Recipe 28: Jamaica Sunrise

So some caveats on this recipe before I begin:

This has nothing to do with the island of Jamaica, sorry.
This is not to be confused with the Jamaican Sunrise cocktail, sorry.
It's a soda, so it's not necessarily for breakfast, sorry.

If you've ever frequented a tacqueria, particularly a mom-and-pop type, you've likely been greeted by a deep red agua fresca that's labeled with the word "Jamaica".  I'm not sure of the origins, but I know it's tasty.  It's fruity; bearing a slight resemblance to tamarind with a subtle, ever-present floral note.  However, it's made from the bright red hibiscus flower.  Yeah, you know, the stereotypical tropical flower that adorns everything from tahitian dancers to board shorts.

While a straight up Jamaica recipe is a great candidate for carbonation on its own, I wanted to add a little something extra.  I don't know how I settled on adding orange, but doesn't that sound like the perfect breakfast drink?  A nice glass of orange juice with some deep red hibiscus tea added for color cheery floral notes.  And so came "Jamaica" from the mexican name for the hibiscus tea and "Sunrise" from the fact that orange juice is just inexplicably tied to breakfast.



1/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 cups sugar
zest and juice from 1 orange
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
1 tbsp lemon juice.
carbonated water to top up to 1 gallon.

Steep the flowers, ginger, and orange zest in about 1 cup of near boiling water, remove from heat and allow to steep for about 30 min.
Strain to remove all the particulates.
Add the sugar and bring to a boil to dissolve completely.
Add the juices and simmer for an additional five minutes.
Allow the syrup to cool and then add to carbonated water by the glass or into bottles.

Syrup Review: Orange Crush Water Enhancer

From the makers of Otter Pops, among other things, comes Orange Crush water enhancer.  I first saw this displayed by the manufacturer at a trade show back in November.  I've often thought of trying MiO and some of the other water enhancers with carbonated water, but this one is just begging for the chance.

So while I work on recipes that will some day make it to these pages and while R.E.M. bounces around my head, I decided to pick one of these up.

I really like this stuff because it mixes so easily.  There's no actual sugar to thicken it up, so you just squirt some into the bottom of the glass, fill with carbonated water, and drink.  You don't have to struggle to get it to mix like you might with a thick syrup.  The flavor is good, and the (artificial) color is vibrant.  The sucralose and ace k taste like expected, so if you don't like artificial sweeteners, then this is not for you.  If you want a diy Diet Crush, then this is right up your alley.

Grape is also available, and it seems like the company displayed strawberry at the show as well, though I haven't seen it on shelves.

One downside (other than artificial sweetness) is that the instructions are a bit ambiguous.  It's 1 squirt for an 8oz serving and 2 squirts for 16oz bottle.  It shoots out in a thin stream, and I'm not sure how big of a squeeze is a single serving.

The economics of it is only a bit better than buying your Crush as is.  One $3 bottle makes 24 8oz servings.  That comes to about a gallon and a half or three 2-liter bottles.

So... all in all, it's not too bad, but I don't know if it's a must have.

Book Review: True Brews by Emma Christensen

from Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House
Available from Amazon , (also on Kindle , Barnes and Noble, (also on Nook)

Another homemade soda book has recently hit the shelves.  True Brews from Emma Christensen, recipe editor at The Kitchn, focuses on teaching the basic how to for just about all things fermented.  Although only one of the eight chapters is about soda, it's a helpful starting place for anyone looking for fermented recipes.

True Brews ends up being a bit pricier than some of the other books I've reviewed, but it's solid hardcover book that will hold up as a reference for batch after batch.  One thing that sets True Brews apart from other homebrew books is that Christensen's goal is to make homebrew accessible to everyone, even those in small apartments.  As such, she outlines equipment that is required and what isn't.  Then she starts with a master recipe and the other recipes are detailed variations on the master.  Each chapter starts with a brief interview with an expert to give tips and inspiration to aspiring homebrewers.

With each chapter devoted to a different beverage, there's little space to devote to a lot of variation.  So on first glance it may seem like each page is nearly a copy and paste of the previous.  In total there are 8 different soda recipes, most of them fruit based, which makes it the most recipe-heavy chapter in the book even if it's not the largest by page count (soda recipes are very simple compared to the other beverages).  I had to remind myself that the recipes are meant as a template to get a beginner started, and not really for something fancy and advanced.

