• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Cool jerk: artisanal soda

July 17, 2013 8 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

I was sent a Soda Stream machine this week, a 1970s relic which has been re-branded and updated, and boy have I had fun! Plus it couldn’t have come at a better time with the hot weather. 
Sodas or ‘fizzy drinks’ as we call them in the UK, were sold in drugstores in the USA because of a belief in the health properties of carbonated water. 
Artisanal sodas are bubbling up over in the states: Brooklyn, with its thriving food culture seems to be the epicentre of the home made fizz (www.brooklynsodaworks.com and  www.NonaBrooklyn.com to name but two companies)
Back in 2011, I visited the Brooklyn Farmacy at their stall at Brooklyn flea, now they own an actual drugstore. So cool!
Soda Stream comes with ready-made sachets of flavoured syrups but I thought I’d prefer to make my own artisanal syrups.

Obviously the great thing about making your own syrups is that you can reduce the sugar if you wish, you know it has no nasties in it like aspartame, and you can make unusual flavours.

You fill the bottle that comes with the machine with ordinary water then carbonate it in the Soda Stream. Then you add your syrup. It’s like having your own home soda fountain. Even the teen is impressed. Now all I need to do is pull on a tight sweater and hope to get discovered like Lana Turner.

Rosemary, Bay and Hibiscus syrup


Makes one small bottle, enough for two bottles of soda stream carbonated water.

A few sprigs of rosemary

5/6 fresh Bay leaves
5/6 hibiscus flowers
440ml (2 cups) water
400g (2 cups) sugar

Put the ingredients in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Keep on a low heat for 20 minutes. Then strain the syrup (with a cheesecloth and funnel or through a chinois) into a bottle.
Make 1 bottle of soda stream water, using their special bottle then add half the quantity of syrup. Or just add fizzy water.

One year ago: Spaghetti in a bag 

Two years ago: Tutti frutti mustard ice cream 

Three years ago: A revolutionary bouillon and a collapsing ancien regime croquembouche 

Four years ago: Dinner with Ravinder Bhogal and Hardeep Singh Kholi 

Five years ago: The wizards 40th birthday party 

Recent posts

Discovering fairytale Saxony in Germany

January 25, 2023

Fake meat taste test for Veganuary

January 8, 2023

A round-up of my favourite travel destinations of 2022

January 1, 2023

Previous Post: « Mexico: tropical fruit with chilli and lime in a watermelon bowl
Next Post: On the barbeque: fish in newspaper »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gloria

    July 17, 2013 at 1:50 pm

    When clearing my Mothers house earlier this year I bagged the original 70s soda stream. It may still be possible to buy the canisters but they have a limited number available and then no more.

    I fancy making syrup for tonic water from scratch but you need to extract the quinine from a bark that is not legally available to the general public in the UK. You can however buy it in the US.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 17, 2013 at 3:03 pm

      I'm ordering all the roots to make root beer… but yes tonic would be great.

      Reply
  2. Kavey

    July 18, 2013 at 8:11 am

    We used to have a soda stream when I was a kid – we loved it! Wish we still had it but my mum is the opposite of a hoarder…

    Love the sound of your home-made syrup…

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 18, 2013 at 8:29 am

      Thanks Kavey. I remember those little bomb shaped silver things for making the soda of the 70s one.

      Reply
  3. Joanna oyster

    July 19, 2013 at 12:33 pm

    I fizzed everything with mine, milk, red wine, advocaat.
    Thankfully, I'm over that phase now and settle for water maybe with a mint tea bag in it for Saturday morning head, but mostly served over vodka and ice. 🙂

    Reply
  4. drumshag

    July 20, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    E123 THX.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 20, 2013 at 4:59 pm

      ?

