Easy Classic Lemonade – Recipe

lemonade
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Lemonade (Still)

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

9

servings
Calories

100

kcal
Total time

5

minutes

How to make a classic Lemonade

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cup 1.5 Granulated Sugar

  • 1.5 cups 1.5 Lemon Juice

  • 6 cups 6 Water

  • Optional Ingredients
  • 1 tsp 1 Lemon Extract

Directions

  • Combine water, lemon juice, and sugar into a pitcher. Stir to combine.
  • If just lemon juice was used and no lemon oil was expressed from the rind. Consider adding lemon extract for extra flavor.
  • Cool the drink in the refrigerator and add ice right before serving.

Featured Video

Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice Vs. Store Bought Lemon Juice

Fresh squeezed is always better than store-bought. Hands down. I’ve tried to find a store bought I like, I really have, and they all are too bitter or overly sour without being flavorful. The bitter ones taste like the whole fruit was ground up and strained. Which does add the valuable lemon oils from the zest but also adds the awful bitter pith. Others have an overly sour taste that natural lemon juice could never have while somehow being flavorless. Fresh squeeze is a lot more work but the quality of the flavor is miles better. If you plan on making a lot of juice maybe wear rubber gloves because all that lemon juice and oil does a number on your hands after a while.

Best Tools For Juicing Citrus

The best tool to use to get fresh squeezed is the squeezer that inverts the fruit instead of the one that has a ridged spiky thing that goes into the fruit. I really don’t know how else to describe it so here is a picture.

There are pros and cons to both. The juice from the squeeze tool tastes the best because a little oil from the rind is released too, but it’s the most labor-intensive. The kind with the ridged spike is easier to use but since no oil is released from the rind it is not as flavorful as the squeeze tool. This can be mitigated by adding a couple of drops of lemon essential oil.

American Style Lemonade vs. English & Australian Style Lemonade

Depending on your country, if you order a lemonade, what you get could be very different. In countries like the United States, India, and most of Asia lemonade is still, non-carbonated drink, primarily flavored with lemon juice. Actually that is lemonade in most counties with the exceptions to this being the UK and Australia. In the UK and Australia, lemonade is a clear carbonated drink primarily flavored with lemon oil. In the United States this is seen as a lemon flavored soda. In Italy, lemonade is a carbonated drink primarily flavored with lemon juice. Like San Pellegrino’s Limonata. Making the Italian style halfway between the American and UK style lemonades. These two primary styles are often distinguished as cloudy vs clear lemonade, but i prefer still vs carbonated. Not that any of this really matters unless you’re traveling or reading a recipe from a different country. First time I made a Pimm’s Cup I used American style lemonade, not really realizing it is a British cocktail and i should be using Sprite or 7up. Same goes for the shandy. Just something to keep in mind.

Is Lemonade Healthier Than Soda

No, not necessarily. The unhealthy part of soda is its high amount of sugar, and lemonade has just as much sugar as soda. Some store-bought lemonades have more sugar than a soda. For example an 8 oz Coke has 26g of sugar and here are the grams of sugar in some store-bought lemonades.

  • Simply Lemonade: 28g sugar, 11% lemon juice
  • Newman’s Own Lemonade: 25g sugar, %15 lemon juice
  • Minute Maid Lemonade: 17g sugar, 11% lemon juice
  • Tropicana Lemonade: 28g sugar, 10% lemon juice

The list goes on, but as you can see, lemonade is worse than a Coke in some cases because extra sugar is needed to offset the sourness of the lemons. You can also see a correlation between how much sugar is added and how much lemon juice a drink has. For comparison my recipe it is 16% lemon juice with 31g of sugar. Oh no, my recipe is the most unhealthy of all but it also has the most lemon juice. If you want healthy, drink water.

What Is The Best Lemonade Recipe Ratio?

A standard base ratio for making lemonade is:

  • 1 Part lemon juice
  • 1 Part sugar
  • 4 Parts water

This ratio results in a generally pleasing sweet-to-sour flavor and is similar to most other high-quality recipes. This ratio can be adjusted to make for lemonade that is either sweeter or more sour. Use the 1:1:4 ratio as a baseline. Some recipes that have less lemon juice will add granulated citric acid and lemon oil to make up for containing less juice as they try to save money. And this isn’t bad. Citric acid and lemon oil taste great together, but its still being done to get it close to the flavor of the 1:1:4 ratio.