Though the recipes are simple, that by no means makes them any less tasty.  I only had the resources to try one so far, and since Christensen recommended the Watermelon Mint, that's where I started.  It ended up much better than one of my earlier blogged recipes, WatermeLemon.  Probably because it used more watermelon for a smaller recipe.  I had never thought of combining watermelon with mint, but they do complement each other quite well.  The recipe ferments quickly in warm weather.  Be careful not to ferment too far because with the sediment it gushes quite easily.

Overall, True Brews is a great introduction to homebrewing.  Other homebrew books are a bit more on the technical side, whereas it's obvious from the full color pictures in this book make it more artisan friendly.  So if a homebrew book has scared you off in the past, this may be your invitation back to the hobby.  With that in mind, however, the book is a little light on advanced troubleshooting tips, so prepare to go back for something more technical once you have a few batches under your belt.  It may not be a must have book for the homemade soda maker's library, but it's a welcome addition for anyone who wants to get well start in on fermenting recipes.

Andrew Schloss's Homemade Soda Book on Kindle only 2.99!

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 16, 2013 - The price has dropped back down again, but not quite as low.  The Kindle edition can now be had for 3.49.

UPDATE: OCTOBER 18, 2013 - The price on this has gone back to 9.99 as noticed by an anonymous commenter.  I hope you picked up your copy when it was available at the lower price.  It's still a great book, but for that price, I'd go for even a used hard copy rather than digital.  That's just personal preference, I suppose.

One of the best homemade soda books of all time is Andrew Schloss's Homemade Soda: 200 Recipes for Making & Using Fruit Sodas & Fizzy Juices, Sparkling Waters, Root Beers & Cola Brews, Herbal & Healing Waters, Sparkling ... & Floats, & Other Carbonated Concoctions.  Wow, I never really realized how long that subtitle is.

Anyway, I was browsing some other things on Amazon and came across the Kindle Edition of this for the super low price of $2.99, so I thought I'd share that with you here.


I don't own a Kindle, so I'm not sure how this looks on it, but you can't beat that price for the tasty recipes in this book.  A lot of them are for soda by the glass, but there are some good ones that are designed for soda siphons or fermented batches.  My personal favorite is the Honey Lemonade Soda, which I've mentioned before on the blog, but it's a really good substitute for a San Pellegrino Limonata.

Recipe 27 - Jones Soda Crushed Melon Clone

Back in the day, before Jones Soda was available at major retailers and their really fun and innovative flavors weren't reserved for short run limited editions, Jones had a number of flavors that were legendary. If not for their flavor, their rarity.  My two favorites were Pink and Crushed Melon.  Pink was later "renamed" Strawberry & Cream, but it never tasted the same after that and shortly thereafter it was retired.  Along with some other black sheep flavors such as BugJuice.com, Pink in it's original form has been officially forgotten by Jones Soda.

Crushed Melon, however, has not suffered such an ill fate.  It is at least still listed on their Retired Products page.  That tells me it was likely more popular and more profitable.  Though the real reason I made a clone recipe is to get me a little closer to Pink as they had a similar aftertaste.  (And it was easier to nail down the flavor.)  So without further ado, here's my version of Jones Soda's Crushed Melon

1 lb diced canteloupe (1/4 average sized melon)
1 lb diced honeydew (1/4 average sized melon)
1 lb diced watermelon (1/8 average sized melon)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb sugar (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup water

Combine the sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil, let it simmer on medium to medium high heat for 15 minutes.  If the color starts to dark, remove from heat immediately and add in a bit of cold water.
Pour the syrup over the diced melon and use a potato masher to crush it up with the syrup.
Once the melon is crushed up and the syrup is pulpy, run it through a fine-mesh strainer and add the vanilla.
Top the resulting syrup up to 1 gallon with carbonated water.

This syrup turns out a little on the thin side and it does contain a fair amount of pulp.  Mine yielded about 4 cups of syrup which makes the mix ratio about 3:1 carbonated water to syrup.  The pulp makes it fizz up rather easily when you mix it, so keep that in mind when you add this into your Sodastream.

