What is a good recipe for home made carbonated cola (with a similar kick as coca cola or pepsi)?

Anyone have an easy recipe for home made carbonated cola (with a similar kick as coca cola or pepsi)?

With your help, I've solved the home carbonation problem and now endeavor to replace the "cola kick" that is so addictingly pervasive in corporate colas.

I've tried carbonated lemon juice but find the visceral kick isn't as satisfying as that of a store-bought cola.

In a previous thread, folks mentioned the "caffeine", or "high-fructose corn syrup" (aka HFCS) might be the ingredients in the manufactured colas which provide that addictively satisfying kick ... hence my endeavor to find a home kitchen cola recipe.

As for ingredients, it seems two no brainers are the caffeine powders and the HFCS, both of which appear to be mail orderable if not in the local stores, however, this open source recipe for homemade cola (licensed under the GNU General Public License) doesn't seem to use either:

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* 2.00 mL olive oil

  • 3.50 mL orange oil
  • 1.00 mL lemon oil
  • 1.00 mL nutmeg oil
  • 1.25 ml cassia (cinnamon) oil
  • 0.25 mL coriander oil
  • 0.25 mL neroli oil (similar to petitgrain, bergamot, or bitter orange oil)
  • 2.75 mL lime oil
  • 0.25 mL lavender oil
  • 10.0 g food-grade, NOT ART-GRADE gum arabic (thickener)
  • 3.00 mL water

Which is the "essential" ingredient in the above that gives it the satisfying cola kick you find in store-bought colas? (Note: Snopes thinks it the leaf ...

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Reply to
Elmo
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Actually, I found LOTS of home made cola recipes (I should have googled more extensively before I asked for a home made cola recipe).

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The main problem with these homemade cola soda forumulas is they all seem to have quite a variety of presumably hard-to-find ingredients, petit grain, coriander oil, coco, phosphoric acid, caffeine (legal limit is

65mg/12oz =
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dried lavender flowers, cola nuts, star anise, citric acid, etc..

What's useful is to find a single supplier for the various ingredients, yet, perhaps, what's more interesting is to figure out what the secret ingredient is that give it the essential mind-numbing bite.

Reply to
Elmo

If you google soda syrups you can buy it premade fairly cheep. Maybe even buy pepsi/coke syrups direct from a local beverage distributor. Or if you have a friend who runs a bar/restaurant have them get you the real thing.

Reply to
Which Doktor

Well, honey and HFCS have almost identical sugar profiles (approx.

55% fructose, 45% dextrose), so that might be a good start*. Add caffeine, caramel color, and carbonation and you're almost there.

And don't forget some form of sodium, so it makes you thirstier instead of quenches.

Bob

Reply to
zxcvbob

What can you make with dog poop?

--Bryan

Reply to
Food Snob®

My guess would be the nutmeg:

Nutmeg can be used as a psychedelic.

And no, I've never tried it.

I've only ever used it as a a spice in sausage ingredients, or grated lightly over eggnog.

Reply to
Omelet

Elmo wrote: ...

...

Whatever is the real thing, it certainly ain't the corn sugar; that's a relatively recent replacement for only because it's cheaper by far...oldsters will claim the switch actually makes the beverage less palatable.

--

Reply to
dpb

Now, you're ready to be in marketing department. well said.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Are you wearing your magical underpants right now? Of course you are.

--Bryan

Reply to
Food Snob®

Get cola nuts and a guy with a big laugh and a Carribean accent. That's the way they did it on tv.

Reply to
mm

Here, for posterity, are some of the cola recipes I found today. I'm not sure which one to pick because many use exotic ingredients. I want simple; but with a kick.

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* 2.00 mL olive oil

  • 3.50 mL orange oil
  • 1.00 mL lemon oil
  • 1.00 mL nutmeg oil
  • 1.25 ml cassia (cinnamon) oil
  • 0.25 mL coriander oil
  • 0.25 mL neroli oil
  • 2.75 mL lime oil
  • 0.25 mL lavender oil
  • 10.0 g food-grade, NOT ART-GRADE gum arabic (thickener)
  • 3.00 mL water

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oz Citrate Caffeine 30 lbs. Sugar