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Jägerbomb – Classic Recipe & History

jagerbomb
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Jägerbomb

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

150

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

How to make a Jägerbomb

Ingredients

  • 8 oz 8 Red Bull

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Jagermeister

Directions

  • Technique: Bomb Shot
  • Pour an 8.4 oz can of Red Bull into a pint glass.
  • Drop the shot of Jagermeister into the glass of Red Bull and quickly down the drink.
  • Separately pour a shot of Jagermeister into a shot glass.

Featured Video

History Of The Jägerbomb

The Jägerbomb is a caffeinated alcoholic cocktail. Think of it as the precursor to drinks like Four Locos or Sparks. Red Bull was invented in 1987 in Austria and marketed as a premium energy sold at ski resorts. Before Red Bull, energy drinks were mainly seen as a working men’s drinks and were popular among tradesmen and truckers. They still are today. However, Red Bull marketed their product differently and exclusively distributed with European ski resorts. This gave Red Bull an image of exclusivity and luxury. In 1996, Red Bull was first imported into the United States. It was marketed to ski resorts and sporting events, handed out for free on University campuses, and sold in stores. I remember the very attractive Red Bull girls driving up on campus in their Red Bull Mini Cooper, handing out free drinks. It didn’t take long for Red Bull to get mixed with alcohol.

Funny enough, the Jägerbomb was the first drink I ever had at a bar after turning 21. I forget the bar’s name, but I can still see it in my head. My sisters took me out, and I had no idea what anything on the menu was, so I asked for a Guinness because it was the only thing I recognized. My oldest sister stopped me and said, “No, make it something fun. Let’s start this night right.” She ordered me a Jägerbomb, and I remember liking it. I still like it. It’s a pointless, dumb story, but this was my first cocktail at a bar.

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Adonis – Classic Recipe & History

adonis
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Adonis / Bamboo

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

100

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a classic Adonis/Bamboo cocktails

Ingredients

  • 2 dashes 2 Orange Bitters

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Sherry

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Sweet Vermouth

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.

Featured Video

History Of The Adonis Cocktail

The oldest printed recipe for the Adonis comes from the 1916 book “Jack’s Manual” by Jack Grohusko. The Adonis recipe in this book is 40% Sherry, 60% sweet vermouth, and 2 dashes of orange bitters. Though this recipe is older, a more authoritative source is the 1935 old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book by Albert Crockett. Crockett lists the recipe as 50×50 Sherry and sweet vermouth with orange bitters and states:

Named in honor of a theatrical offering which first made Henry E Dixey and Fanny Ward famous.

The play the author is talking about is an 1884 burlesque musical called “Adonis.” Written by, directed by, and starring Henry E. Dixey, Adonis was a famous play during its time. Interestingly, the bamboo recipe in Jack’s Manual and the Waldorf-Astoria is almost identical to the adonis. In the Waldorf-Astoria, is it the same drink. No difference at all.

The Adonis vs. The Bamboo Cocktail

The Adonis and Bamboo are the same drink with different names. In the 1935 Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, both recipes are the same. No difference at all. The same recipe copy pasted, which is fine. Just keep in mind they are the same. Some books will distinguish between the two by making the Adonis 2/3 sweet vermouth and 1/3 sherry and the Bamboo 50×50 sherry and sweet vermouth. But the Waldorf-Astoria listed them as the same drink with different names, and the Waldorf-Astoria was a very authoritative source of pre-prohibition recipes.

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Godfather – Classic 1978 Recipe & History

godfather
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Godfather

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

10

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

How to make the Godfather cocktail.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Amaretto

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Scotch

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.

Featured Video

The History Of The Godfather Cocktail.

The oldest printed recipe I can find for the Godfather cocktail comes from a 1978 issue of “The Friends of Wine.” A simple cocktail of scotch and amaretto, the Godfather is a fantastic modern cocktail that sips like an old-fashioned. The Godfather cocktail was invented in the 1970s, taking inspiration from the 1972  Francis Ford Coppola movie “The Godfather.” The blend of scotch and the Italian almond liqueur amaretto gives the Godfather a gentle nutty cherry sweetness. Many modern recipes will use equal parts amaretto and scotch, but I find those to be a bit overwhelming and overly sweet. Older recipes tend to use 1.5 ounces of scotch to half an ounce or 2/3 of an ounce of amaretto, which makes for a better drink.