      Reply
  5. Sarah Moore

    July 31, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    I just bought a soda stream, currently just having it with homemade elderflower cordial but I'm pondering all the possibilities! I really want to make my own tonic water but it seems difficult.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
My piece is The Great Read: My piece is The Great Read:
Naples at Christmas- discovering piennolo di vesuv Naples at Christmas- discovering piennolo di vesuvio,the Christmas 🍅, which lasts up to a year fresh. It’s given boxed as gifts around Christmas being the only local fresh tomato available. It dresses all the Christmas pizzas and pastas. It’s grown on volcanic Vesuvius soil and sparsely watered. As a result it has thick skins, and a sweet intense flavour. #tomatoes #italy #naples
Not cooking much at the moment due to a thick laye Not cooking much at the moment due to a thick layer of dust over my kitchen. This will be my dining room/photography studio. Done on a whim.#unplanneddemolition
Another picture of my granddaughter Ophelia in a n Another picture of my granddaughter Ophelia in a nest of apricot tulle (found at portobello market). Isn’t she lovely? #granfluencer
Broccoli Stilton soup. This freezing week is defin Broccoli Stilton soup. This freezing week is definitely a week for soups. My friend @jimfrommanc is staying & needs his hot lunch.
Cheese on toast with crushed chilli 🌶️ in Ven Cheese on toast with crushed chilli 🌶️ in Venice the fresh food market sells bouquets of colourful chillies. I’ve still got mine, drying in an enamel jug. #travelandfood
The Christmas tomato or piennolo di vesuvio. Read The Christmas tomato or piennolo di vesuvio. Read all about it: https://msmarmitelover.com/2022/12/christmas-in-naples.html  Got a couple of bunches hanging in my kitchen. #naples #campania #tomatoes🍅 #travelphotography
Opheliagram. This morning I photographed her in an Opheliagram. This morning I photographed her in an Italian outfit I bought in Naples on a William Morris playmat which looks great and is practical for tummy time. So many things are different about parenting now. Parents use apps to track feeding, pooing, weeing etc. You don’t bathe them anymore for the first few weeks because you want to leave the vernix ( the white waxy stuff they are covered in at birth) on their skin as long as possible. Nappies now have a line on them that turns blue if they’ve done a pee. White noise apps to help them sleep. New technology guides new parents. As well as ancient probably prehistoric customs being rediscovered. #granfluencer #grandaughter I’ve tagged in @siennamarla and @jamescalmus as the authors of this baby.
I made two dishes from one pack of white beans las I made two dishes from one pack of white beans last night. Soak, then cook with 2 stock cubes, water & a fan of bay leaves. When soft & cooked, scoop some into a soup bowl with plenty of stock, add white wine, fresh basil and or a scoop of pesto and a squeeze of lemon for soupe au pistou. Garnish with Parmesan. Today I cooked the pot until the liquid had almost disappeared and added a block of feta. I baked this in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, added @pomoragoodfood new olive oil, salt and pepper for a gigantes plaki (but with smaller beans). Eat more beans!
What to make when you have lots of leftover egg yo What to make when you have lots of leftover egg yolks after making a pavlova? Zabaglione, that classic Italian trattoria dessert made from egg yolks, sugar & tons of masala sweet wine. Whisk it up over a bain-marie or be a bit cheaty & add a teaspoon of cornflour. Strong wrists needed. #italianfood #christmasdesserts #leftovers #cooksmart
The unpackaged vegan meats. My panel of 4 ( from c The unpackaged vegan meats. My panel of 4 ( from carnivore, to recent vegetarian, to long-time vegetarian to never eaten meat (my daughter)) tasted 18. It was quite a bushtucker trial. Carnivores & vegetarians liked very different things. Full report in next weeks @hamandhigh #veganuary #vegan #vegetarian #tastetest #fakemeat #plantbasedmeat
Fake meatathon tasting taking place as my veganuar Fake meatathon tasting taking place as my veganuary column for @hamandhigh So many companies doing this now. As a longtime vegetarian I don’t want anything that tastes too much like meat. But new vegetarians and vegans may want something that tastes close as damnit to meat in order to stave off cravings? Which category are you in? Have you any favourites or dislikes? Is this just another example of ultra-processed food? Let me know in the comments #vegan #vegetarian #meatfree #veganuary
