Guest Post: Apple Pie Sodas by Andrew Lepper

I regularly get emails about the book and questions from fellow soda makers and try to get answers to people as often as I can.
Along with this, I always welcome guest posts and today's post comes from Andrew Lepper.

An up-and-coming soda maker, Andrew has made syrups for his Sodastream and has moved on to bigger and better things.  Andrew was kind enough to share his recipe for all to follow.  I have not personally tried this recipe, but it looks like a pretty solid recipe to me for Apple Pie Flavored Soda, albeit a little on the sweeter side, but you never can tell when starting a new recipe using yeast.  This deviates significantly from my Apple Pie Soda recipe, but there's more than one way to get the job done.  If you have any questions for Andy, let me know and I will send them your way.

From Andy:

This is my first run at making my own homemade soda! I have dabbled in making syrups before simply for the soda stream, but I decided to take up the hobby of self-carbonating my own bottles using yeast. Here's the first recipe, summer-inspired. 

After brainstorming ideas on what my first trial should be, I landed on Apple Pie. I have tried a couple different Apple Pie sodas before and they were delicious! Here I will post two slightly-different recipes and give my reviews:

First of all, I made my own apple cider using this recipe.

Recipe 1: Apple Pie (Extra sweet) - Makes 4 liters
Ingredients:

• 2 cups pure cane sugar
• 3.25 cups water (divided)
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/8 tsp champagne yeast
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Dissolve sugar with 1/4 cup of water, bringing to a boil.
2. Add 2 more cups of water, the vanilla, and the cider. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes.
3. While simmering, mix the yeast with 1 cup warm water. (Not too hot or you'll kill the yeast). Let that sit for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
​4. After the syrup mixture cools, pour the yeast mix in. Stir and separate into two 2-Liter bottles.
5. Add room-temperature water, give the bottles a good shake, then let sit for 1-2 days or until the bottle is firm from carbonation.
​6. After the soda is well-carbonated, store in the fridge to keep yeast dormant.

This soda turned out very well, yet very sweet! I forgot to add a teaspoon of lemon juice so when I drink it, I would usually add a couple drops to my cup, though this wasn't an issue for anyone else who tried it. The soda itself makes for an amazing ice cream float!

For the second recipe, I did not change much. Therefore, instead of typing up the recipe over again, I'll just list the differences:

Apple Pie # 2
Instead of using 2 cups white sugar I used:

• 1 cup pure cane sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey

I think this helped add a fuller flavor to the syrup.
And of course, I added 1 tsp lemon juice for the second boil.

Changing the ingredients didn't make too drastic of a change to the final product. The lemon made the drink slightly less sweet, however still pretty sweet. The change of sugar also added a nice hint of fuller, darker flavor.
These recipes are very similar. If you want to try it, just choose which one is easier and more appealing to you.