Bottled sparkling water has been commercially marketed in the United States since 1807, when advances in the production of glass bottles allowed the first natural spring waters to be sealed and sold, but back then mineral waters were consumed as medicine, not as refreshment. The notion of drinking sparkling water for pleasure is a fairly recent phenomenon.
Perrier, the sparkling water from Languedoc in the south of France, is largely given credit for starting the current bottled water craze in the United States. The Perrier company, named for Dr. Louis Perrier, who owned the spring for a brief period from 1898 to 1903, began selling bottled water in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century, and in 1976 Perrier water began selling in the States. By 1988, Perrier held 80 percent of the imported water market in the United States, and in that same year it introduced flavored sparkling waters.
Although all soft drinks are predominantly water, sparkling waters are in a class by themselves. They retain the beneficial aura of mineral water from natural springs, even when made from municipal water supplies. Most consumers view sparkling water as more healthful than sweet soda pops, and bottled-water manufacturers have followed suit by fortifying their products with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and natural extracts that claim to boost energy, fight disease, and reverse the signs of aging.
Though the old claim that natural spring waters have health-giving properties is a bit exaggerated, at the very least, water is our best source of hydration. If our essential animal requirement for water can be enhanced with the sensual allure of a little flavor or some carbonation and be amended by a few vitamins, our bodies are all the better for it.
The health benefits of natural sparkling mineral waters have been valued for nearly two thousand years. Typically, natural mineral water contains sulfur, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. By combining liquid supplements with natural flavors and carbonated water, you can create your own fortified water that delivers a full dose of all the minerals needed to maintain your bones, your cardiovascular health, and a strong immune system.
ENOUGH FOR 1 SERVING
Mix the liquid minerals, agave syrup, and lemon zest, stirring until blended.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the multimineral syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir briefly to combine. Add ice and serve.
The health benefits of vitamins were recognized long before we had names for them. Ancient Egyptians knew that eating liver cures night blindness (a symptom of vitamin A deficiency), and as early as 1614 physicians knew that the acid in certain fruits eliminates symptoms of scurvy, but it was not until the twentieth century that vitamins themselves were recognized and isolated. Although it’s possible to get all the vitamins you need by eating a balanced diet plentiful in fruits and vegetables, most of us can use a little help. Here’s a tasty beverage that will boost your vitamin intake with every glass.
ENOUGH FOR 1 SERVING
Mix the orange juice, liquid vitamins, honey, and orange zest, stirring until blended.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir briefly to combine. Add ice and serve.
Commercial energy drinks are loaded with sugar and stimulants, like caffeine and guarana. Although you can purchase stimulating chemicals and use them to make energy sodas at home, having a canister of pure caffeine in your house, especially if you have young children, is not a great idea: chemical stimulants are lethally toxic if consumed indiscriminately. With that in mind I offer you this formula for a homemade energy drink that contains the caffeine of a single cup of espresso (about 75 mg), the calories of an average soft drink (106 kcal), and a trace amount of protein.
ENOUGH FOR 1 SERVING
Mix the coffee, honey, and heavy cream, stirring until blended.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Slowly add the seltzer. When the mixture foams up, stir briefly to reduce the foam, and then add the remaining seltzer. Add ice and serve.
The flavor and health benefits of citrus come in two layers. The juice is bright and sweet, loaded with vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and natural sugar, and the peel has rich citrus oils containing limonene, which has been shown to help ward off cancer. This quickly prepared sparkling water gives you the flavor and health benefits of both.
ENOUGH FOR 1 SERVING
Mix the lime zest, lime juice, and syrup, stirring until blended.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the lime syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just to combine. Add ice and serve.
All legumes are good sources of protein, but the soybean is unusually well endowed. It has double the amount of protein as other beans, with a near perfect composition of amino acids for human consumption. And when the beans are soaked and ground, the resulting mash can be pressed to deliver soy milk: a translucent liquid dispersed with droplets of protein and fat similar to the structure of animal milk, but with fewer calories, less saturated fat, no cholesterol, and more protein. All of that is captured in this sweet soda.