If you have never had a Godfather, it is a fantastic drink you should try. Taste is subjective, but less amaretto is better than more.

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Sun Tea – How To Make It

Sun Tea
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Sun Tea – How To Make It

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

16

servings
Calories

2

kcal
Total time

3

hours 

How to make a classic sun tea

Ingredients

  • 2 Gallons 2 Water

  • 20 Regular 20 Black Tea Bags

Directions

  • Add water to a large clear drink container
  • Tie the tea bags together and place them in the water in a way that they will be easy to remove later
  • Place the container in direct sunlight and let it rest for 3 hours
  • Remove the tea bags and place the drink container in the refrigerator. Serve cold.

Featured Video

What Is Sun Tea?

Anyone who grew up poor knows sun tea is a cheap way to make a ton of tea for the kids without heating a ton of water. The kids are running around in the backyard, all sweaty and gross and covered in dirt, and you show up as the hero with refreshing tea, and they grow up with happy memories. That’s what sun tea is. My mom made this for me and my siblings when we were younger, and now I make it for my kids.

How Many Bags To Make 1 Gallon Of Sun Tea?

Most folks use about 10 to 12 normal-sized bags for 1 gallon, depending on how strong you like the tea to taste. You could do as little as 8 bags per gallon, but don’t do less than that.

Sun Tea Dangers

To preface, I am not a food scientist. These are just my opinions. Consult a doctor before putting anything in your body. So apparently, sun tea is dangerous now. I’ve been drinking this my whole life, and neither I nor anyone I know has become sick from it. But that’s just anecdotal evidence. If you do a Google search for sun tea now, the top-ranking articles and suggestions are all about how sun tea is dangerous and should never be consumed. This fear stems from a 1996 article by the CDC called “Memo on Bacterial Contamination of Iced Tea.” The article argues that since sun tea is not heated above 165°F (74°C) and left in the sun for a few hours, dangerous germs could grow and should not be consumed after 8 hours of brewing. It doesn’t mention anyone explicitly getting sick, but that someone could.

I believe the article’s logic is if a raw pork chop at room temperature was left in the sun for 3 hours, brought inside, and left on the counter for a few hours; It too would be dangerous to eat. Both are food items, so sun tea must also be dangerous to consume because of germ growth. To be fair you can get sick from drinking old sun tea the same way you can get sick from drinking stale water. Cups are not fully germ free, so even a cup of plain water left out for too long will get cloudy eventually and go bad. But, in my opinion, I feel heating tea to the same temperature of cooked food is a poor analogical argument because the recommended cooking temperatures for food don’t really apply to tea, and killing germs is a result of both time and temperature. Here are my issues with the logic.

  1. 165°F (74°C) is the recommended temperature to kill most germs instantly. This is applied to cooking meat since it may only be cooked for a few minutes, but germs die at much lower temperatures over a longer period. This is the principle of pasteurization. Long and low. I’ve pasteurized, and 135°F (57°C) over 75 minutes will basically kill everything too. I once left a sun tea out on a 95°F day and measured the temperature after 3 hours, and it was 145°F. According to pasteurizing requirements, it’s good to go.
  2. UV light is used as an antimicrobial in water purification. When ultraviolet photons enter a cell, the energy in them will permanently damage the DNA and kill almost all germs and viruses. Many high-end water purifiers will have a UV chamber that disinfects the water in less than 10 seconds. I believe most of those systems are UVC, but the UVA and UVB emitted by the sun will still fry a germ. It’s why we get sunburns. With 3% of the energy from the sun being UVA and UVB, it has to have some disinfecting ability within the sun tea. If I was left out in the sun for 3 hours in a 145°F bath of water, I think I would die too.
  3. Most U.S. water systems use chlorine or some other disinfectant treatment to purify water. You can smell it when you pour a glass of water from the tap. The water is still chlorinated when it comes out of the tap, so the “dirty” tea leaves get a very light disinfecting wash when they first enter the pitcher full of water.
  4. None of these concerns seems to be related to real-world infections or illnesses. The CDC article was all hypothetical and implied that it could happen, not that it ever has. And no other source can point to an actual example of someone getting sick from sun tea. Countless people get sick, and some die, from poor food handling all the time, but none of these articles about the dangers of sun tea could point to one instance of it actually happening.

