beginner looking for tips and help

[brewshki]

so i am brand new to this sort of thing but i am a huge soda lover and really wanted to give it a shot. I'm looking at making a diet cola flavored with kola nut extract and sweetened with either stevia or monk fruit extract. i was wondering if anyone could provide any advice for a beginner of what to watch out for or just general good advice. I've been doing some research and i really have nothing that i am completely set on.

from what i can understand, once i have made my syrup i can go about carbonating it through fermentation or a carbonation machine. as i am so new i am kinda wary about investing into a carbonation machine. i really have no idea how to use the fermentation process. i do believe that even though i want to make a diet soda, i would have to add a little bit of real sugar at the very least to allow the yeast to have something to feed on

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Probably the best thing for you to do right now is to get your hands on a book or two and find out which method works the best for you. Other than the methods you've mentioned, you can also add syrup to carbonated water. In my opinion that's probably the quickest, and least investment. Just grab a bottle of club soda or seltzer water and have at it. I have a list of books here that may be of interest to you. You can pick them up from amazon, or you can probably pick up one or two from the library.

As far as your flavor, I think that the best cola recipes that I've tried are either the one from the 7/5/11 NYTimes article or from the Open Cola project. In my experience Kola nut doesn't have much flavor on its own. I believe it can be a source of caffeine, but you'd be better off getting a USP caffeine powder somewhere online as a more consistent and workable source..

For your sweetener, I don't have much experience with monk fruit or stevia, but you certainly can use them for your soda. There's nothing wrong with tailoring the recipe to your tastes, and that's the best way to learn anyway. Start out at low levels and add a little at a time until it's at the level you want.

Fermenting isn't out of the question either. My local wine supply store sells homebrew root beer kits where stevia is the main sweetener and you only add enough sugar for carbonation. Just use the same guidelines you would to bottle condition a beer, but shoot for 3 to 4 volumes of carbonation. The sugar will be consumed by the yeast, and when it runs out you'll still have the sweetness from the stevia or monk fruit, so no worrying about exploding bottles.

Good Luck to you!

 

[brewshki]

My plan was to base it off of the kola nut but add in more traditional ingredients like vanilla and such. My goal is to take away any of the stigmas associated with soda. So I'm trying to find every negative people have and then figure a way to just fix them all. So no sugar and only a natural alternative

 

[lorreann]

I too am looking for a natural soda recipe sweetened with stevia instead of sugar. I currently drink Blue Sky Free natural soda (Root Beer and Cola) which is sugar free and sweetened with stevia only. But the expense is driving me to find a way to make it myself.

The thing I don't understand is the difference between the yeast fermentation and the carbonation method. Do they both taste the same? I'm sure the Natural Soda I drink isn't fermented, but fermenting is healthier. Does the yeast get eaten up in the fermentation too? Are yeast sensitive people able to use it?

I make Kombucha so I understand about the sugar fermentation, but haven't worked with yeast before. Thanks!