Fresh Fruit Juice Soda • ChefSteps

Technique details at http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/fresh-juice-soda

The sparkle and fizz of an ice-cold carbonated soda is the definition of pure refreshment. These days, sodas are mostly boring. But it wasn't always this way: From the late 1870s through the 1930s, sodas made fresh at the local fountain, called phosphates, were a staple of American culture. Fruit-flavored soft drinks were made to order by a soda jerk who added a sweet-and-sour fruit syrup enhanced with phosphoric acid to a chilled glass, and then filled it with carbonated water from the soda fountain. (The name "jerk," by the way, came from the action of flipping the fountain handle back and forth when adding soda water.) We've updated these non-alcoholic counterparts of cocktail culture with freshly prepared [pulp-free fruit juice](http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pectin-free-juice) (the lack of pulp ensures just the right amount of effervescence and foam). We start by sweetening the juice with flavor-enhancing fructose sugar, and then we balance the taste with a mouth-watering blend of tart malic and phosphoric acids. After chilling the prepared juice, we carbonate it with a soda siphon. Our sodas are just as tart and delicious as old-fashioned phosphates, but with real juice instead of syrup, they take carbonated refreshment to a whole new level.

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