Homemade Orange Soda

Before you start

Good orange soda tastes like the whole fruit, not only the juice. Most of an orange's aroma lives in the oils of its zest, so this recipe rubs zest with sugar first. Over half an hour the sugar draws out the oils and turns damp and fragrant, then fresh juice dissolves it into a bright base. Nothing is cooked, which keeps the flavor fresh.

The base is juice-heavy, so the soda has real fruit body and a natural cloudiness. A little citric acid or lemon juice brings back the sharpness that sweet oranges lack. Mix each glass with very cold soda water just before serving; fresh juice loses its sparkle and flavor quickly.

Ingredients

• Orange baseZest of 3 oranges — finely grated, no white pith
• 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
• 250 ml (1 cup plus 1 tbsp) fresh orange juice — from about 3 oranges, strained
• 15 ml (½ oz) fresh lemon juice — or ¼ tsp citric acid
• Per glass90 ml (3 oz) orange base
• 150 ml (5 oz) cold soda water
• 1 cup (about 150 g) ice cubes

Method

1. Scrub the oranges and dry them. Grate the zest finely into a small bowl, stopping before you reach the white pith.
2. Add the sugar and rub it into the zest with your fingertips for about 1 minute, until it looks like damp orange sand and smells strongly of orange.
3. Cover and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile juice the oranges and strain out seeds and large pulp.
4. Pour the orange juice and lemon juice over the zest sugar and stir until the sugar has fully dissolved, about 2 minutes.
5. Strain the base through a fine strainer into a jar, pressing on the zest. Chill until very cold.
6. For each glass, add ice and 90 ml base, then slowly top with 150 ml soda water. Stir once and serve straight away.

Tips for success

• Navel oranges are sweet but mild; blood oranges or Cara Cara make a deeper color and flavor. A mix of varieties is often best.
• Chill the base and soda water before mixing. A cold base keeps more bubbles in the glass.
• For a clearer soda, let the base settle in the refrigerator for an hour, then pour off the top and leave the pulp behind.

Substitutions

Fresh orange juice

Pasteurized not-from-concentrate juice works and keeps longer. The flavor is a little duller, so rely on the zest for aroma.

Lemon juice

Citric acid gives tang without extra liquid and keeps the flavor purely orange. Lime juice adds a slight tropical edge.

Granulated sugar

Honey works but its flavor shows; stir it into the juice rather than rubbing it into the zest. Reduce to 75 g if your oranges are very sweet.

Variations

Orange cream soda

Add 15 ml cold half-and-half to each glass after the soda and stir gently for a creamsicle-like drink.

Blood orange and rosemary

Use blood oranges and rub one small rosemary sprig with the zest and sugar. Strain it out with the zest.

Troubleshooting

The soda tastes bitter

White pith got into the zest. Grate lightly and turn the fruit often so only the colored layer comes off.

It tastes like diluted juice

The zest step was rushed or skipped. Rub the zest and sugar thoroughly and give it the full 30 minutes.

It foams over when you add soda

Pulp and sugar give the bubbles something to grab. Pour the soda slowly down the side of a tilted glass.

Storage

Keep the orange base covered in the refrigerator and use it within 3 days, since it is made with fresh juice. Mix sodas to order; finished drinks go flat within minutes.

Safety notes

Fresh-squeezed juice is unpasteurized and can contain harmful bacteria. Choose pasteurized juice when serving young children, older adults, pregnant people or anyone with a weakened immune system.