Did you know that you can make your own healthy soda at home?
It’s not hard at all!
And it’s absolutely delicious in a cream soda float!
Use your favorite coconut, vanilla, or homemade Healthy Ice Cream.
(S is not a fan of coconut, which gave me a great excuse to try out a cashew-based version for our floats.)
Way back in the 1920s, my great grandmother would make homemade soda in her basement, then invite all the neighbors over for a party.
Well, soda is not all she made in her basement. But we probably shouldn’t go into that… 😉
Homemade root beer and ginger ale were her specialties; however I’ve always liked cream soda best, and so I adapted my great grandma’s homemade soda technique for the recipe I’m posting today: homemade and healthy cream soda, high in B vitamins, and much lower in sugar than the cola you’d get from a store.
Homemade Cream Soda
- 1/4 cup warm water (60g) (about 110 degrees F)
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar or regular sugar or agave (12g)
- pinch stevia extract, or 2-3 tbsp sweetener of choice
- 1/4 tsp brewers or dry active yeast (see below for yeast-free version)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (2g)
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 strip lemon zest (2-in or so)
- 2 cups water (480g)
- 32oz soda bottle, with a cap
Dissolve the 1 tbsp sugar (not xylitol or stevia) in the water, then sprinkle the yeast over top. Set aside 6-10 minutes, or until it bubbles. (If it doesn’t bubble, either your yeast is bad or your water was too hot.) Meanwhile, put all other ingredients into the soda bottle and shake well. Pour the bubbly yeast mixture into the soda bottle, either using a funnel or pouring through a paper cup with a small hole at the bottom. Shake, then put the cap on the bottle and store it in a warm, dry place. Wait about a day and a half (no longer), then slowly open the bottle over the sink—just in case. Your soda is ready to drink, or store it in the fridge. I’m sure that if you want instant cream soda, you could just use carbonated water and skip the yeast
For Instant Cream Soda: Omit the yeast and the 1 tbsp sugar. Use carbonated water for all the water in the recipe. Stir all ingredients together, and there is no need to wait.
Click for: Cream Soda Nutrition Facts
Question of the Day:
Pepsi, Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper… What’s your favorite type of soda?
When I was really little, I loved to buy orange sodas from the vending machine at a park near our house. But I’d never actually drink the sodas, as I didn’t like the sugary sweetness or carbonation. This was always a struggle between my mother and me… she knew the only reason I’d ask for money for a soda was because I liked pushing the button and watching it fall from the machine. The actual drink would end up in the trash after a few sips. Looking back, I tell my mom she should’ve been happy about this; she didn’t have to deal with a crazy-hyper kid on a sugar high!
Link of the Day:
Hi Katie,
I made this the day you posted it (the longer version). There is already none left, which I guess means we liked it!
Tried the instant version! Loved it!
Can’t wait to try the yeasted version.
Thanks for this Katie!
Just wanted to let you know, I made a cherry soda, and you can do it in glass, no kaboom. I used less sugar, and substituted cherry juice for some of the water…. and added a strip of ginger… and yum!
Wow! This looks so yummmy – I’ve been invited to a picnic later this week and I think I’ll make a few bottles of this to share 🙂
I’d love to see the other pop recipes from your great-grandmother if you’re happy to share them!
My favourite soft drink was always the lemonade my mum made (we had a giant lemon tree in our back yard). It was perfect – not to sweet, not too fizzy, not too sour, but a little bit tart.
I never really liked commercial sodas – the fizz always went up my nose and made me sneeze!
Hey Katie,
I just tried out your recipe and I have to admit, I forgot my bottle for a day or so. Tried it and it tastes good and is bubbling but I am not sure, if the drink contains alcohol or not, because I am not sure how the yeast works with the sugar. Can you help me out with that? 😀
Thank you for asking that question Vivien I would also like to know if anyone knows the alcohol situation of this recipe. I served these floats for dessert the other night and the yeastyness and vanilla has us all very leary of drinking anymore of it. We may be thought of as squares but we do prefer our children not drink alcohol. But thank you Katy for the inspiration! It began a new quest for me.
It contains almost none. I just googled it for you (because I really had no idea of the answer), and I found this link that says “less than 1 percent.” http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/brew-soda-at-home.aspx
okay, sorry Katie, love your recipes but this was a DOG, my son gagged drinking and it was bad. it just had a rotten horrible taste. How did you get yours so dark? it was light I followed the directions exactly. not good. Sorry, i love your stuff too.
Can you tell me more about the specific ingredients you used? It’s impossible to try and guess what went wrong since I wasn’t there.
hi katie
that’s just it, i followed exactly the recipe. I didn’t have brewer’s yeast so used regular yeast like you use for bread
but the color was white, the lemon zest adn the vanilla don’t make a good mix it was i supposed to add actual soda or something? I used regular sugar. it didn’t look like your picture. your picture is brown, mine was white, it was creamy.
it wasn’t clear how we are to store it …so we stored it in the fridge not outside.
You need to use brown sugar or sucanat for a brown color. It also sounds like your yeast was bad because you don’t need to add soda for it to bubble if the yeast is good.
For the day and a half period the soda should have been stored in a dry WARM place, otherwise the yeast would stop working.Think of bread rising when doing this. Too warm and you cook the yeast, too cold and it fizzles out. Your stevia could also be bad if old too.
Wow! This recipe is absolutely amazing!!! Going to try it!
Since I avoid drinks that have any kalories worth mentioning, I always go for sugar-free soda. And I drink too much of it. I tried to change my habbits but I always end up with an empty 1,5l bottle of something fizzy by the end of the day.
Theres a product called “Schwipschwap” (you say “shwipp-shwupp”; I am german ;D) by Pepsi (and copy-versions of it). It’s a mix of coke and orange-fizz. I love the stuff…
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this already, and I’m not 100% sure that the yeast you have in America is the same as the one in Denmark, where I’m from .. The yeast here in Denmark is like a square/cube and it’s firm .. And it dies at 50 degrees celsius, and that’s why the “drink” may stop bubbling ..
Plus a tip for baking with firm yeast is to dissolve it with a tablespoon of sugar – just mix it with the crumbled yeast and let it sit for a couple of minutes and then stir again, it’s like it melts! 🙂
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this already, and I’m not 100% sure that the yeast you have in America is the same as the one in Denmark, where I’m from .. The yeast here in Denmark is like a square/cube and it’s firm .. And it dies at 50 degrees celsius, and I’m pretty sure that’s why the “drink” may stop bubbling ..
Plus a tip for baking with firm yeast is to dissolve it with a tablespoon of sugar – just mix it with the crumbled yeast and let it sit for a couple of minutes and then stir again, it’s like it melts! 🙂