Seltzer Rocks in a Bubbly New Year

Last night, a champagne toast was perfect.

But today it's back to business. So I'm keeping my first resolution - to reduce my plastic waste - by using a seltzer maker to concoct my own 'mixed drinks.'

In 2012, diet cola was a vice I wanted to shake - and I knew how. I just didn't do it. So starting today, I'm clearing out the last of the Diet Pepsi in the house and filling up the SodaStream reusable bottles to get them chilling.

When I need a sparkly drink to go with lunch, I'll fizz the tap water and mix in some 100% grape juice. It reminds me of childhood, that homemade grape soda, of how I remember the sweet elixir in the glass bottles tasted.

Could I make my own diet cola with this gizmo? Yes. But - fortunately - I just don't care for the diet cola syrup the company offers with its seltzer makers. A couple bottles from the little sampler pack of flavors - root beer, cola, lemon-lime, etc, convinced me that I'm just not much of syrup user.

If I want the seltzer flavored but not syrupy, however, the little bottle of lemon-lime essence does a really nice job. In fact, that may just supply the answer to how I'll substitute the diet cola I've drinking at the office. That change could just be worth buying a second seltzer maker to keep there.  A scary idea, being left with no excuses  . . .

Here's to going well-prepared into a healthier new year!

Best Grape Soda

All through the warm months, limeade feels like the ideal refreshment, especially when mixed with seltzer. Light, sparkling, and snappy without being too acidic, this mixed drink graces the table nearly every day, March - October.

But as the weather cools, the dark, intense, anti-oxidant rich siren call of grape juice beckons. Undiluted 100% juice packs a big blood sugar punch, a little overwhelming. Recalling memories of the grape soda of my youth, I tried mixing my fresh seltzer half and half to craft a homemade soda. Perfect! Fizzy, with a clear, pure grape flavor - and not too sweet. Deluxe.

Homemade Soda Flavors

In our house, a 'mixed drink' means seltzer and fruit juice (sometimes with a little white wine, too). A soda comes in a can with either high-fructose syrup or the dreaded aspartame. While sodas make cameo appearances at home, they didn't seem worth buying Sodastream's make-your-own soda flavorings for.

So I was ambivalent when the Value Pack arrived with a set of 3 'flavor essence' bottles and a 12-pack of trial size flavor goo samples. Nearly half the full range of flavors offered for sale, our kit included: fountain mist (a Mountain Dew knock-off), lemon-lime, orange, root beer, energy (cringe), cola, pete's choice (a Dr. Pepper knock-off), cranberry-raspberry, and pink grapefruit. The non-diet choices contain sucrose rather than high-fructose corn syrup; and the diet versions use sucralose (Splenda) rather than aspartame. Small improvements. Sadly, the colas use phosphoric acid (the calcium leacher) like most brands do, rather than the tartartic acid alternative a few have tried.



So far, we've only tried the Pete's, which is a dead ringer for a fountain serving of Dr. Pepper and its imitators - same flavor, with the slightly syrupy quality that fountain drinks often have. On Thanksgiving, we'll keep all 4 bottles chilled, so that we can add a flavor to any liter on demand - a nice party trick.

For us, just breaking the bottled water habit was enough. For regular soda drinkers, however, a favorite flavoring or two could be the short route to kicking the habit of bringing pop home in plastic or aluminum six packs.

Homemade Soda, First Try

After entertaining ourselves with the Soda Club site's cute videos, we picked the Fountain Jet model and opted to pay a little more for the Value Pack, in order to get extra bottles and a second 110-liter fizz canister (I am always skeptical of value-anything options; but it was the more economical way to go, since we wanted the extras and shipping charges were waived).

The unit assembled easily, with one surprise - at 17" tall, it wouldn't fit in the spot I had planned, on a counter but under a hanging cabinet. Fortunately, it is cordless and can be set anywhere (even inside a cupboard) between uses.
Following the simple instructions, we filled one BPA-free water bottle to the fill line with tap water and popped it into the fridge to chill. Later we screwed the bottle into the Fountain Jet and pressed the button on the top of the unit until the buzzer sounded. Voila! Fizzy water. Taste? Exactly like the seltzer (or 'sparkling water') we've been buying from the grocery. After pouring the first mixed drink (seltzer and lime juice, the old standby refreshment), we capped the bottle and put it back in the fridge.
Next - we'll see how the fizz lasts, and try some flavorings.

New Old Soda Club

After years of buying seltzer in plastic bottles, lugging them home from the store, and filling up the recycling bin with the empties, we finally found a happy alternative. As often happens, today's system is an update of an old idea.


In years gone by, bars, soda fountains, hosts with the mosts used spritzers, or bottles with a squirt device attached to a small CO2 canister. The bartender took glass in one hand, spritzer in the other, and tried to fill the glass without soaking anyone. These devices brought Italian sodas, seltzer drinks, and egg creams into our food culture. Today the bottles are collectibles, and the mini-CO2 canisters hard to find in stores.
The update? A countertop appliance with a tall, multiple-use (60-110 liters) CO2 canister in the back and a bottle-holder in the front [see examples in the ad, above]. As far as I can tell, only SodaStream and SodaClub (same company, apparently) make them, and sell them primarily online. Ours arrived this week; and so far the only hard part was deciding which of the four models to choose, and whether to go bare-bones or opt for the Value Pack.
And so the saga begins . . .