Okay thanks. I also note that sellers on ebay are selling genuine coca cola, coke zero and other genuine syrups. Its not cheap though and its in a large plastic bag in a box.

toria wrote:Okay thanks. I also note that sellers on ebay are selling genuine coca cola, coke zero and other genuine syrups. Its not cheap though and its in a large plastic bag in a box.

You can get 2.5 gal "bag in the box" Coca Cola post-mix syrup at Sam's Club and GFS, among other places.

In the old days, you could buy it in one gallon jugs.

Thanks. I am not a member of Sams but I see a GFS is not far from where I live. I assume you do not have to be a member there.

How would one handle a bag in the box of Coke syrup at home? Decant in another bottle, maybe wash out an old soda stream bottle and refill it? How long will coke syrup keep? Should it be put in the refrigerator? I am thinking I would buy it if I did not like the soda stream offerings. It might take so long though to use it due to my small family of cola drinkers.

GFS is a great place that does not require membership.
Watch the prices though, some are great, many you can get cheaper at the dollar store for the same quality. Not to mention regular groceries. You will be amazed at the markup at your local shopping mall eatery when you see GFS delivering (In my case, Bayshore mall, Glendale, WI. Kudos to my kid who in front of a manager once stated "This was cheap at GFS, why are these people who get deliveries from them making a 500% markup?")

As to the sodastream, yes, get one. I had a unit from a texas brewer that involved a huge CO2 tank, a regulator and fittings. Far cheaper than a soda stream, but a PIA. (pain in the....) My wife/kid use the sodastream (wife for cola, kid for fruit juice)

Well its on the way. I do hope it will not be too big and will fit somewhere in my small kitchen. I also hope it will stop me from having to lug bottles or cans back and forth from the store. Would love to make a fresh lime soda with some nice fizzy stuff....very refreshing. And I am hoping the soda stream syrups are good...I am not sure I will have much patience for shopping around for alternatives unless they are dead easy and cost effective to get. I buy all my coffee on line and it has not been a pain.

jlawrence01 wrote:You can get 2.5 gal "bag in the box" Coca Cola post-mix syrup at Sam's Club and GFS, among other places.

But GFS won't sell it to you without a retail business account.

toria wrote:And I am hoping the soda stream syrups are good.

What I've tasted at demos at Costco doesn't thrill me. For one, all of their syrups (except the "Sparkling Naturals") have artificial sweeteners in them (Acesulfame and Sucralose). I'd rather come up with a formula that is overall less sweet, or at least cane sweetened.

Has anyone tried to make OpenCola?

While there are many issues over the soda stream, may I suggest this as a they are great?
1) despite cheaper solutions, far cheaper solutions, this is easy.
2) the soda stream allows many folks to experiment
3) the last time I needed an alternative that required a pressure check, it was not exactly unexpensive.
The alternatives that I have done, including soda tanks no longer allowed due to "issues" from a "dutch?" Soda distribution network

toria wrote:Thanks. I am not a member of Sams but I see a GFS is not far from where I live. I assume you do not have to be a member there.

How would one handle a bag in the box of Coke syrup at home? Decant in another bottle, maybe wash out an old soda stream bottle and refill it? How long will coke syrup keep? Should it be put in the refrigerator? I am thinking I would buy it if I did not like the soda stream offerings. It might take so long though to use it due to my small family of cola drinkers.

We would keep the one gallon jugs for a few years ...

I would sterilize the container first.

exvaxman wrote:GFS is a great place that does not require membership.
Watch the prices though, some are great, many you can get cheaper at the dollar store for the same quality. Not to mention regular groceries. You will be amazed at the markup at your local shopping mall eatery when you see GFS delivering (In my case, Bayshore mall, Glendale, WI. Kudos to my kid who in front of a manager once stated "This was cheap at GFS, why are these people who get deliveries from them making a 500% markup?")

The TRUE mission of GFS is to service the Gordon Food Service WHOLESALE customers. They have these stores so that food service operators can obtain their "stock outs" as their Grand Rapids warehouse will take two days to service your immediate needs. This would put them at a DISADVANTAGE to their competitors who have more warehouses.

I have been out of the business for years. However, when we would purchase from the GFS Marketplace stores, we used to get our standard contract prices as opposed to the retail price.

