Homemade Fruit Sodas

Homemade Fruit Sodas

It is hot out, and we should all be drinking plenty of fluids. I drink a lot of water, but sometimes you want something other than water. When friends stop over, I want to offer them something more than just ice water. Alternatives might include fruit juice or soda pop. I sort of combined the two into a fruity, fizzy drink that is fun to drink. Not bad for you, either.

When it’s hot- and even when it’s not- cold, fizzy drinks are fun to drink. No special equipment is required to make these, and they are better for you than commercial soda pop. I use 2 ingredients- club soda and either concentrated fruit juice or fruit syrups. In every grocery store you can find juice concentrates in the freezer section. Just place a spoonful of the concentrated juice in your glass- add club soda and stir gently to mix. Add ice and serve. Ready when you want it.

One benefit is that you can control how much juice to add. Make it more or less sweet to suit your taste. Sometimes I add just a little, so it is more like infused water than soda. If you like it sweeter, fine.

You can also use fruit syrups- sold in lots of grocery stores and beverage stores. Read the label. The ones I buy have 2 ingredients- fruit juice- which is listed first and sugar which is listed second. That’s  it. No high fructose corn syrup or a bunch of artificial ingredients and most of what is in the bottle is juice.

I’ve make “soda” from frozen concentrated grape juice, orange juice, apple juice and pineapple juice. I’ve used fruit syrups made from blueberries, sour cherries, strawberries and blackberries.  You can use them individually or do combos. They are fun for kids to make, too.

Dress them up with fancy ice cubes. I add small pieces of fruit or mint leaves to ice cube trays and then fill with water and freeze.  Also nice when guests stop over.

Is this stuff better for you than water? I suppose not. I actually drink water most of the time and really like it. Sometimes we want something different. For me this is a nice option- fizzy fruit juice.