Hibiscus Soda & Orange Soda

Tart.

Big brews doesn't have to be about beer, It can be about brewing up a soda too.

To that end while I was working on my Hibiscus Pale Ale as inspired by The Mad Fermentationist I made some batches of hibiscus tea in my brand new french press. After enjoying the tea I began to wonder how it would taste as a slightly sweetened soda. This gave way to me trying it as a slightly sweetened soda. In addition I wanted to take my vanilla almond cream soda and make it an orange cream soda. I've always enjoyed sodas but I find them overly sweet, and the idea of filling my body with uneccesary fake coloring is off putting. I wouldn't dye my beef red, why would I dye my soda red?

(read more after the break)

The Recipes
Hibiscus Soda:
24 oz Spring Water w/ 2 tbsp Hibiscus Flower Petals
1 tsp Orange Extract
5 tbsp Organic Sugar

Orange Soda:
24 oz Spring Water
5 tbsp Organic Sugar
1 tsp Orange Extract
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

To Carbonate:
I followed the directions on the carbonator cap and carbonated for 3 days in my beer fridge to get it to Spritzy levels. ~30 PSI for 3 days @ 40 degrees.

Results:
When I retire to my imaginary brew pub(be it a business venture or a room in my basement) I hope to have a family friendly soda or two on tap. Someday I'll have children and if I could make a soda they would drink using natural ingredients I could forgo heavily sugared, colored, and processed alternatives. The Hibiscus turned out good and the Orange Cream Soda was wonderful.

Hibiscus:
Odd. It was like drinking a cranberry. It was sweet from the sugar, and tart from the tea. The orange just stayed away from the tart and sweet flavors. Overall I think some people who really like tart things would love this. I think the hibiscus will be toned down a bit in my next batch by 50%.

Orange Cream:
Sublime flavors. The orange came through well and was underlined by a creamy vanilla flavor. Having a keg of this soda would be bad for my waste line because it's delicious. Maybe I'll use my 3 gallon keg to make a batch of diet soda when the DIPA runs dry.