Sodastreams have gotten a lot of hate and aren’t the healthiest, but I like mine and it works well to replace soda
I am not a fan of the syrups you find in stores, so I make our flavors
The options are limitless!
We have our favorites
My husband loves the blue raspberry and I love the Strawberry and blueberry lemonade
One of my kids just loves anything surgery and the other isn’t a fan of carbonation
It costs us less than $10 a month in CO2 and we are not shy about making these drinks
Other than that, its just the cost for flavors
The blue raspberry flavoring is $8 and lasts for a long time
Mine is a little more expensive but not terrible since I don’t drink soda often anymore
Once you have the simple syrup down, the flavor possibilities are endless
So have fun!
Can you put something other than water in a sodastream?
It is not recommended to put anything except water in your sodastream, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have flavor in your drinks. You just need to add the flavor after carbonation
I am not a fan of carbonated water
The best way to explain it is drinking TV static
if you know, you know!
So I was disappointed when i was gifted a sodastream and found out that you can only put water in it
Then I got excited again to find out about flavors!
Then I got disappointed again when I tried the flavors
It was a roller coaster!
Finally, I tried to make my own syrup and I have been experimenting ever since!
What can you use to flavor sodastream water?
There are three major choices that I have found to flavor your freshly carbonated water
- Premade syrups by Sodastream
- Juice concentrate
- Simple syrups
My favorite is the simple syrup because there are so many possibilities!
If you use juice concentrate, you use half the thawed frozen container per bottle
And I recommend using dark colored flavors
You need enough flavor to overpower the CO2 taste, and the light colored concentrates just don’t do it well
My least favorite option is the store bought flavors
They are expensive and not great, in my opinion
Since I mainly use homemade simple syrup to flavor our drinks, I will focus on that
How I make my syrups
The basics of making simple syrup is the same
Then you just add flavors that you want
I use fruit a lot in my syrups, then I use the leftovers to make fruit leather
There is a lot of sugar in using simple syrup, but it is less than soda, doesn’t have additives, and costs less
Basic syrup recipe:
The basics of simple syrup is just two ingredients
Water and sugar
I have heard that you can use honey and maple syrup instead of sugar, but I haven’t tried it yet
You put equal parts water and sugar in a pot and heat until the sugar is fully dissolved
And that is it for a basic simple syrup!
But I don’t just make the basic syrup because I want more flavor
Our favorite flavors are:
- “Blue” raspberry
- Strawberry and blueberry lemonade
I put blue in quotes because it isn’t blue
The blue is actually food coloring
I don’t add it because it isn’t needed
So it comes out clear
I am using the powdered lemonade mix right now but I am working on figuring out how to replace that
Blue raspberry flavor
To make the blue raspberry syrup, you need:
- 2 cups Water
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1.25 tsp Raspberry Bakery emulsion
You start by mixing the water and the sugar in a pot
Heat until the sugar is fully dissolved
Turn off the heat and add the raspberry emulsion
Allow syrup to cool before putting it in a container
I like to use glass jars
Keep in the fridge until use
When you are ready to use, carbonate the water by filling the liter bottles to the fill line
Attach the bottle to the sodastream and carbonate by pressing the button 4 times for 1 second at a time
Remove the bottle and slowly pour between a quarter cup and a half cup of the syrup
Or just to taste
Put the cap on and gently flip the bottle to mix
Store in the fridge and drink cold!
This is my husband’s favorite
Strawberry and blueberry lemonade
Making the fruit syrup takes a little longer and you will need a cheesecloth
To make the Strawberry and blueberry syrup, you add equal parts fruit to the water and sugar
I want to test using lemon in this step instead of the powder later but I haven’t yet
You will need:
- 0.5 cup blueberries
- 0.5 cup strawberries
- 1 cup of water
- 1 cup of sugar
Add all the ingredients to a pot and bring to a light boil
Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes
Mash and mix the fruit and liquid periodically with a potato masher
When the 15 minutes is done, turn off the heat and allow to cool completely
Don’t skip this
It adds flavor and prevents burns in the next step
Line a 2 cup measuring cup with a cheesecloth and pour the syrup through it
Strain as much of the syrup from the pulp as you can
Same the pulp to make fruit leather and pour the syrup into a container
I use a jar
Keep in the fridge until ready to use
When you are ready to use, carbonate the water by filling the liter bottles to the fill line
Attach the bottle to the sodastream and carbonate by pressing the button 4 times for 1 second at a time
Remove the bottle and add instant lemonade powder according to the directions
Then add a quarter cup of the Strawberry and blueberry syrup (or until you like the taste)
Put the cap on and gently turn the bottle to mix
I find this tastes better if I leave it in the fridge for an hour and mix again before drinking
You can also leave out the lemonade to make a Strawberry blueberry drink
If you do that, you’ll need between a half and whole cup of the fruit syrup
You can exchange the fruit for any fruit as well
So have fun with the flavors and try combinations as well!
