A splash of nostalgia

Once upon a time, not so terribly long ago, sodas used to be something special.

They were the ultimate treat on a hot summer day, especially when the tall, slender bottles – real glass ones! – were iced down in a galvanized tub.

But for the last few decades, chilled cans and plastic bottles of sugary, corn syrup-sweetened fizz have been available just about anywhere, any time of day, and what was once the thrill of soda sipping has fallen a little flat. Until now.

Homemade, artisanal sodas are making the effervescent elixirs exciting again. It’s hardly a surprise that soft drinks have joined the trendy DIY revolution. Do it yourself and you control the ingredients and sugar content. You reduce the environmental impact of those cans and bottles. And the flavor possibilities are limitless.

Who could resist such flavors as raspberry-lime, grapefruit-rhubarb and cherry-basil?

Some Bay Area chefs and mixologists started making their own sodas out of a desire to serve beverages that live up to the credo of their locally sourced, organic menus.

“People are really happy when they can find a soda that’s naturally good and doesn’t have the corn syrup in it,” says Dan Mayer, operations manager at Berkeley’s Revival Bar & Kitchen.

Revival’s head bartender, Nat Harry, changes the soda flavor frequently based upon what’s available at the farmers market, often using the same ingredients the restaurant’s pastry chef uses in desserts. A recent creation – a honey-sweetened, grapefruit-rhubarb soda – was a big hit with customers.

At Scratch in downtown Mountain View, Calif., general manager Saeed Amini decided to dispense with that old bar standby, the soda gun, altogether. Instead, the menu features a lemon grass soda that’s lightly sweet and ultimately refreshing. House-made ginger ale is up next.

“Fresh sodas from fresh ingredients just taste better,” Amini says.

Making your own sodas at home isn’t as far-fetched or high-tech as it sounds. Before the Industrial Revolution, people frequently made their own root beers, ciders and other beverages at home, according to Andy Schloss, author of the just-published “Homemade Sodas” (Storey Publishing, 336 pages, $18.95).

In the early 1800s, scientists figured out how to carbonate water, and the soda fountain was born. Within a few years, people were adding fruit-flavored syrups to the carbonated fizz.

Eventually, soda makers began creating their own secret recipes and that, coupled with manufacturing advances in bottling and capping, turned soda making into a large industrial process. It also shrouded the endeavor with an air of mystery, leading many to believe that making carbonated beverages is difficult.

“I’ve never worked at a restaurant that made its own sodas,” says Sarah Bondick, bar manager at Berkeley’s Gather restaurant. Now, she makes lemon-lime, ginger and hibiscus-jasmine sodas.

“I never realized how not-complicated it was,” she says.

In fact, it’s so simple, Schloss says, it’s a great project to do with kids.

“You can show them how things are made,” he says.

Why would anyone choose to ingest artificial flavors, when all a real fruit soda requires is a homemade fruit syrup – pureed fruit or juice simmered with sugar or honey — and carbonated water?

For Scratch’s lemon grass soda, for example, Amini makes simple syrup – equal parts sugar and water – on the stove and infuses it with bruised stalks of lemon grass. Then he adds sparkling or mineral water.

If you want to concoct your own flavor combinations, Schloss says, add an element of tartness to the mix.

“Tartness has a lot to do with sodas being refreshing,” he says.

Schloss adds a lime syrup to his raspberry rickey, for example, and fresh lemon to his cherry-basil refresher. Citrus is a natural in sodas, but ginger also mixes well with many ingredients.

In some recipes, Schloss even includes vinegar, a popular 19th century addition that’s becoming trendy again.

Deciding how to carbonate the syrups is probably the most difficult thing about making sodas at home. The easiest method, of course, is to buy seltzer or soda water at the store and simply mix it with the syrup.

Revival makes its sodas with seltzer from Seltzer Sisters, a Bay Area-based company whose motto is, “To pour is human, to spritz is divine.”

Other options are soda siphons or other soda systems that can be purchased at kitchen stores or online for as little as $50, or up to $150 or more. The drawback to these is that you have buy replacement carbonation cartridges, which aren’t expensive but are sometimes difficult to find.

For those bitten hard by the soda-making bug, Schloss’ book also includes recipes for brewing root beers and colas, a more involved process involving fermentation. It’s one that works best, he says, with more complex flavors, rather than the simple, clean flavors of fruit.

Whichever method you use, make sure you serve it well-iced and accompanied by a little pomp and pizazz. Homemade sodas are, after all, something special.

Lemon Grass Soda

From Saeed Amini, Scratch, Mountain View, Calif.

4 stalks lemon grass

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Soda water or seltzer, chilled

Bruise the lemon grass stalks by hitting them with the flat side of a knife. Cut into smaller lengths to fit in your pan.

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, then turn heat to low and add sugar and lemon grass, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let lemon grass simmer about 30 minutes over very low heat.

Remove from heat and let the mixture cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours with lemon grass still in it.

Strain out lemon grass. Add 2 ounces lemon grass syrup to a glass and top with 6 ounces cold soda water or seltzer. Stir to combine. Serve iced.

Alternatively, put lemon grass syrup, soda and ice in a cocktail shaker and mix, then pour into a glass and serve.

Yield: 1 serving

Raspberry Lime Rickey

From Andrew Schloss, “Homemade Sodas” (Storey Publishing, 336 pages, $18.95).

1 cup raspberries

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 cup sugar

Seltzer, chilled

Lime wedges, to garnish

Mash raspberries in a small saucepan with a vegetable masher. Stir in the lime juice and sugar until combined. Warm over low heat, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and raspberries have released all their liquid.

Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature and then strain. This syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days, but is best used immediately.

Combine syrup and seltzer to taste. Garnish each serving with a lime wedge.

Yield: 3 servings

Cherry Basil Soda

Andrew Schloss, “Homemade Sodas.”

1 quart pitted, stemmed cherries

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Seltzer water, chilled

Combine cherries, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until cherries are soft and have released their juice. Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor. Stir in the basil and let cool.

Once the mixture is cool, strain it. You should have about 2 cups of juice. Stir in the lemon juice. The puree will keep in the refrigerator for two days, but is best used immediately.

Combine equal parts puree and seltzer in a tall glass (or adjust ratio to taste). Stir, just until blended. Add ice and serve.

You can also carbonate this mixture with a siphon: In a 1-quart soda siphon, combine 1 batch cherry puree with 2 cups water. Charge with CO2 according to manufacturer’s directions.

Siphon-charged sodas can be stored in the siphon in the refrigerator for up to five days. Dispense as desired into tall glasses filled with ice and serve.

Yield: 3 servings

Grapefruit Rhubarb Soda

From Nat Harry Revival Bar & Kitchen, Berkeley.

Rhubarb-honey syrup:

8 ounces chopped rhubarb, stems only

2 cups water

Orange blossom honey (or any mildly flavored honey)

Soda mixture:

2 ounces freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

1 ounce rhubarb-honey syrup

6 ounces seltzer

Grapefruit rind twist, garnish

Combine the rhubarb and water in a saucepan and poach for about 25 minutes, until rhubarb has softened. Strain out the rhubarb stems, reserving the water.

Measure the water and add an equal amount of honey. Stir until honey has dissolved. (The syrup will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.)

Combine the grapefruit juice, 1 ounce rhubarb-honey syrup and seltzer in a glass and stir. Serve over ice with a twist of grapefruit rind, if desired.

Yield: 1 serving