Making soda at home with a SodaStream has become quite popular. Although SodaStream offers soda syrup flavors you can purchase, and there are a few other avenues for purchasing syrups, making homemade syrups is quite easy and can offer hundreds of creative options. Instead of artificial flavors, you can use real ingredients.
It is actually very easy to make your own homemade syrup for the SodaStream, and there are several good books for the home soda-making enthusiast, which offer recipes both traditional and inventive. But, what if you just want to make a quick and easy fruit flavored soda similar to a grocery store brand, and you don’t care about using “real” ingredients? You’ll be amazed how easy it is.
Recommended: Homemade Soda: 200 Recipes for Making & Using Fruit Sodas
Kool-Aid, Meet Soda Stream
SodaStream, among its syrup flavors, now offers Kool-Aid brand syrups. You don’t have to pay a premium for a Kool-Aid soda syrup, though. It is so simple to make at home you can pretty much always have a basic cherry, strawberry, grape, orange, lemonade, tropical punch, blue raspberry, or any other Kool-Aid flavor you desire. After you find out how easy this is to do, you will feel silly purchasing any artificially flavored soda syrup to use with your home soda maker.
Of course, you can also add your own touches to the basic flavors. For example, you’ll find a touch of vanilla goes well with cherry. At 25 cents a pack in the grocery store, the most expensive thing about Kool-Aid soda syrup is the sugar. Here is how to do it:
Homemade Kool-Aid Soda-Syrup for Soda Stream
First, you’ll need a container in which to store your soda syrup. A plastic soda bottle works fine, or any sealable container you can easily pour from. If you use a soda bottle, just make sure to wash it out well with soapy water, and rinse well. I’d recommend you only use a soda bottle once to store syrup, and once it is done, use a “new” one for the next batch.
For the syrup, have on hand one pack of Kool-Aid in whatever flavor you’d like. Also have ready a large Pyrex glass measuring cup or another spouted vessel for pouring, or a food-grade funnel.
Now, make a simple syrup using the instructions here at CulinaryLore. One pack of Kool-Aid makes a 2 cup recipe. So, for your syrup, use 2 cups of water and 2 cups of granulated sugar. You can double or triple the recipe from there.
There are three types of syrups to choose, and for your soda, you’ll want to make a thick syrup. You do not need to allow the syrup to thicken, just let it come to a boil. Once all the sugar is dissolved, add the packet of Kool-Aid and carefully stir it into the syrup until all the powder is dissolved and the syrup has a nice clear consistency again.
That’s it. Your syrup is done. You can allow the syrup to cool in the pan, or carefully transfer it to the large Pyrex measuring vessel. The syrup should cool to room temperature before you pour it into your bottle for storage. If you are using the glass measuring vessel with a spout, or some other spouted container, you should be able to pour the syrup right into the bottle. If you are pouring the syrup from the pan, you’ll need a funnel. If you’d feel more comfortable, of course, use a funnel regardless. Once the syrup is in the bottle, cap the bottle tightly and store in the refrigerator. It will keep for months, if not longer.
How to Use Your Homemade Soda Syrup
If you own a SodaStream, you probably already know how to make a bottle of soda water using one of the included SodaStream bottles. Make a bottle of carbonated water, as fizzy as you like it (3 “buzzes” are good). Remember, the water should be filled to the fill line.
To flavor the soda, pour out 3/4 to 1 cup of the carbonated water. Now, pour in some of your Kool-Aid soda syrup until the bottle is almost full. You don’t need to worry about the fill line, that’s only for carbonating the water. The amount of carbonated water you pour out, and the amount of syrup you add, depends on your personal preference for flavor intensity and sweetness, but start with removing 3/4 cups of water and then almost filling the bottle with the syrup, leaving about an inch of space at the top. Cap the bottle tightly and gently invert or roll the bottle several times to mix the syrup. No need to shake vigorously. Your soda is ready to pour over ice and enjoy!
Kool-Aid syrup can be used to make single glasses of Kool-Aid for the kids, or for blender ice “slushy” drinks.
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