To be fair If it’s been sitting in your refrigerator for a week, it may be time to toss it, but I think the best thing to do is treat sun tea like we treat syrups. Germ growth is exponential but it takes time. So it takes a little time to start going bad, but once it starts to go bad it goes really bad fast. Once you see any cloudiness, toss it. Use common sense. I make many syrups, which are the perfect environment for cultivating germs. A syrup will last around a week or 2 in the fridge, but once there is any cloudiness, it needs to be tossed as it is obvious germs are growing out of control. Again, I’m no doctor or microbiologist (I’m just some dummy who owns a drink website, and for 300 dollar bucks a year, you could do that too), so to play it safe, consult a professional before drinking sun tea, or eating, or drinking anything.

“The practice of making “sun tea” by steeping tea bags in a container of water in the sun may be of higher theoretical risk than brewing tea at higher temperatures because it provides an environment where bacteria are more likely to survive and multiply”

Feb 1996 Vol 96, #2 Epidemiology bulletin

My understanding is the CDC article is saying this kind of contamination is theoretically possible and something to be aware of. That’s fine for them to share. The issue seems to be that the general public read this and misread the word “possible” instead for “will defiantly kill you.” Use common sense and try not to go to extremes. I feel the main issue is don’t drink old sun tea the same way you wouldn’t drink old milk. Is it possible to get sick from sun tea? Yes, but is it probable? No, not if it is consumed in a reasonable amount of time.

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New York Sour – Original Recipe & History

New York Sour
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New York Sour

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

100

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a classic New York Sour

Ingredients

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Simple Syrup

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Lemon Juice

  • 2 oz 2 Rye Whiskey

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Red Wine

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker except for the red wine.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.
  • Top with a dry red wine.

Featured Video

The History Of The New York Sour

The oldest recipe for the New York Sour comes from H. O. Byron’s 1884 Book “The Modern Bartenders’ Guide.” Although he refers to it as the “Continental Sour.” The Recipe is:

  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 oz lemon Juice
  • 2 oz whiskey or other liquor
  • Shake, strain, and dash the top with claret

Byron’s recipe is too dry to float wine on top so the wine would simply mix in. The next appearance of the continental sour is from George Kappeler’s 1895 book Modern American Drinks. His recipe is a bit more open and only describes it as a sour topped with red wine. Depending on how sweet the sour cocktail is it would be possible to float a dry red wine on top. His Recipe is:

Make a plain sour of the desired liquor and top off with claret

Claret is the British term for Bordeaux or a blended Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Not that it really matters. More importantly, the wine should be dry so that it will float on top of the sour. Also of interest is that the continental sour can be based on any sour with a float of wine. The preference seems to be toward whiskey, but the main quality is the addition of red wine at the end. This reminds me of the earliest versions of the Manhattan that could be any base spirit as long as it was mixed with Angostura bitters and sweet vermouth. Making these more of a style than a specific recipe. Within a decade, the Manhattan officially became just a whiskey cocktail, and by the early 1910s, the continental sour officially became just a whiskey cocktail along with its name changing to New York Sour.

The earliest use of the name New York Sour comes from the 1913 book “The Cocktail Book A Sideboard Manual for Gentlemen” by Fredrick Knowles. This is also a whiskey cocktail, but his recipe is impossible to float wine on top of because it has very little sugar. The recipe I am proving here is scaled to let the red wine float on top.

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Amaretto Sour – Original 1970s Recipe

Amaretto Sour
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Amaretto Sour

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

100

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

Make a classic 1970s-style amaretto sour.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Lemon Juice

  • 2 oz 2 Amaretto

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Maraschino cherry

Featured Video

The Original Amaretto Sour Vs. Modern Recipe

The Amaretto Sour was invented in the 1970s due to the popularity of the 1972 Francis Ford Coppola movie “The Godfather” The Amaretto Sour was never mentioned in the film. Still, Italian became vogue, and many new Disaronno cocktails were invented. Some of the oldest Amaretto Sour recipes are simply Disaronno and lemon juice. Most modern recipes contain Disaronno and lemon juice but add countless other ingredients trying to improve the 1970s classic. But most of these newer variations stink.

The classic recipe is delicious. It has a great lemon and cherry flavor without being too heavy or sweet. The top-ranking recipe on Google right now is amaretto, sweet and sour, and Sprite. It looks awful. The next best-looking one has five ingredients. Amaretto, bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg whites, and It’s good, but it’s too much. Another one I saw had muddled orange slices in it. The Amaretto Sour has become a free for all. Many modern recipes are good, but give them a new name. It’s a different drink. Just because it shares two ingredients with another recipe doesn’t mean they are the same. Imagine ordering an Old Fashioned and someone brings you with whiskey, bitters, sprite, and mint. What is the point of naming something is the name means something unique to each person?