ENOUGH FOR 1 SERVING
Mix the soy milk and syrup, stirring until blended.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the soy milk syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just to combine. Add ice and serve.
Fleur de sel, the delicate bloom that forms on the surface of seawater under the perfect alignment of sun and wind, finds its soulmate in buttery caramel candies. This ultimately decadent soda water is the quaffable incarnation of that pairing. The syrup requires a little work, so it’s most efficient to produce enough to make several glasses at once.
ENOUGH FOR 3 SERVINGS
Melt the sugar in a medium skillet over medium heat until pale golden, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the milk; the liquid will foam and bubble vigorously. Keep stirring until the caramelized sugar and milk are completely combined. If necessary, return the pan to medium heat to fully dissolve the sugar in the milk. Then let cool to room temperature and stir in the fleur de sel.
The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm to room temperature in a microwave or in a saucepan over low heat before mixing with seltzer.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
Hot peppers (Capsicum spp.) comprise a huge family of at least fifty thousand varieties, ranging from sweet pimientos to incendiary habañeros. Though hot pepper sauces are not quite as varied, there is still a huge range. Spice this soda to your preference, balancing the fire with some sweetness to bring out the fruity sweet and sour flavors of the hot sauce.
ENOUGH FOR 3 SERVINGS
Combine the hot pepper sauce and agave syrup and whisk together until smooth.
The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
TO CARBONATE WITH A SIPHON3 SERVINGS
Combine the water and syrup in a 1-quart soda siphon. Charge with CO2 according to the manufacturer’s directions. Siphon-charged sodas can be stored in the siphon in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Disperse as desired into tall glasses filled with ice, and serve.
Prepare the hot pepper syrup, then carbonate as desired.
Pour 11⁄2 ounces (3 tablespoons) vodka over ice cubes in a tall glass. Add 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) Blazing Inferno Chile Water and 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) tomato juice. Stir just until blended.
Prepare the hot pepper syrup, then carbonate as desired.
Pour 11⁄2 ounces (3 tablespoons) vodka over ice cubes in a wine glass. Add 4 ounces (1⁄2 cup) Blazing Inferno Chile Water. Stir just to combine. Garnish with lime.
Prepare the citrus syrup, then carbonate as desired.
Pour 11⁄2 ounces (3 tablespoons) vodka over ice cubes in a tall glass. Add 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) Zesty Sparkling Water and 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) orange juice. Stir just until blended.
Prepare the celery seed syrup, then carbonate as desired.
Pour 11⁄2 ounces (3 tablespoons) vodka over ice cubes in a tall glass. Add 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) Celrtzer and 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) tomato juice. Stir just until blended. Garnish with a celery stick.
Citrus zest oozes oils that yield all the citrus flavor and fragrance of the fruit without the acid. For this soda, citrus zest is steeped into a concentrated syrup. The recipe is written for three servings so that it fits easily into a 1-quart soda siphon, but if you want to make larger batches it can be multiplied. When you grate the zest from the citrus fruit, avoid the white pith under the skin, which can be bitter.
ENOUGH FOR 3 SERVINGS
Combine the water, sugar, and citrus zest in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and let simmer, uncovered, for 7 to 8 minutes, until the liquid reduces to one-third of its original volume (about 1⁄4 cup). Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain out the solids, reserving the liquid.
The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
TO CARBONATE WITH A SIPHON3 SERVINGS
Combine the water and syrup in a 1-quart soda siphon. Charge with CO2 according to the manufacturer’s directions. Siphon-charged sodas can be stored in the siphon in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Disperse as desired into tall glasses filled with ice, and serve.
Also see Mixology recipe for Sparkling Screwdriver.
Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray was first manufactured in 1869 in Brooklyn, New York. It was originally dubbed a “tonic,” though it is unlikely that the soda was ever therapeutic or that there ever was a Dr. Brown. Celery sodas are flavored with celery seed, sugar, and salt, and they are identified most closely with Jewish deli food, stemming from the days when the Dr. Brown products were the only kosher sodas. This sparkling celery soda is ever so slightly bitter and not too sweet. It is one of the most refreshing of soft drinks.
