Homemade Coffee Soda
A couple weeks ago our air conditioning broke and we were left without for it two weeks.
It just so happened that those two weeks were the hottest of the year so far, including multiple days that required a local “heat event” warning. I don’t even know what a heat event is, but I do know how awfully hot it was in this house.
I’ll spare you the sweaty details but you can just trust me - it was miserable.
I would often catch myself daydreaming about a cool breeze, a brisk swim, or a chilled soda. The cool breeze I couldn’t manufacture and the swim I couldn’t create, but the soda - that’s something anyone can do at home.
Make it at home
I have to admit, a sucker for seasonal drinks. In the summer I like iced drinks (especially when there’s no A/C), and in the winter I like them hot. I even dabble in crafting some of my own seasonal beverages, like this Homemade Pumpkin Spiced Latte, this Old Fashioned Coffee Cocktail, or even this Cold Brew French Toast.
Especially in the summer I enjoy soda water everyday and I think I’ve always had an affinity for just about any drink that sparkles. Trying to add coffee to a sparkling base doesn’t always turn out the way you’d expect though. It’s either too bitter, too flat, or just plain bad.
If you’ve ever taken a peek at the back of your soda can you’ll like see some ingredients you can’t pronounce, some added colours that are just unnecessary, and a sugar content that is genuinely cause for concern.
So that’s the task - get coffee to pair well with a carbonated drink that doesn’t have any foreign ingredients or colours in it. And oh yeah, be in full control of the sugar content.
It sounds like a tall order but I’m so excited to share this post with you because I found out that it was easier than I assumed it would be. It took a little bit of tinkering but this coffee soda recipe is easy enough that anyone can craft it at home and still feel good about drinking it!
How to make homemade coffee soda
Making this summery soda is quite simple really, and it all starts with coffee.
You’re going to need quite a bit though, so I actually recommend brewing it in a batch brewer.
Homemade Coffee Soda
I couldn’t quite make a pour-over this size (975g) so I turned to my Ratio Six Coffee Maker to do it for me. I used 55g of fresh Guatemalan coffee to brew 975g of coffee (up to the number 6 on the Ratio Six). Once your coffee is made you can go ahead and put it right into a pot or large sauce pan.
This is the key to this whole recipe. We’re actually going to create a coffee syrup that you can store in the fridge and add directly to your unsweetened soda water of choice (or any cocktail for that matter!)
To make the syrup all you have to do is add 2 cups of cane sugar to your hot coffee on the stovetop and about 1oz of vanilla extract. Bring this mixture to a gentle boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes to reduce to a syrup-like texture.
If you want to get creative, you can add some more flavouring here if you’d like. A few dashes of angostura bitters, an orange peel, a sticker of cinnamon, whatever!
After it’s reduced you can remove it from the heat and let it cool completely. All that’s left to do after it has cooled is bottle it, label it, and store it in the fridge.
What’s the best soda for homemade coffee soda?
For the sparkling sensation of this soda you can use just about any carbonated water that you prefer - whether it’s club soda, seltzer water, or sparkling mineral water. I prefer club soda just based on the size of the bubbles. I like them big!
Don’t be afraid to test this syrup out in flavoured sodas as well. Any soda that has a flavour that you might find in coffee should work! I have a lightly flavoured lemon soda that really accentuates the acidity of the coffee.
As sweet as you’d like
The best part about brewing the syrup for the soda this way is that you are in complete control of how sweet you want this drink to be. If you want the syrup itself to be a little less sweet, simply use less sugar. If you’d like to have a “lite” version simply put less syrup in your soda.
Either way, you’re in complete control.
Finishing touches
If you have a cocktail cabinet you can also experiment by finishing your soda off with a couple dashes of bitters. I love to add some orange bitters for that citric acidity, but you could add chocolate bitters to darken it up a bit or even play with something like Angostura bitters. The possibilities are endless!
Don’t forget to garnish you drink too. You’ve gone to all this work to craft this signature beverage, make sure to finish it with the peel of your favourite citrus fruit.
Ingredients
55g fresh ground coffee
975g of filtered water for brewing coffee
2 cups organic cane sugar
1oz vanilla extract
soda water of your choice
orange bitters (optional)
Instructions
in a batch brewer like the Ratio Six brew a 975g batch of coffee
pour the freshly brewed coffee in a pot or large saucepan on the stovetop
Next, add your sugar and vanilla extract to your coffee
Bring your syrup mixture to a gentle boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes
Simmering should reduce the volume of your syrup by about half or until it has a syrup like texture
Remove your syrup from the heat and let cool to room temperature
After it’s cool, bottle in a pop-top bottle or similar glass container and label it
Store it in the fridge and add to soda water to taste
Finish with bitters (optional) and garnish with citrus
The most important step - enjoy!
If you make this recipe at home, post a picture to Instagram and tag me! I’d love to see it.
