the BDS Boycott list at a glance...the top link ( https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott ) mentions a bunch of companies, including Sodastream. The immediate issue I see is that Sodastream is owned by PepsiCo, Inc. That immediately makes them complicit as well. PepsiCo was also facing a lawsuit regarding a partnership with Walmart for price fixing ( https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/01/08/walm…

We do what we can, where we can, when we can. Personally, I find it's less about the act (although financially depriving companies of my cash does make me feel good), it's about the conversation the act starts. And I've seen it work, or help. Some among us will remember the boycott of South African goods during Apartheid.

[dead]

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#222

Post by projektfu »

atombender wrote: post #203
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.

Yep, one of those places where the US thinks it's bad and millions of people elsewhere are just fine.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#223

Post by subscribed »

mazeraero wrote: post #95
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…

Pro-tip: cold water.

And not soda stream but drink mate.

Disconnects with the head and can be shaken dissolving more gas.

Also since the head is detachable, the worst that can happen after something foaming the nozzle I 5 second rinse in the cold water.

Don't like the company, love the product.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#224

Post by foresto »

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…

Apparently kits are now available for those who don't want to shop around for parts. Here's a photo:

https://www.kegoutlet.com/prod_images/xlarge/2/0/SP202T-SS.a...

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#225

Post by jedimastert »

eek2121 wrote: post #43
nulld3v wrote: post #21

I've also been dabbling in this recently in an attempt to avoid buying SodaStream syrups (which are on the BDS boycott list). Tips for working on sugar-free recipes: In some countries (like Canada), soft-drink manufacturers are required to disclose the exact amount of each artificial sweetener they use in the drink. So you can easily grab those numbers from Canadian product listings for use in your own recipes. E.g.…

I Googled the BDS Boycott list at a glance...the top link ( https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott ) mentions a bunch of companies, including Sodastream. The immediate issue I see is that Sodastream is owned by PepsiCo, Inc. That immediately makes them complicit as well. PepsiCo was also facing a lawsuit regarding a partnership with Walmart for price fixing ( https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/01/08/walm…

Isn't this addressed on the same page you linked?

> We must strategically focus on a relatively smaller number of carefully selected companies and products for maximum impact.

My intentionally pick companies that are large enough to be noticable but small enough that they could actually achieve something with the amount of support they have.

If you look the other two letters of "BDS", divestment and sanctions are the strategies for larger institutions and government interventions

https://bdsmovement.net/what-bds

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#226

Post by jedimastert »

whackernews wrote: post #107
nulld3v wrote: post #21

I've also been dabbling in this recently in an attempt to avoid buying SodaStream syrups (which are on the BDS boycott list). Tips for working on sugar-free recipes: In some countries (like Canada), soft-drink manufacturers are required to disclose the exact amount of each artificial sweetener they use in the drink. So you can easily grab those numbers from Canadian product listings for use in your own recipes. E.g.…

People are always so laser focussed on the latest trendy thing, but why not just boycott all huge corporations/organisations? It’s a much simpler rule that achieves the same thing and you have the added benefit of boycotting companies that haven’t had their corruption uncovered… yet!

This is actually addressed on the BDS movement website

https://bdsmovement.net/what-bds

Effective boycotts work on companies that are large enough to be noticed but small enough for boycotts to have an effect, while divestments and sanctions can be lobbied for larger institutions and governments.

I think just saying something like "why not just boycott all huge corporations/organisations?" can be a bit disingenuous when I think it's pretty well acknowledged that We Live In A Society that makes completely separating yourself from large corporations essentially isolate you from society as a whole

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#227

Post by manwe150 »

foresto wrote: post #218
manwe150 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here you go: https://www.kegoutlet.com/carbonating-kits.html

Hmm... Those steel growlers look appealing, if a little pricey, but their 45 psi relief valves would prevent carbonating with as much fizz as I like. I wonder if the PRV could be swapped with a different one that holds more like 75 psi. Thanks for the link. This gives me a direction worth investigating, at least.

Ask on the site, the company was responsive to my questions. I’d be curious to know also, as I usually run right at the limit (about 40psi to account for temperature changes. Fridge water cold holds much more gas than just tap water cold, particularly in summer

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#228

Post by dlcarrier »

rootusrootus wrote: post #183
dlcarrier wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I presume the comment was referring to the lack of greatness in the flavor. Sucralose tastes much better, for one.

Aspartame tastes fine to me. I think it's one of those things that some people can taste and others cannot.

It definitely varies from person to person. I'm on the more sensitive side of tasting bitter substances, although I do like bitter foods like Brussels sprouts, grapefruit and kumquats, and I'm okay when food is sometimes bitter, as happens with cucumbers and eggplant, but when foods that aren't normally bitter are sweetened with bitter sweeteners, I really don't like them, even if it's a natural sweetener, like stevia.

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#229

Post by dlcarrier »

BizarroLand wrote: post #201
dlcarrier wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

…including reports on toxicity: https://xkcd.com/1260/

Re: DIY Soft Drinks

#230

Post by partyficial »

I love ginger ale. One small can a day kinda guy. But don't want any ingredients I don't know.

So, I bought these 4:

- DrinkMate soda maker (with CO2 cylinders)

- fresh squeezed ginger juice (not from concentrate)

- fresh squeezed lemon juice

- unpasteurized honey

Mix water + 3 ingredients + CO2. Shake and chill in freezer for 5 minutes while gas dissolves.

Get 400ml/day ginger ale at home - lasts lunch & dinner.

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