Making Cola
Taste
I’m ignoring carbonation since everyone is going to probably use something different. However, I used a Soda Stream set to 2 which gave me a very fine carbonation and a very nice head when poured over ice.
Taste wise this is going to be very flowery, cinnamon-y, cola.
Ingredients
Makes 4 cups of syrup total.
| Amount | Item |
|---|---|
| 1 tsp | Cinnamon |
| 1 tsp | Nutmeg |
| 1 tsp | Coriander |
| 1 tbsp | Brown Sugar |
| 1/2 tsp | Anise |
| 1/2 tsp | Citric Acid |
| 2 | Oranges worth of zest |
| 1 | Lemon worth of zest |
| 2 Cups | Water |
| 2 Cups | Sugar |
Process
Mix the following together:
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Coriander
- Brown Sugar
- Anise
- Citric Acid
- Oranges zest
- Lemon zest
- 2 cups of water
Mix this up in a pot and get it to simmer for 20 minutes.
While the pot is simmering take the 2 cups of sugar and blitz it in a food processor. Doing this makes the sugar dissolve more easily later on when we mix everything.
For now while waiting move the sugar to a large bowl.
Once the 20 minutes on the pot is up grab a fine sieve and strain the pot’s mixture through into the bowl with the sugar. Let cool and mix occasionally for about 15 minutes.
You’re looking for a simple-syrup consistency.
Once cool you can mix with club soda, sparkling mineral water, or if you have a Soda Stream use that, to add some carbonation.
Ration for soda
4:1 of Water to syrup.
Additional Notes
You can also add 1 tsp of vanilla bean, or like a splash of vanilla extract near the end when you are mixing with the sugar.
If the final product is too syrupy then turn it down to like a 5:1 ratio. Any lower and you might start to dilute the flavor too much.
Finally if you don’t like the color then you can add blue + red to make the color a bit darker, similar to the pic below. I used 5 blue to 4 red.
