Where to get the ingredients for making Open-Source Cola at home

[Mel Knight]

Where online would you get open-source cola ingredients for a good price?

I built a home carbonation system out of a C02 tank, a regulator, and some hoses & quick connects along with Pep Boys brass tire valves inserted into bottle caps (with the tire-valve stem removed).

Now I want to make Open Cola as per the recipe and instructions here:

Question is, where do I get the ingredients?

I tried Safeway and Nob Hill but neither had them.

Where online would you get the following ingredients for a good price?

Cola Flavoring * 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

Cola Concentrate * 5 mL flavoring * 17.5 mL 75% citric acid or phosphoric acid * 2.00 L water * 2.00 kg granulated white sugar * 2.5 mL caffeine (2.5 ml is based on 0.5 tsp of a caffeine pill advertised as 100% caffeine) * 30.0 mL caramel color

Cola Flavoring Mix the oils together. Add gum arabic and mix completely. Add water and mix well. For this step, use a hand mixer or blender to thoroughly mix together. The flavoring can be made in advance and stored for use later. Place in a sealed glass jar and place in the refrigerator or keep at room temperature. When stored, the oils and water will separate. Just mix again before use. When used, the gum arabic will keep things together.

Cola Concentrate Mix 5 mL of flavoring with the phosphoric or citric acid. Mix the water and sugar and, while mixing, add caffeine if desired. * Make sure that the caffeine is completely dissolved before moving on to the next step. Pour the acid and flavoring mixture slowly into the water/sugar mixture (adding acid to water reduces the risk of acid splashes compared to the other way around) Add caramel color and mix completely.

Cola Soda Mix one part of concentrate with five parts water. Mix soda water directly with the concentrate

Cola Warnings * Caffeine can be toxic in high doses. Keep the concentration below

100mg/cup. * Many of the oils needed for flavoring can irritate skin. They can also dissolve the plastic lining of a refrigerator; store in a glass container. * Gum arabic is available in two forms, art grade, and food grade. Get food grade. * Phosphoric acid will burn if skin and eyes; flush with water if spilled. * Lavender oil can cause many dangerous side effects, so you may want to leave this out.

[Mel Knight]

I did find some sources for materials for the making of soda at home using a home carbonation system that I learned how to build from this newsgroup. It's a natural extension to take that system and make something with it.

There isn't a newsgroup just for home-carbonated soda - is there?

When I searched, the topic came up relatively frequently here:

- alt.home.repair -> home carbonation expertise

- misc.consumers.frugal-living -> freeware soda afficianados

- rec.food.cooking -> recipe experts

Here's the text, so far, for all to benefit from. This 7X forumula makes about 6 liters of concentrate (syrup) and about

~12.5 mL of Cola Flavoring (aka Cola 7X formula) * 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 (expensive 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) (~10g/$1) * 3.00 mL water Mix the oils together. Add gum arabic and mix completely Add water and mix well. For this step, use a hand mixer or blender to thoroughly mix together The flavoring can be made in advance and stored for use later Place in a sealed glass jar and place in the refrigerator or keep at room temperature When stored, the oils and water will separate. Just mix again before use When used, the gum arabic will keep things together

~2L of Cola Concentrate (aka Cola Syrup) * 5 mL flavoring (some say that's 2 tsp of 7X formula) * 17.5 mL 75% citric acid or phosphoric acid (some say 3.5 tsp) * 2.00 L water (some say 2.28 L) * 2.00 kg granulated white sugar (some say 2.36 kg) * 2.5 mL caffeine (2.5 ml is based on 0.5 tsp of a caffeine pill advertised as 100% caffeine) * 30.0 mL caramel color In a one-gallon container ... Add the water Add the sugar Add caffeine (optional) * Make sure that the caffeine is completely dissolved before moving on to the next step * Strain the syrup through a 4-ply of cheesecloth in case the caffeine hasn't dissolved Pour in the 75% phosphoric or citric acid to the solution (never the other way around) Mix 5 mL of flavoring Pour the acid and flavoring mixture slowly into the water/sugar mixture Add caramel color and mix completely Pour into a 2L bottle for storage

~12L Cola Soda: Mix one part of concentrate (syrup) with five parts of carbonated water.

Cola Warnings * Caffeine can be toxic in low doses (10g). Keep the concentration below 100mg/cup. * Caffeine is toxic both by inhalation & injestion; do not create Super Jolt! * Many of the oils needed for flavoring can irritate skin; wear gloves and wash. They can also dissolve the plastic lining of a refrigerator; store in a glass container. * Gum arabic is available in two forms, art grade, and food grade. Get food grade. Art grade is toxic! * Phosphoric acid will burn if skin and eyes; flush with water if spilled. * Lavender oil can cause many dangerous side effects, so you may want to leave this out.

Procurement: a) Try finding phosphoric acid at a compounding pharmacy in your area. b) Health-food stores for the 100% pure, food-grade undiluted oils. * CK Solutions, Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 * Aura Cacia Oils, Weaverville, CA 96093 * Aromaforce Essential Oils * Frontier Natural Flavors,

* Karooch, Peterborough, ONT K9J 7Y8 c) Caffeine as a pill that you grind up d) Caramel color at a bakery supply store

Neroli is a very expensive item, be prepared (US$48.52 for 5.00 ml). All others were a more reasonable price (US$2.00 to about 9.30 for the volumes needed).

REFERENCES:

God, Country, & Coca-Cola, by Mark Pendergrast, Basic Books, 1993,

2000, ISBN 0-465-05468-4

[Thomas]

It is going to cost more to make it than to buy it.

Purchase boxes of syrup from a restaurant supply center.

[mkirsch1]

You're not going to start going on and on about "cola kick" are you?

My God, that was one of the most annoying and inane conversations I've seen on this group.

Hey, here's an idea... Why don't you look up the "cola kick" guy and ask him? IIRC he was playing with recipes.

I understand. Buying the syrup would be easier, but sometimes it's fun to buy the raw materials and make it yourself. I can buy a yard cart, but it's more fun to get a pile of steel and build my own.

[Mrs Irish Mike]

How is making home-made cola frugal? America is going through an obiesity problem, in a few years one in three Americans could have diabetes, sugary water rots teeth, phosphoric acid has been linked to bone loss, television is awash in ads for remedies for digestive problems that remind me of how cola can digest a steel nail, on and on.

Please post any clues on how to kick your soft drink addiction.

[Molly Brown]

Did you check to make sure your `CO2 isn=92t contaminated with hydrogen sulfide?

[ransley]

More Troll BS, and WTF does this have to do with home repair, absolutely nuthin...

[tmclone]

Not only is phosphoric acid VERY bad for bones and teeth, it's what renders "soda" undrinkable, at least in my opinion. The first time someone gave me a coke, back in the early 60s, I spat it out because it burned my tongue. Don't think I've had a carbonated beverage since then. I think cold, FLAT, diet coke is drinkable, in a pinch. Even sparkling wines "burn" my tongue. YUCK! Weird, since I adore the spiciest food...

[David Harmon]

On Sat, 8 Jan 2011 08:14:40 -0800 (PST) in rec.food.cooking, tmclone wrote,

You are blaming on phosphoric acid an effect that, by your own description, is caused by a different thing. There is no phosphoric acid in most sodas other than cola. There is no phosphoric acid in sparkling wine. There is 100% as much phosphoric acid in a FLAT coke as there was when it was fresh.

You are blaming phosphoric acid, when what you don't like is the carbonation.

[Mel Knight]

aka carbonic acid, albeit very weak.