What Does The Amaretto Sour Tastes Like?

To answer my own question. Fantastic. It has a pleasant lemon cherry dessert flavor without being too sweet or sour. I resisted making one of these or trying it for many years because the combination did not sound like something I would like, but boy, was I wrong. If you have yet to try this cocktail, you must change that.

What Kind of Liqueur Is Amaretto?

Amaretto is almond liqueur. The taste is similar to marzipan or orgeat. A blend of bitter and sweet almonds that I have come to enjoy more the older I get. The taste of bitter almonds is closer to a cherry flavor than the nut flavor of sweet almonds. Almonds bought at the grocery store are all sweet almonds and do not have the characteristic nutty cherry flavor of bitter almonds. Amaretto is a nice blend of these flavors and an underused liqueur.

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French Wine Coca – Predacesor to Coca-Cola

French Wine Coca
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See how John Pemberton’s French Wine Coca

French Wine Coca

5 from 1 vote Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

33

servings
Calories

90

kcal
Total time

1

hour 

John Pemberton’s French Wine Coca recipe

Ingredients

  • Kola Nut Extract
  • 5 g 5 Kola Nut

  • 30 g 30 Ethanol

  • Damiana Leaf Extract
  • 30 g 30 Damiana Leaf

  • 60 g 60 Ethanol

  • Cinchona Bark Extract
  • 5 g 5 Cinchona Bark

  • 30 g 30 Ethanol

  • Imitation Coca Leaf Extract
  • 45 g 45 Yerba Mate & Bay Leaf(imitation coca leaf Flavor mix)

  • 90 g 90 Ethanol

  • French Wine Coca Ingredients
  • 1 mL 1 Cinchona Extract

  • 0.5 mL 0.5 Kola Nut Extract

  • 40 mL 40 Damiana Leaf Extract

  • 80 mL 80 Imitation Coca Leaf Extract

  • 40 mL 40 Wild Cherry Bark Extract

  • 40 mL 40 Goldenseal Extract

  • 500 mg 500 Liquid Caffeine

  • 10 mL 10 Acid Phosphate

  • 80 mL 80 Simple Syrup

  • 750 mL 750 Red Wine

Directions

  • To make the extracts that can not be bought, Combine each plant and ethanol in four separate containers.French Wine Coca
  • Kola nut and ethanol, damiana leaf and ethanol, Cinchona Bark and ethanol, and yerba mate and bay leaf and ethanol. Let them infuse for 3 days.French Wine Coca
  • To make French Wine Coca, simply combine all the extracts, syrup, and red wine together.French Wine Coca

Recipe Video

Warning! Do Not Make This At Home!

I am a professional recreating this historically significant recipe for experimentation and preservation of the recipe. Some ingredients can be dangerous if misused and can kill you. No illicit substances were used to make this; one should always consult a doctor before taking anything medicinal or making any changes.

Pure ethanol is highly flammable and explosive. Exercise great caution and care anytime you are working with dangerous items.

How Coca Wine Became Coca-Cola

French Wine Coca taste like Christmas mulled wine. Not just any mulled wine either but a really good one. I would describe the flavor of French Wine Coca as brown spices, sweet green leaf, and floral. Depending on the wine used, it can add fruit, citrus, earth, etc. Skys the limit with the wine used as John Pemberton never specified a type to use beyond “Red Wine.” This may sound different from what Coca-Cola tastes like, but I can see the similarities, having tasted the two.

French Wine Coca and Coca-Cola are made of subtle flavors, and it’s hard to differentiate between individual or primary flavors. Coca-cola is a blend of lemon, orange, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, vanilla, and orange blossom essential oils, and these flavors imitate the medicinal extract flavors in French Wine Coca before the wine is added. It’s not a one-to-one match, but the similarities are strong. One of the strongest flavors in French Wine Coca is the Coca Leaf Extract.

The two primary flavors of Coca-Cola are vanilla and coca leaf. Coca leaf extract has a warm sweet herbal tea-like flavor. People hike the Andes and describe chewing on the coca leaf as bitter, but when extracted with ethanol and then diluted, the taste is soft and sweet. When transforming French Wine Coca into Coca-Cola, Pemberton preserved the herbal medical flavors by using essential oils, using a sizeable amount of coca leaf extract, and replacing the wine flavor with more of a cream soda vanilla flavor.

