No, sadly I am not about to unveil or condone a definitive brand of soda in which we can all be happy drinking and feeding to our kids. I’m still wary of brands likes Jones Soda, simply because of the fact that, yes, they may use can sugar and not HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) BUT…what about that electric blue color for their Blue Bubblegum flavor? Not so good. I’m not big on chemical dyes=)

exhibit A:

bluesoda

Anyway, for those of you who have switched off of soda (I did years ago, except of course for the occasional sip–no one’s perfect) I’ve got some great ideas for ways that you can satiate your desire for a thirst-quenching carbonated beverage. And instead of spending lots of money on “natural” soda brands like Izze, why don’t you try to make your own at home? It’s simple. You’ll need the following*:

Your favorite natural juice, like grapefruit, orange, cranberry, pomegranate, etc. Just make sure that

&

A carbonated water, such as Perrier, San Pellegrino, plain ol’ club soda or seltzer, all unflavored. Just make sure that on the ingredient list the only thing you see is water or carbonated water. Perrier, for example, might not even have an ingredient list since it is simply naturally carbonated water “bottled at the source.” Buying your carbonated water in small, single serving glasses or cans is best, since once-opened, your bubbly beverage can only stay bubbly for an hour or two, max.

Now for the delicious part: Pour your juice first, then carbonated water, into a glass. I prefer no ice but like a chilled beverage, so I refrigerate my juice and water before drinking. Make sure to pour your juice in first, as pouring your juice over the water will result in an unmixed drink. Depending on the juice and my mood, I’ll either do equal parts juice and water OR if you’re using a more bitter juice, like grapefruit or cranberry, do 1 part juice and 3 parts water.

For an added twist of sophistication? Squeeze a little lemon, lime, or orange wedge into your glass, and when possible, make your glass as fancy as possible! This really adds to the decadence of the event. I love using a mason jar. And for extra fun, chill your glass in the freezer & make sure it’s at room temperature and NOT warm or hot-or else it will potentially burst.

This is, incidentally, also a great beverage for those of us who cannot partake in alcoholic beverages at a party but who might want to feel grown up anyway.

Exhibit B:

mintnwhiskeymasonjar

masonjar

Finally, if you want to get really, really fancy, make some ginger syrup or mint syrup and add to sweeten things up in the best way possible. Here’s the recipe:

Fresh Ginger Syrup

4 cups water

2 cups organic cane sugar (aka evaporated cane juice)

1 cup peeled and chopped fresh ginger

Combine water and sugar and bring to a boil. Add ginger. Simmer until your liquid is reduced by half. By the end, you should measure approximately 3 cups clear syrup, after straining out ginger pieces.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Mint Syrup

2 cups water

2 cups organic cane sugar

4 cups fresh mint, roughly chopped. (This is a good one to make in the Summer when your mint is running rampant in the yard. A Spearmint plant will do, although really any variety of mint will work. Spearmint plants just seem to be the most prolific.)

Combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, quickly throw in mint and stir carefully so as not to burn yourself-the syrup will be hot! Watch the leaves turn bright green. Do not keep them in long enough to go brown or else you will be left with a slightly vegetable taste. Once the leaves are bright green, strain the minty syrup through a sieve into a glass bowl. With the back of a spoon, press on the mint leaves to extract more of their pungent oil. Don’t worry if there are tiny bits of mint in your syrup-they’re happy in there, promise=)

Store in and airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months.


*Just a small disclaimer for those of you who read my blog regularly and are thinking that I am questioning your intelligence and creativity in suggesting an idea that you’ve been using for years: I DO realize that I did not invent the idea of making your own healthy carbonated beverage. Haha—it just occurred to me when watching The Today Show and seeing the “health” segment trying to encourage women to lower their intake of diet sodas that I realized I might need to make my idea a bit more public. For all of you soda-at-home pioneers—drink on!