July 18, 2014

Pinterest Recipe Challenge: Blue Bubblegum Soda

I need to make a confession. I'm a dude, and I use Pinterest.

In my defense, the place is getting a lot more dude friendly, so I know I'm not the only male using the site. When it first came out, I didn't understand what all the rage was about, and when it was referred to as a social media site, I was confused. At first glance I couldn't see that it was anything more than a bookmarking site and I thought it was appalling that our social communication had digressed from well scripted eloquent letters to sloppy, hasty emails, to the limited canvas of SMS messages and Twitter to the "let me show you because it's easier to explain it if I take a picture" of instagram, to being so lazy that we have to steal someone else's picture and say "This!" In order to make our point. Yeah, we can't even take our own pictures, now? Wow.

But I've come to see it as what it really is. A collection of things we wish we could do that someone else with a nicer camera has already done.

I have a board that I've chalked up as "recipe challenge" with the express purpose of attempting to make the sodas that others with nicer cameras have already made to see how they stack up. First up is kind of two fold. This is a recipe from Cherry Tea Cakes for blue bubble gum soda.
Blue bubble gum soda from Cherry Tea Cakes, clearly taken with a better camera.
Now, it's not specifically stated, but with a name like blue bubble gum soda, why would you not mention Jones? Bubble gum in my childhood was usually pink, so 'fess up. Tell it like it is. You're trying to do a Jones knock-off.

Basically the recipe is equal parts (by volume) gumballs and water, boiled to extract the flavor and sugar, then mixed with carbonated water to taste. Make sure you read the caveat about not letting the gum stick to the pan, it's important.

One thing that is interesting about this recipe is that at first glance it may seem like it's a natural thing; not using some artificial extract, but pulling the flavor straight from the source. But really? Where do the gumballs get it? Think about that for a minute. Why not just get a bubble gum flavor and some food coloring? It's the same thing, and without the mess. But oh well, every now and again we need to do things the hard way. I have a bubble gum flavor in my book using fruits and juices that mostly avoids extracts, if you want something more natural.

So here's the two fold part: how does the recipe turn out, and how does it compare to Jones? Here's my experience.

My attempt at blue bubble gum soda, taking on the competition.
The flavor is a bit flat. It pulls out enough from the gum without much problem, but the sweetness is lacking a bit. If I were a fan of bubble gum, and I'm not, and I were going to make this again I would definitely add some more sugar. Adding 1/4 cup of sugar per cup of gum seemed to do the trick, other than that, you'll probably subconsciously attempt to blow bubbles with this, because it tastes like bubble gum.

How does it compare with Jones? Jones has a bit more fruity flavor from the citric acid which makes it a more pleasant drink than I remember. In a taste test, I'd pick Jones every time. Which is not to say that you can't add in some citric acid to the homemade, that's easy enough, even if just in the form of lemon juice, it would perk it up.

So the takeaway? If you want to make your own, get your hands on some bubble gum flavor from somewhere like LorAnne's and skip the gooey mess. If you want something natural, use fruits. Or if you want a Jones, buy a Jones.


2 comments:

  1. Have you ever used stevia as a sweetener for your sodas?

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    Replies
    1. No, not yet. But I've been meaning to. The big thing for me right now that's holding me back is price. I get to the sweeteners in the grocery store and think, "Maybe I should try stevia or monk fruit extract today?" Then I look at prices and say, "Maybe I'll just buy this 10 lb. bag of sugar instead."

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