About John Pemberton, The Creator Of Coca-Cola

John Pemberton was born July 8, 1831, in Knoxville, Georgia. In 1850 he earned his medical degree from the now-defunct Southern Botanico-Medical College of Georgia. Pemberton was a Lieutenant Colonel for the former Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. After being wounded in the Battle of Columbus, Pemberton eventually became addicted to opiates and tried to cure his morphine addiction with stimulants. Returning from the war, Pemberton opened a pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the medicinal drinks he sold was John Pemberton’s French Wine Coca, his version of the popular French Coca Wine, Vin Mariani. Pemberton’s French Wine Coca was sold as a cure-all panacea since it contained many different medicines.

In 1886 Atlanta enacted local alcohol prohibition, and Pemberton was forced to remove the wine from his French Wine Coca. He removed most of the medicines from the drink, except for the coca leaf extract, and set to make a new drink. He combined lemon, orange, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, vanilla, and orange blossom oils to create a new drink reminiscent of his French Wine Coca, and in doing so, he invented the “Cola” flavor. Unfortunately, Pemberton would not live to see Coca-Cola’s success. He soon after became sick with stomach cancer and sold the recipe to Asa Candler to pay for his painkiller addiction. John Pemberton died on August 16, 1888, at 57.

Imitation Coca Leaf Extract

Coca leaf is illegal where I live, but you can make imitation coca leaf extract with yerba mate and bay leaf. I have heard of using the ratio of yerba mate to bay leaf is 2/3 yerba mate with 1/3 bay leaf by weight. The extract is a 2:1 ratio of ethanol to plant. So for 120 grams of ethanol, use 60 grams of plant material. The 60 grams of plant material will comprise 40 grams of yerba mate with 20 grams of bay leaf.

What Is B.S. Color?

One of the ingredients I couldn’t figure out was what “B.S Color” was. The best guesses I could come to was burnt sugar and beet sugar color. I was unsure which it was, so I left it out. Burnt sugar sounds highly probable, but in other parts of his book, he refers to that dye as Brown Carmel color. It would be odd for him to use a different name on this one recipe. Beet sugar sounds good too, but again, I can’t know for sure. Seeing that it is just dye and offers no flavor, I figured it was best not to guess and not include it.

American Soda Fountain Culture And Medicine in the 19th Century

19th-century soda fountains were above and beyond anything most could imagine today. Using many of the same tools American saloons used to create cocktails, soda fountain drinks were expertly crafted and creative drinks. Soda fountains were the domain of pharmacists, and how many Americans filled prescriptions. Remember, pharmacists are chemists with knowledge of how to extract medicine and flavors from any herb, bark, or leaf and access to some of the most exotic plants in the world. They were not limited to manufactured bottles of alcohol, and a 19th-century pharmacist could run circles around most bartenders. Its parallel evolution alongside the pharmaceutical soda fountain created the unique American-style saloon. Soda fountains were shaking drinks before bars were. Shaking drinks predates the United States and was a common method for doctors and pharmacists to mix medicines in the 17th century. Here is a 1690s recipe for a treatment that clears the lungs that uses harts-horn, soda water, lemon juice, and syrup and is prepared by shaking. Not to say they invented the Boston Shaker, but the technique well predates American bars. The catalyst for this rapid evolution of bars and soda fountains was the invention of mechanically and locally manufactured carbonated water.

Sparkling mineral water was considered a healthy drink for its mineral content and alluring natural carbonation. But it could only be bottled at the source, and shipping was expensive. Even artificially manufactured soda water from companies like Schweppes was still costly to ship. That changed in 1832 when John Matthews invented a tank small enough to economically make soda water and fit under a bar. In just a few years, hundreds of his tanks were in New York alone. Pharmacies became a great place to get a refreshing medicated drink. Opium and chocolate were a popular combination. Absinthe originated as tapeworm medication. Angostura bitters were used to “clean the blood,” malaria, etc. Gin began as a kidney medication. Juniper berry extract is still used today for regulating renal function. Taverns and soda fountains shared many similarities and influenced each other over the next few decades. Pharmaceutical extracts became common at the bar, and cocktail tools and techniques became common at soda fountains. Soda fountains and bars found themselves in competition for patrons. Bars got you drunk, and soda fountains got you high.