Book Review - Make Your Own Soda: Syrups Recipes by Anton Nocito and Lynn Marie Hulsman

from Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House
Available from Amazon, (also on Kindle), Barnes and Noble, (also on Nook)

From Clarkson Potter Publishers comes yet another do-it-yourself soda syrup book that is geared toward those using the Sodastream or similar techniques.  It contains upwards of 40 recipes for homemade soda syrups using natural ingredients and how to use the syrups for soda plus another 30 or so recipes for other beverages such as cocktails, mocktails, shakes, egg creams, and hot drinks using the syrups.  Author Anton Nocito is the founder of P&H Soda Co. which sells some of the very syrups for which recipes are contained in this book.

Overall, the recipes are simple and easy to follow.  None of them have more than a handful of ingredients.  The instructions are clear and concise and it has some helpful hints for the best carbonation and getting the best out of your ingredients.  This is the book that Andrea Lynn's Artisan Soda Workshop could have been.  If you were disappointed by Lynn's book or felt like it was just too small, check this one out and see if it's more your style in content and quantity.  It's bigger and has more recipes, yet it has the same simple and easy technique that Lynn uses in a clean presentation.

Somehow, the quality of the book is not hindered by it's down sides, though it does have a few.  Absent is any mention of the possibility of fermenting these recipes or using them for a straight carbonation technique.  It never purports to be anything more than a recipe book for soda syrups, so it is not trying to be anything more than it is.  However, the beginning sodamaker may find some challenges in adapting sodas for different techniques.  Another downside is the same beef I had with Lynn's book, the availability of ingredients.  I have to remind myself that the "artisan" moniker usually means more expensive.  Maybe my complaint is that I just simply don't have access to some of the fresh ingredients Nocito uses.  I don't know where to find lemon verbena,  anise hyssop, or quince.  Maybe I'm not looking in the right places.  The syrup recipes are divided into two sections: Syrups From the Farm, and Syrups From the Pantry.  I don't see a definite distinction between the two sections.  I don't know anyone off the top of my head who has fresh lemongrass, guava, or huckleberry on their farm, (attempts to domesticate the huckleberry have turned out to be blueberries) and I don't know anyone who has lovage in their pantry.  I would guess that from the farm means you can grow your own ingredients with ease and from the pantry means you're better off purchasing them?  To me this would make more economical sense, and economics is partially what led me to sodamaking, but then there's that economics and availability thing again.  Nocito is kind enough to list some of his source for ingredients in an appendix, though.  Since all are web pages, they are virtually accessible by all which makes availability a moot point.

The recipes are simple and have good flavor, given you use good ingredients.  I used cheap dried cherries for the dried cherry syrup, and the resulting soda tasted like cheap dried cherries.  It could definitely use some citric acid.  The variety is nice, even with simple recipes.  The Golden Raisin Shrub makes for a tasty beverage, though according to my 8-year-old daughter, it made the kitchen smell like moldy ketchup.  Granted she's not used to smelling apple cider vinegar in a syrup, but I don't think she really knows what moldy ketchup smells like.

Some of the things that I really like about this book are the various beverages that use the syrups.  The thing that sticks out the most are the mocktail recipes scattered throughout the book.  To quote Nocito, "sometimes a cocktail is called for, and sometimes so is a clear head..."  Being one that doesn't drink, I find his recipes for Lime Rickey, Rockaway Beach Club, and Lucy and Ricky Rickey among others a welcome inclusion in a mixed beverage world where all the really tasty looking stuff has some form of alcohol in it.  Not to worry though, there are a number of cocktail recipes as well for those obliged to imbibe.

Nocito's nostalgic flair shines through from the "Fountain Facts" found frequently in the sidebars to the entire section on egg creams and floats reminiscent of the glory days of drug store fountains and soda jerks. Included in this section are also a handful of recipes for ice creams for your floats for a complete DIY experience.  From the ordinary vanilla ice cream to lemon verbena ice cream, there's something for everybody.

Though most of the syrup flavors are basic single flavor syrups with simple and easy to follow instructions, I find Nocito's book a good read and a handy reference for flavor base inspiration.  Not too big, and not too small, this is a definite must have addition to any sodamaker's library with recipes for the novice as well as for the experienced.

Blog Under Construction

So, I've decided to make some changes and keep things a little less cluttered.  I hope everyone likes the new arrangement.

I wanted a vintage soda look.  I'm still not sure if I nailed it or not.

Feel free to comment on the new look.

In case you missed it, this is what it used to look like:

So I'm open to criticism.  If the colors are vomit inducing, please let me know.  If the new look rocks, make a comment!