Comments on: Homemade Cola Recipe

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:04:16 +0000

Hi, i am thinking of making some cola as a project. how much gum arabic do you add to emulsify the essential oils? i am thinking of having a go at making a reasonable quantity of concentrate, perhaps 40litres, so may have a go with a jug blender or food processor. i think that i may use a combination of some essential oils along with some spices and ingredients, so assume that i will need to emulsify part of it in?
any advice regarding quantities of the gum arabic to use would be most appreciated.
cheers

steve

By: ed523

ed523 — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:22:40 +0000

how much syrup does that make? i need to figure out how much of everything for 5 gallons

By: Tristan

Tristan — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:35:40 +0000

The bottles are just empty mineral water bottles that I filled up with the syrup. The labels were printed out and stuck on!

You can buy bottles from home brew websites with either hinged lids, traditional beer cap lids or screw on plastic lids with seals. I’d use them and then customise your own labels.

By: August-

August- — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:05:26 +0000

Hey Tristan, great blog. I have been thinking about making in house Cola for a while, but until seeing your posting, I didn’t have the info I needed to do it for real. I agree with you on the open cola page; it’s great that someone went to the trouble to decode the formula, but you can already buy it like that. I want a Cuba Libre the hard way, and this looks like a great way to get it.

One Question, are the bottles you show in the photo your own bottling? If so, where did you find the bottles and labels? I’m not trying to start a soda empire, but it would be nice to be able to store it and give it friends etc without having to give them a reused, 2 liter plastic coke bottle.

Thanks for a great blog, August-

By: Koali's life » Blog Archive » My first cordial

Koali's life » Blog Archive » My first cordial — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:31:57 +0000

[...] at recipes and concepts, I discovered some really interesting combinations. One of them being this cola recipe and the fact that there is an open source recipe for [...]

By: Tristan

Tristan — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:36:29 +0000

Keep it in a sealed bottle in the fridge and it should last up to a month.

By: Frances

Frances — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:25:41 +0000

great site… i was wondering how long the syrup will store and what should I store it in?

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:36:46 +0000

I’m a long time home brewer of beer and would like to get into making sodas including cola. I’ve been sampling a number of commercially available colas made exclusively with cane sugar instead of corn syrup and other sweeteners. It’s amazing how much better they taste! I intend to start with Open Cola then Cube Cola and then try your recipe but I’m tempted to start with your recipe!

Anyway my question has to do with kegging instead of bottling my results. I have the ability, space and equipment to keg anything from one to five gallons at a time and store them in a fridge with beer faucets in the door. This would eliminate the need for soda water or yeast for carbonation. Should I use carbonation levels similar to lagers or what? My thought was to carbonate at 15psi for several days then lower to 8psi for dispensing. I could always bottle pre-carbonated soda for trips or sharing.
Bill

By: Tristan

Tristan — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:42:24 +0000

It’s tough to get a decent cherry flavour naturally. Your best bet might be to simply boil up some fresh cherries. Almonds and apricots provide a similar flavour. Once you sweeten it you should find that you get a nice cherry flavour.

By: chad

chad — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:49:40 +0000

I’m interested in making cherry cola. What would be the best way of adding cherry flavor?