However, things started to get out of hand toward the end of the 19th century. America’s drug and alcohol problems got severe. The temperance movement was gaining speed, and the federal government took notice of soda shops getting people hooked on narcotics. In 1906 the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed, and the FDA was created, with its first job being the removal of narcotics in everyday food and drinks. January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment was ratified, and recreational drinking was made illegal in the US. The passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 killed the classic soda fountain. Pharmacists no longer profited from sodas since they could no longer add medication to their drinks, and pills were becoming more and more mass-produced. Pills were easier to sell with higher profit margins, so the soda fountains businesses were sold, and the decline began. Thus ending the classic soda fountain era. For more information, please check out Darcy O’Neil’s book “Fix the Pumps.”

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Nuka-Cola Quantum – Raspberry Citrus Soda

Nuka Cola Quantum
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See how to make a fantastic Imitation of Quantum Soda

Nuka-Cola Quantum

5 from 1 vote Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

16

servings
Calories

130

kcal
Total time

15

minutes

This is my own raspberry and citrus soda themed after Nuka-Cola Quantum

Ingredients

  • Quantum Syrup
  • 2 cups 2 White Sugar

  • 1/2 tsp 1/2 Citric Acid

  • 10 oz 10 Hot Water

  • 1 tsp 1 Raspberry Extract

  • 1/2 tsp 1/2 Lemon Extract

  • 1/2 tsp 1/2 Orange Extract

  • 1/2 tsp 1/2 Blue Food Dye

  • Quantum Soda
  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Quantum Syrup

  • 8 oz 8 Soda Water or Tonic Water

Directions

  • How To Make Quantum Syrup
  • In a heat proof container combine sugar, citric acid, and hot water. Stir to dissolve.
  • Once the syrup cools, add the extracts and food coloring and store the syrup in the refrigerator.
  • How To Make Quantum Soda
  • Simply combine syrup and soda water or tonic water into a glass together.

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Nuka-Cola Quantum Recipe

I don’t know, but I’ve been told. Uranium ore is worth more than gold, and this drink is the perfect refresher while wandering the wasteland. Whether you are a lone wanderer or a sole survivor, Quantum will replenish your health and even give you a few stat boosts.

This differs from the official Bethesda Nuka-Cola Quantum recipe from their cookbook, but I like mine better. Mine is also much easier to make. For my recipe, I chose blue raspberry and citrus flavors. It tastes like a blue Jolly Rancher and is wonderful. I have a link to their book below if you want the official recipe.

In fallout lore, Rex Meacham invented Nuka Cola Quantum in 2076, a year before the Great War. While working for Nuka-Cola in weapons research, Rex discovered that the radioactive isotope strontium-90 made a great food additive and gave off a gentle blue glow.

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Orgeat Lemonade Soda – Recipe & History

Orgeat Lemonade Soda
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Orgeat Lemonade Soda

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

100

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

How to make a classic Sparkling Orgeat Lemonade

Ingredients

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Lemon Juice

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Simple Syrup

  • 1 oz 1 Orgeat

  • 8 oz 8 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker except for the soda water.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.
  • Top with soda water.

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What Does The Orgeat Lemonade Taste Like?

The orgeat lemonade is a fantastic drink. The orgeat syrup adds a sweetness that offsets the tartness of the lemonade and gives it a wonderful nutty cherry flavor. Orgeat lemonade has been popular for almost 200 years and for good reason. It enhances the lemonade and makes for a drink that is more than the sum of its parts.

History Of The Orgeat Lemonade.

The oldest orgeat lemonade recipe I can find comes from the 1862 book “The Bartenders Guide” by Jerry Thomas. Listed as a temperance drink and has both a still water version and a sparking water soda version. Presently the orgeat lemonade is called a mocktail, but in the past, it was simply seen as a drink or soda. I personally hate the term mocktail because it’s clear alcoholics invented it. A Coke without rum is not a mocktail. It’s a soda. A person drinking orange juice is not drinking a mixer. They are drinking orange juice. When your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, and the term mocktail is an example of that. The oldest reference I found to an orgeat lemonade comes from an 1820 issue of “The Dublin Magazine,” where the author describes how a hotel he stayed at in Paris, France served orgeat lemonades. I wouldn’t be surprised if this drink originated in France, as orgeat (and later grenadine) was wildly popular in France during the 19th century and added to many drinks.

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