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The Soda Situation - Succulent Drinks w/o the Sweets?
Ticron asks: "Like most of you, my job and lifestyle revolves around drinking lots and lots of caffeine - usually in the form of soda. I've been trying to cut back on my sugar intake lately, and am interested in what some of you drink that isn't loaded down with the sweet stuff. Diet drinks have little to no flavor, and fruit punches have almost (sometimes more!) sugar than sodas themselves. Is there anything out there that maintains the convenience of a canned drink, but without all the sugar?"
Giving up soda (really, caffeine in general) is really a great thing. You feel better overall, and your waking hours feel much more... Awake. But, I'd also suggest tea. No sugar at all. Iced tea is really refreshing, and you get your caffeine (if you want, unlike sodas there is no taste sacrifice for decafe).
Buy a home soda maker from Soda Club. It's basically a plastic case around an aluminum CO2 canister. There's a good selection of flavors with near-replacements for the big ones: coke, dr pepper, mountain dew, root beer. You screw the bottle of tap water on, press the button a few times until it buzzes, unscrew it, and pour in a capful of syrup.
I bought one because the drinks are flavored with Splenda and have 1/3 the calories. The regular ones still have some high fructose corn syrup in. Because you're mixing the syrup and selzter yourself you can adjust the carbonation and sweetness to your taste. I make it quite a bit less sweet and with less carbonation than store-bought, and I've been really happy with it.
There is also a cost savings argument. I haven't sat down and checked it myself, but it's on the site somewhere. Cheaper or not, I'm glad I don't have to deal with recycling two-liter bottles and aluminum cans all the time. Although I mostly drink the diet mountain dew flavor, it's nice that I can make some root beer, orange drink, or something obscure when I feel like it.
Anyway, I love the thing. But let me assure you they are not kidding when the warning says to add syrup only after carbonating the water. God help you if you put any syrup in first. You get a real nice soda fountain when you unscrew it to the great and undying hilarity of everyone around.
Stop the Slashdot Effect! Don't read the articles!
I second this opinion. Several soft drink companies here in the eastern US have perfected some very tasty flavored carbonated waters. (I'm inferring from the use of 'hospital' instead of 'the hospital' that the submitter is British; I have no idea if these sorts of drinks are available in the UK.)
Here are some links:
Poland Spring makes some of the best flavored seltzer I've ever had. Raspberry Lime kicks ass and has become a staple of my diet (at least two litres daily). Lime, lemon, orange and plain are the other flavors and are good in decreasing order, IMHO.
Adirondack is what I drink when I can't find Poland Spring around. They have a great raspberry lime and lemon-lime and are truly delicious. (And they're certified Kosher, if that makes a difference to you.)
The best part is that the flavors are more of an essence than a true additive, so they have -0- Calories, -0- sodium, -0- cabohydrates, and -0- fat.
They are awesome. I love them. As far as I am concerned, they are the perfect substitute for sugared sodas, but YMMV.