ENOUGH FOR 3 SERVINGS
Combine the water, celery seed, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and let simmer, uncovered, for 7 to 8 minutes, until reduced to about 1⁄4 cup. Strain out the solids, and set the syrup aside to cool.
The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
TO CARBONATE WITH A SIPHON3 SERVINGS
Combine the water and syrup in a 1-quart soda siphon. Charge with CO2 according to the manufacturer’s directions. Siphon-charged sodas can be stored in the siphon in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Disperse as desired into tall glasses filled with ice, and serve.
Also see Mixology recipe for Bubbling Bloody Mary.
The goji berry has been a sought-after medicinal fruit in Chinese medicine for six thousand years. It has reputed benefit for the eyes, muscles, liver, and immune system. Though its efficacy is still debated, lab tests have shown goji to have high levels of the antioxidants beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein, lycopene, and xanthophylls. Goji has a pronounced sweet-tart flavor, a little like that of sweetened cranberries.
ENOUGH FOR 3 SERVINGS
Combine the goji juice, agave syrup, and vinegar, and whisk together until smooth.
The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Note: Goji juice can be fairly pricey. If you want to save some money, you can make a facsimile of goji juice by pouring 1 cup boiling water over 1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped dried goji berries and letting the berries steep until the infusion cools to room temperature. Then strain out the solids, reserving the liquid.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
TO CARBONATE WITH A SIPHON3 SERVINGS
Combine the water and syrup in a 1-quart soda siphon. Charge with CO2 according to the manufacturer’s directions. Siphon-charged sodas can be stored in the siphon in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Disperse as desired into tall glasses filled with ice, and serve.
Dark brown, oily, and pungent, cardamom seeds emit an intoxicating aroma of camphor, eucalyptus, and lemon when bruised with a mallet. In this recipe, that palate-expanding experience is captured in honey syrup.
ENOUGH FOR 3 SERVINGS
Spread the cardamom pods in a single layer on a solid work surface. Pound the pods with a hammer, meat pounder, or small heavy skillet until the pods are crushed and the cardamom seeds inside are bruised.
Combine the crushed cardamom pods, honey, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and let simmer, uncovered, for 4 to 5 minutes, until the liquid reduces to one-third of its original volume (about 1⁄4 cup). Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Strain out the solids, reserving the liquid.
The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
TO CARBONATE WITH A SIPHON3 SERVINGS
Combine the water and syrup in a 1-quart soda siphon. Charge with CO2 according to the manufacturer’s directions. Siphon-charged sodas can be stored in the siphon in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Disperse as desired in tall glasses filled with ice, and serve.
Heady vanilla notes blend with the caramel flavor of tropical coconut palm sugar in this inspired combination. The palm sugar and vanilla reinforce each other’s perfumes, resulting in a subtle flavor and intoxicating aroma.
ENOUGH FOR 3 SERVINGS
Combine the water, vanilla bean, and palm sugar in a small saucepan, and stir well. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves; let simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes, until the syrup is reduced to 1⁄3 cup.
Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Remove the vanilla bean, and scrape the seeds from the pod into the syrup.
The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
TO CARBONATE WITH A SIPHON3 SERVINGS
Combine the water and syrup in a 1-quart soda siphon. Charge with CO2 according to the manufacturer’s directions. Siphon-charged sodas can be stored in the siphon in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Disperse as desired into tall glasses filled with ice, and serve.
The season for fresh lychees is short, about a month in the middle of the summer, but canned lychees work perfectly well in this beverage, which is honey-sweet (from the natural sugars in the lychee) and ever so slightly tangy (from slices of pickled ginger). Lychees are rich in vitamin C.
ENOUGH FOR 1 SERVING
Muddle the lychees and ginger in the bottom of a tall glass.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Add the seltzer to the muddled fruit and stir briefly to combine. Add ice and serve.
