Easter Soda -- Kiwi Edition

[manoaction]

After the cranberry soda was such a hit at thanksgiving, my tea-totalling family has requested an Easter soda.

I didn't want to repeat cranberry, so I'm thinking of going with kiwi based soda.

Below, I've listed the ingredients I'm considering messing around with, but I need feedback on possible ingredients I've overlooked.

I also need help on flavor extraction. The usual thought seems to be soak it in vodka for a few days, but I don't have a ton of time and I wanted to get an idea on flavor soon.

If I steep the various ingredients in hotish water, will that extract without denaturing the related oils?

Anyway, I'm thinking the soda will have...

a mix of fruits possibly including Kiwi, Banana, or Strawberry with Kiwi being the dominate flavor.

Then I'd like to have a spice component to counter the sweetness of fruit.

Licorice, Cloves, Ginger, Cardamom, Cinnamon, or maybe Almond.

What do you think? How can I get the flavor out of the spice without the "soak in vodka for days" method.

 

[KevinM]

You can definitely get the flavor components out of the spices with hot water. Perhaps not as greatly with warm. (If you've ever had a spiced tea, it's just those same spices in a bag.).
There may be different flavanoid compounds between alcohol extraction and water extraction, but you'll still get something out of it. You can then chill the water and use it as your main liquid instead of water.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

I'll echo the spice flavor with hot water idea. Not a problem to steep spices. I've done it with cinnamon for an apple pie soda, it turns out really nice if you can filter out the cinnamon.

 

[manoaction]

Thanks for the advice.

I ground the spices in a coffee grinder and tossed them in vodka before reading this. I was surprised how potent the flavor became almost instantly. It didn't need several days at all to turn just a few drops into something pretty powerful.

I can only imagine that it will get a lot better with a bit of time.

 

[manoaction]

By the way.

Cardamom, Ginger, and Cinnamon all went really well with the Kiwi/Strawberry flavor.

Anise and Pistachio also were pleasant if a bit unusual.

Almond wasn't bad, but just didn't seem to fit.

Cloves and Mint in my opinion were downright terrible.

 

[user 115818]

I'd love to see your easter and cranberry soda recipes!!!