Thanks for all the helpful tips all. In looking at Joel's link it appears that orange flavor is a major component of coke, real and otherwise. I figured cinnamon and some of the other ingredients but the orange is a surprise to me. All in all I doubt whether I will mess around with making something like this for the sstream although it would be a fun project. Regarding the sugar factor, I have long abandoned the idea of not using artificial sweetners and losing or maintaining weight. Unfortunately they are a necessary evil. The question is which one and how to effectively sweeten any soda stream product if not using a premade mix.

toria wrote:I figured cinnamon and some of the other ingredients but the orange is a surprise to me.

I know, right?

If someone came out and said, "Coca-Cola is basically just orange and cinnamon" I'd laugh. But once you know that, you can kind of taste it (especially in Mexicoke or KFP Coke for some reason -- the HFCS seems to mask the flavors more).
My gut tells me that Pepsi is more lemony than orangey.

I thought maybe prunes too but I think that is Dr. Pepper. It has a pruney kind of taste to me. Well it will be fun experimenting. Maybe Joel will make some open coke syrup and we can buy it from him.

By the way has anyone experimented with Monin, Torani or Da Vinci Syrups with the soda stream?

I'll tell you what I'd love to get my hands on. And that is the lemon flavoring they use at Johnnie's for the lemon italian ice. That stuff is so lemony and addictive its like a lemon party in your mouth....I bet its totally fake though and artificial. Still, love it.

JoelF wrote:

toria wrote:I figured cinnamon and some of the other ingredients but the orange is a surprise to me.

I know, right?

If someone came out and said, "Coca-Cola is basically just orange and cinnamon" I'd laugh. But once you know that, you can kind of taste it (especially in Mexicoke or KFP Coke for some reason -- the HFCS seems to mask the flavors more).
My gut tells me that Pepsi is more lemony than orangey.

This American Life did an episode on trying to recreate the Coke recipe. They used a version that was printed in an Atlanta paper some time ago and went to Sovereign Flavors, the company that develops Jones Soda's oddball flavors to help recreate the recipe. One of their modifications was to reduce the amount of lemon, lime and orange oils because the extraction process 100+ years ago was less efficient and yielded weaker extracts. Worth a listen:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-a ... nal-recipe

Has anybody tried putting some fizz into a wine? I never drink soda pop, but the idea of a sparkling vermouth kind of intrigues me.

The soda stream makes carbonated water which goes into a bottle. I imagine you could mix it with wine and you would have a spritzer. I love to drink white wine spritzers with lime in the summer. I think a spritzer with wine would be very good.

toria wrote:The soda stream makes carbonated water which goes into a bottle. I imagine you could mix it with wine and you would have a spritzer. I love to drink white wine spritzers with lime in the summer. I think a spritzer with wine would be very good.

You can put whatever liquid you want into the bottle and inject CO2 into it. SodaStream suggests that you only use water, but you don't have to. I had a sparkling Negroni recently (can't remember where) that was made this way.

Darren I do not know if this is true but some people say never put anything into the bottle first as it could "explode". Maybe this just applies to the syrups but not liquor.

toria wrote:Darren I do not know if this is true but some people say never put anything into the bottle first as it could "explode". Maybe this just applies to the syrups but not liquor.

The first time I carbonated something other than water, a bit of the liquid shot out of the bottle. So, yeah, if you use something other than water, start with less carbonation than you'd use for plain water and adjust as you go. Trial and error.

Darren72 wrote:

toria wrote:The soda stream makes carbonated water which goes into a bottle. I imagine you could mix it with wine and you would have a spritzer. I love to drink white wine spritzers with lime in the summer. I think a spritzer with wine would be very good.

You can put whatever liquid you want into the bottle and inject CO2 into it. SodaStream suggests that you only use water, but you don't have to. I had a sparkling Negroni recently (can't remember where) that was made this way.

The rate at which the CO2 is absorbed varies depending on the acidity/alkalinity (Ph) of the liquid, so it's always best to carbonate water.

A large box was delivered to my door today by FEDEX. I had to sign for it because I guess the co 2 cartridge is considered hazardous for shipping. It contained the black Fizz soda stream, one bottle, a sampler pack and 2 large bottles of syrup by Crystal light for soda stream. I have already washed the bottle and the water is chilling. I will try it tonight. I will probably try pink grapefruit or cranberry raspberry first. I will be drinking fresh lime with soda in future days.

