Vintage American Cocktails

2 responses to “Classic Vanilla Phosphate Soda Recipe”

1. 

   James

   May 6, 2024 at 7:32 pm

   Where to find all those oils???

   Reply
   1. 

      Tomas Curras

      May 6, 2024 at 10:01 pm

      Ah, a very good and simple question with a not very clear or good answer. The problem is there is no one perfect supplier. There are many good essential oil suppliers but there are some crumby ones, and there are some cheap ones and some expensive ones. Fortunately, if an oil says it’s steam distilled or cold pressed and undiluted, then it probably is and I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Most oils are not too expensive so a bottle of cold-pressed lemon oil for 15-25 bucks is fine and most likely very high quality. Some though are very expensive. A 10 ml bottle of neroli or rose will never be less than 100 – 150 dollars. If you find a bottle of Neroli for less than that, it is for sure cut with other oils, but it will most likely say it is cut with other oils. In addition, there is no regulatory body overseeing essential oils. There are groups, such as the Essential Oil University, that will perform GCMS testing on oils and certify an oil’s level of purity, but submitting to groups like this is voluntary.

      The 2 main things to look for when buying oils are: 1). Only use cold press or steam-distilled oils. 2). Only use 100% pure oils. Never use oils cut with other oils.

      If you want to cover yourself find manufacturers that provide their GCMS test results. companies like Eden’s Garden and others do this, but those oils tend to come at a premium. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Lime or lemon oil for 15- 20 bucks is reasonable, but rose oil for 15-20 bucks? Impossible.

      You can find these oils online and 10-30 ml of pure essential oil will last you a long, long time. 10ml of an oil can fully flavor almost 2000 drinks. That’s over 5 years if you make 1 soda a day. Just to put the cost into perspective.

      By making your own syrups and sodas think of all the preservatives you are avoiding, but if this oil stuff is a bit much you can also make a homemade extract with the actual spices and peels. The essence recipes are 5% solutions but a standard extract will be 0.5%. just 10x each flavor for an extract replacing an essence. Instead of 0.5ml, use 5ml. just soak some nutmeg or lemon peels in vodka, add a teaspoon of each infusion, and call it a day.

      I hope this helps. Again it’s not a simple question to answer.

      Reply