3 oz Citric Acid 4 oz fluid extract from cocoa leaves 1 oz Ext. Vanilla 2.5 gal.Water 1 Qt. Lime Juice Caramel - sufficient 2.5 oz Flavourings where you choose one of those below: 80 drops Oil Orange 40 drops Oil Cinnamon 120 drops Oil Lemon 20 drops Oil Coriander 40 drops Oil Nutmeg 40 drops Oil Neroli 1 Qt Alcohol

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kg Sugar, dissolved in the minimum of water 3.1 g Caffeine

37 g Caramel 11 g Phosphoric Acid 1.1 g Decocainized Coca Leaf 0.37 g Kola Nuts 30 g Lime Juice 19 g Glycerine (vegetarian) 1.5 g Vanilla Extract Flavourings (7X formula): 0.88 g (1.032 ml) Lemon Oil Trace Lavender Oil 0.47 g (0.557 ml) Orange Oil Trace Neroli Oil 0.20 g (0.190 ml) Cassia Oil 4.9 g 95% Alcohol 0.07 g (0.077 ml) Nutmeg Oil 2.7 g (2.7 ml) Water Trace Coriander Oil

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Zest of 2 oranges # Zest of 2 limes # Zest of 1 lemon # 2 pinches of ground cinnamon # 2 pinches of ground nutmeg # 1 points of a star anise (crushed) # 1/2 teaspoon of dried lavender flowers # 1/2 teaspoon cola nuts (crushed ¡V mortar & pestle may be required. WARNING! Cola nuts can be dangerous and are known to be carcinogenic, use at your own risk -Wiki Article) # 10g stem ginger # 1/3 vanilla pod with the seeds scraped out and added as well # 1/4 teaspoon citric acid

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T Sugar

1 t Vanilla 1/4 t Cinnamon 1 t Bottled Lime Juice 1 C Club Soda

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cup cold black coffee

2 teaspoons Lipton instant lemon-tea powder 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon sugar or artificial sweetener 1/2 pinch black pepper Club soda

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c. cold black coffee

2 t. Lipton instant lemon-tea powder 1/8 t. vanilla extract 1 level t. sugar or artificial sweetener few grains of black pepper

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fluid ounces caramel

32 fluid ounces lime juice 16 fluid ounces glycerin 12 fluid ounces 95% alcohol 12 fluid ounces Cola Flavor Base (recipe below) Caffeine solution (2 ounces caffeine in 10 fluid ounces water) 2 fluid ounces vanilla extract

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C cold black coffee

2 t Lipton instant lemon-tea powder 1/8 t vanilla extract 1 level t sugar or artificial sweetener few grains of black pepper

etc.

It's amazing the list of ingredients in these open source colas! I wonder which are the key ingredients that give coca cola its kick???

Reply to
Elmo

Have oyu tried the Torani's cola syrup? mix with carbonated water.

-- JL

Reply to
Joseph Littleshoes

Wouldn't it be easier to just go to the nearest grocery or convenience store and buy what you think tastes good??????

Reply to
hrhofmann

(a) It wouldn't be much fun and certainly I'd learn nothing from it ...

(b) It would cost $1.50 a bottle + 10 cents CRV lost to the city ...

(c) Doing it myself costs 5 cents a bottle in total & I learn something.

Reply to
Elmo

Commercial soda fountains typically deliver 320 'cans' of soda per 5 gallon syrup box.

Reply to
Jeff The Drunk

You did not post the entire list. That's the "flavoring".

Below it you will find the "concentrate", which has, among other things,

2 kg of sugar and 2.5mL of caffeine. There's your "kick".
Reply to
J. Clarke

[snip]

Interesting question, about which I have no useful information. I can tell you that the new TJ Italian sodas--grapefruit and blood orange-- are almost addictively good. They really give you that rush and mouth feel that make you want to keep guzzling. Whatever the ingredient or carbonization process is that produces what you're looking for, they've got it (albeit at a high price). Maybe if you look at their ingredients you might avoid wasting time with inessentials..... -aem

Reply to
aem

What the F are you talking about?

Reply to
mkirsch1

What you could do is buy the cola commerically, open the containers and remove the water through evaporation or assisted evaporation.

Then add what remains to your carbonated liquid, and mix.

Reply to
mm

Thanks for that. I found DaVinci Root Beer syrup at a store today, looking for the cola syrup which they didn't have.

Reply to
Bob F

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