Moxie Soda originated as Moxie Nerve Food in 1876, created by Dr. Augustin Thompson from an unnamed tropical plant (turns out it was gentian root) he claimed had been discovered by his (fictitious) friend Lieutenant Moxie. This herbal panacea was advertised as a medication to guard against “paralysis, softening of the brain, nervousness, and insomnia.” The original version was not carbonated, but in 1884 sparkling water was added to the formula, and Moxie was soon distributed in bottles and through soda fountains. Calvin Coolidge drank Moxie, as did Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams. The Catawissa Bottling Company of Pennsylvania is the current producer of Moxie.
A ripe honeydew melon is hard to find. That’s because these melons do not ripen further after being harvested and do not travel well after ripening. Look for melons that have a creamy yellow (rather than pale green) cast to the skin and a pronounced honeydew aroma. If you can’t find a ripe specimen, you can substitute watermelon. Either way, this naturally sweet sparkling water is one of the most refreshing summer beverages imaginable.
ENOUGH FOR 4 SERVINGS
Mash the honeydew and mint leaves with a vegetable masher into a loose, wet purée. Set a strainer over a small bowl and scrape the purée into the strainer, so that it drains into the bowl below. Stir the purée gently as it strains to get as much liquid through as possible without forcing any solids into the strained liquid. Discard the solids, and stir the salt into the liquid.
The purée can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, but it is best to use it immediately.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the juice into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
MixologyPrepare the honeydew juice as described above, then carbonate with seltzer.
Add 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) vodka and 1 teaspoon honey to a glass of Honeydew Mint Seltzer.
Rose water, a steam-distilled elixir of rose petals, is to Middle Eastern cooking what vanilla is to Western cooking. A frequent ingredient in baking and sweet beverages, it has an ethereal fragrance that is at once innocent and intoxicating, and highly exotic to the uninitiated American palate. The floral aroma is quite subtle and blends beautifully with the slightly musky notes of honey. Think of this recipe as the foreign-born cousin of vanilla-scented cream soda.
ENOUGH FOR 1 SERVING
Mix the rose water and honey, stirring until blended.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
More noble potables owe their pedigree to grapes than to any other fruit, yet all but a few are decidedly alcoholic, since the sugar in grapes is highly susceptible to fermentation. In this grape-infused soft drink, the natural sugars of grapes are amended with a few raisins (drying the grapes concentrates the sugars) and then tamed with a hint of white wine vinegar (the acidic fermentation of grape juice). The combined effect is barely sweet and tongue-tinglingly grapey.
ENOUGH FOR 4 SERVINGS
Combine 1⁄2 cup grape juice and the raisins in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then remove from the heat and let cool, about 30 minutes. Strain out the raisins and combine the raisin-flavored grape juice with the remaining 21⁄4 cups grape juice and the vinegar.
The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
MixologyPrepare the grape syrup as described above, then carbonate with seltzer.
Add 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) vodka to a glass of Barely Sweet White Grape Water.
Chocolate soda water may be an acquired taste, but the mutual attraction of chocolate and mint registers so naturally on the palate, and the mentholated refreshment of mint beverages is so universal, that concocting a sparkling water of chocolate and mint seemed worth a try. It proved to be far more seductive than I ever anticipated. The chocolate is embracing and warm, the mint aerating and cool, and the carbonation tickles and nudges everyone to play together nicely.
ENOUGH FOR 3 SERVINGS
Combine the cocoa, mint, and sugar in a small saucepan. Add the water and whisk until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let simmer for 1 minute, then remove from the heat, let cool, and strain out the solids.
This syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
TO MIX WITH SELTZER1 SERVING
Pour the syrup into a tall glass. Add the seltzer and stir just until blended. Add ice and serve.
TO CARBONATE WITH A SIPHON3 SERVINGs
Combine the water and syrup in a 1-quart soda siphon. Charge with CO2 according to the manufacturer’s directions. Siphon-charged sodas can be stored in the siphon in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Disperse as desired into tall glasses filled with ice, and serve.