I just wish these manufacturers would look at peoples kitchen dimensions. Why the penchant for making things so tall? Its about a half inch too high to easily slip under my cabinets. I can fit it if I tip it a bit and then straighten it which is good. Fortunately its very lightweight and does not have a plug. That was a big selling point to me. It uses no electricity or batteries. Maybe a small battery for the fizz detector but not to power the machine. On another note I did like the penguin version of the soda stream. A shorter more designery like model it also uses elegant glass bottles but I could not justify the price which was double what I paid.

Now to find some coupons from bed bath and beyond and to buy more bottles and some coke zero syrup. I would also like the try the natural blackberry pear.

Soda stream is a success. I made a bottle of cranberry raspberry. I think its good. I like the super fizzy nature of it. Love super fizzy carbonation. Will be great for fresh lime soda. Hope the stuff keeps well in the bottle. Also bought Mio drops today. Looking forward to trying more flavors. Fits good in the kitchen. Small footprint.

toria wrote:Soda stream is a success. I made a bottle of cranberry raspberry. I think its good. I like the super fizzy nature of it. Love super fizzy carbonation. Will be great for fresh lime soda. Hope the stuff keeps well in the bottle. Also bought Mio drops today. Looking forward to trying more flavors. Fits good in the kitchen. Small footprint.

Glad you're enjoying it, toria. I've had mine for two years and I love it. No more hauling bottles from the store, and no more hauling empties to recycling. And I never run out. One thing to consider is when you pop into BB&B is get yourself a second CO2 cartridge. That way, when one dies, another one is close at hand, and you don't have to panic about getting to the store to replace it. It's a lot more leisurely. They probably told you this, but just in case -- you don't toss out your old CO2 cartridges -- you trade them in. That saves you $15 per cartridge.

Enjoy.

Thanks Cynthia for the tips. I am so glad I am not going to haul bottles and glad to have a lower sodium and non aspartame choice for soda not to mention the plain selzer you can mix with lemon or lime for a healthy choice. I did find that when I added the syrup it tends to overflow with the fizzies so I have to master that.

I am going to go to BBB next week to get some cola zero syrup and a couple of extra bottles and a cartridge. Will take coupon.

The Target near my house has started carrying the cartridge refills. It's a lot more convenient for me than BB&B.

If you have a shopko nearby, they often have soda stream syrup and accessories on sale.
I regret to say that the only place I have seen their tonic water is at sur Le table.

exvaxman wrote:If you have a shopko nearby, they often have soda stream syrup and accessories on sale.
I regret to say that the only place I have seen their tonic water is at sur Le table.

Did you say tonic water? If that could be made in the Soda Stream, it would be worth a look -- we keep a lot of that on hand (NOT diet version).

sdbond wrote:

exvaxman wrote:If you have a shopko nearby, they often have soda stream syrup and accessories on sale.
I regret to say that the only place I have seen their tonic water is at sur Le table.

Did you say tonic water? If that could be made in the Soda Stream, it would be worth a look -- we keep a lot of that on hand (NOT diet version).

Go artisanal:

http://www.amazon.com/Tomrs-Handcrafted ... _sbs_gro_1

or value-driven:

http://www.amazon.com/Williams-Co-Tonic ... _sbs_gro_8

toria wrote:Thanks Cynthia for the tips. I am so glad I am not going to haul bottles and glad to have a lower sodium and non aspartame choice for soda not to mention the plain selzer you can mix with lemon or lime for a healthy choice. I did find that when I added the syrup it tends to overflow with the fizzies so I have to master that.

I am going to go to BBB next week to get some cola zero syrup and a couple of extra bottles and a cartridge. Will take coupon.

You may have already discovered this, but again, just in case -- they have natural essences of orange, lemon-lime, or berry that you can add to the water -- no sweetener at all, just a subtle back note of flavor for your soda water. Quite lovely. It's not in the large plastic bottles; it's in a three-pack of small, glass bottles. You just use 1/2 tsp. per bottle, so it lasts a while.

Give up all carbonated drinks...regular or diet. Drink WATER....plain. I'm telling you, the stuff is killing us.

razbry wrote:Drink WATER....plain.

Because carbonated water is also killing us?