Soda FAIL

Yeah, the soda's kinda failed...

The Wyler's Raspberry has more potential, it just needs to be made in a 3L and with more sugar.

The blackberry extract is pretty horrible. It was out and warm for 2 or 3 days and then in the fridge for at least a week before the first time I opened it. Each time that I opened it, the release of CO2 pressure pulled all kinds of lees off the bottom of the bottle and mixed it throughout. Very yucky yeasty tasting.

Last night I filterted it through a paper coffee filter and it was much less yeasty, but the blackberry flavor was just overpowering and generally, not good. It was tolerable when I mixed it about half and half with some Merlot / Cab Sauv wine that we had.

Soda! Wait, what?

I've been playing with making soda a little bit for the past week or so.

I took a pack of Wyler's Sugar Free Cool Raspberry drink mix, half a cup of sugar, a few drops of vanilla, and about 1/16 oz of bread yeast (1/4 of a 1/4oz pack).

I put it all in a 2 liter soda bottle and shook it all up. I let it sit for about 24 hours and then put in in the fridge for a day or two. It was not very fizzy, and very syrupy. The Wyler's packet was supposed to make 2 quarts (slightly less than 2 liters), but Liz and I have found that they make REALLY strong fruity drinky thingys when mixed at normal strength. Next time, I'll use a 3 liter bottle.

I made a second one with some blackberry extract (a little less than an ounce), a whole cup of sugar, and the same 1/16 oz of bread yeast. This time I left it out for somewhere between 48 and 72 hours and then stuck it in the fridge a couple of days ago. We'll see soon how it turnes out.

Oh! And right after I bought a new thermometer to replace James's that I broke, I found mine.

Figures...