Pasta buselli al cedro. Cedro or citron is a fragr Pasta buselli al cedro. Cedro or citron is a fragrant citrus & one of the founding citrus (along with pomelo and mandarin) that created all the other citrus fruits you know about. Usually candied, it is also used in this unusual neopolitan recipe in which you soak the zest in the pasta water overnight before cooking. Post up on the blog later today. Board a Xmas present from @siennamarla #pasta #naples #cedro #citrus
My london garden ce matin My london garden ce matin
My Sacher Torte (1 word or 2?) with a difference- My Sacher Torte (1 word or 2?) with a difference- bergamot marmalade in the middle. In the @hamandhigh this week. It’s bloody delicious. #chocolatecake #feelaustria #untoldstories #vienna #sachertorte
These are Mela Annurca apples, ‘mel’anurca’ These are Mela Annurca apples, ‘mel’anurca’ in Neapolitan dialect. They are a Christmas apple, in season now. I bought this little model basket of apples in San Gregorio di Armenia street in Naples where every year neopolitans buy something to add to their ‘presepe’ or nativity scene. Often scenes from markets to add to the expensive, anything from 500 euros to 5000 euros nativity crèches. Around Christmas this street is packed (watch out for pickpockets) with locals and tourist picking out their addition to the scene. Melanurca apples are picked in September then laid on the ground to ripen, turning them every day by hand, to ensure all sides transform from a yellow green into a Wicked Witch red. They are very healthy, particularly for your hair, according to scientists at the university of Naples. #naples #neopolitanchristmas #melanurca  #food #travel #sangregorioarmeno #presepenapoletano #nativityscenes
The Christmas tomato 🍅 or piennolo di vesuvio, The Christmas tomato 🍅 or piennolo di vesuvio, a local tomato that is sold around Christmas in Naples. It is grown with very little irrigation and lasts fresh up to a year. Hence it is used for tomato based Christmas dishes. This tomato has a thick skin and is really intense in flavour. It hangs outside grocers, on balconies, in kitchens, having been braided by ladies into bunches of 1.5 kilos. Each costs 15 euros. I went to visit the farmers and the ladies skilfully tying the tomatoes into clusters, using the vines to fasten them, like cherries. Boxed, these are given as gifts. Reel on the way! #naples #christmas #tomatoes #travel #food
Travel: how I pack. I choose one colour as well as Travel: how I pack. I choose one colour as well as black and white and stick to that palette. For Sicily & Naples I’m doing red, white & black. I’ve bought @coti_vision red glasses chain, a red beret & a black one, a pair of red @snagtights & a black pair, a red hair clasp, a red & white pair of shoes (25 euros, leather from Naples), a red & white dress, a black & white striped dress, and so on. Do you roll? Do you flatten & spread? Do you fold? How do you pack? A few days before I leave I leave my suitcase open in my bedroom and every time I think of something I need to take I sling it in there. ( like adaptors) Last thing is wash bag ( I have a hanging one which is useful) and coat (red for this trip). Basically I colour code my life. When I did the Camino everything was blue & yellow, the colours of the Camino. When I went to Ireland I took all my green clothes ( I don’t have many). If I go on a boat trip I pack blue and white. #packing #colourcoding #travel #mysuitcase
Ruota di pesce spada. A glorious oven baked Sicili Ruota di pesce spada. A glorious oven baked Sicilian fish dish, baked on onions, studded with garlic cloves wrapped in mint leaves, then more onions, capers, olives, oregano & rosemary. Use a thick central slice of swordfish (where can I get that in london?). I’m tasting grillo & Nero d’avola wines @tenutorapitala about an hour inland from Palermo. The owner is the last count Bernard de La gatinais. He has 3 daughters. He’s French (Brittany) and Sicilian. He spoke about how difficult it has been for wine growers since lockdown- so many restaurants closed. Now they are grappling with high energy & fuel costs. ##winesofsicilia #siciliaDOC #wine #travel #sicily
I love Venice. I love Maneskin. I love Italy. I lo I love Venice. I love Maneskin. I love Italy. I love boats and water. #biennalearte2022
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2023 msmarmitelover