DIY Coke… yes, you can make delicious homemade soda

Last Updated on November 30, 2024 by Michelle

Homemade soda… DIY coke… Whatever you want to call it; I didn’t think homemade soda could possibly be any good. So I stuck with homemade gatorade and DIY kombucha, but I never even tried to make homemade soda.

I’m about to show you something that will change the way you look at soda forever.

Can you really make homemade soda?

I don’t know when I last had a soda (I do give into my temptation a few times a year, probably), but today I had a crazy obsession for coke, so I knew today was the day to give this homemade soda idea a try.

So I started googling, and searching my pantry, and googling more for substitutes for many things I didn’t have on hand.

The result? Well I have a quart jar of soda syrup stashed in the fridge, I’m on my second glass of this DIY coke, and I’m in LOVE.

I also have a 1/2-gallon jar of DIY Coke Kombucha fermenting as we speak… more on that below.

Is Homemade soda better for you?

Most of the soft drinks on the market today are essentially liquid cocaine. Scientific studies have shown that they induce cravings that are comparable to addictive drugs. (source) We dove deep into this in episode 11 of season 3 of the podcast. 

So yes, homemade soda is much better for you. You are in charge of every ingredient, so you know exactly what is in your homemade soda. And, maybe most importantly, you can choose how to sweeten your homemade soda. You can choose to use an all-natural sugar that won’t spike your blood sugar level, which is what leads to so many problems and you can choose how much sugar. My goal is to slowly wean down the amount of sugar I’m using in our homemade soda so it’s even better for us.

How to make your own soda?

You have choices. You can pull together the ingredients yourself or you can use an all-natural syrup mix. Both are great options and I’ll walk you through both.

First, let’s start with the from-scratch option. I bet you have all of these things in your kitchen right now. Well, maybe not the lavender. But that’s okay. Read the recipe notes for substitution ideas for lavender, as well as many other items on this list.

Oh, one thing you won’t find in this DIY coke? Caramel color. Yeah, I’ll skip the cancer-causing, oh-so-bad-for-me ingredient that you find in every can of coke, and I’ll be perfectly happy with a yellow colored glass of soda.

Can you buy a kit for making homemade soda?

YES! If you don’t want to try to source your ingredients and make your own cola syrup, you can absolutely buy a mix from a trusted, small-family business that I have been ordering from for many years. In fact, after years of making my own cola syrup, I heard that Farmhouse Teas came out with this Kola Syrup Mix and I knew instantly I had to try it. (Use code SOULYRESTED to save $$, if you want to try it out. Oh, and they make other delicious teas and a root beer syrup kit! If you spend $59 or more shipping is free!)

This syrup, when combined with carbonated water, tastes just like a tall, cold glass of Coke. BUT you get to choose the sugars you use, so you can make it with all-natural sugar options that don’t spike your blood sugar level.

Better yet, this Kola Syrup Mix is made with medicinal ingredients, not addictive ones. It’s made of powder from a nut that grows in West Africa that is world-renowned for providing energy, reducing appetite, and helping manage depression and anxiety.

While I’m not saying a glass of this will solve all your problems, it sure is a delicious step in that direction.

One Kola Syrup Kit will make 4 quarts of syrup, total, which means each kit makes about 13 2L amounts of homemade soda.

And bonus, if you care about the color of your soda, unlike my from-scratch soda, this soda even almost has the caramel color of Coke, since it’s made with kola nut powder.

Is homemade soda cheaper?

Because my Homemade Soda Syrup makes a whole quart of syrup, and you only need 1 TB for a cup of soda, it’s always going to be cheaper than buying Coke. Plus, you can make exactly how much you want instead of opening a whole 2L of soda and winding up with a flat drink that noone wants to drink before the 2L is empty.

If you make homemade soda with the Kola Syrup Mix that I love I’m very happy to report that you can make a 2-liter’s-worth of homemade soda for $2.99 worth of syrup. I don’t know about where you live, but we would have to pay that much at our local store for a 2L of Coke and this homemade soda is FAR superior and SO much better for our family.

Can you make cola kombucha?

Yes! You can make kombucha that either option above, the from-scratch recipe I share or the Kola Syrup Kit.

Cola kombucha recipe:

Combine 1/4 cup of soda syrup with 1/2 gallon of first ferment kombucha. Let sit at room temperature 1-3 days. (Find out more about how much money you save making your own kombucha here.)

Or, for another alternative, keep the ingredients you strain out of your sauce pan (the ginger and lavender), and steep that in 1 gallon of first ferment kombucha for 1-3 days at room temperature

Soda kombucha, without second ferment:

Combine soda syrup and first ferment kombucha, 1 TB syrup per every 1 cup kombucha, and enjoy immediately. (And here’s another floral kombucha recipe you might love.)

How long does homemade syrup last?

Homemade syrup lasts for a week or two in the fridge. But it can last for a year or longer if you want to freeze it.

It’s super easy to freeze your homemade soda syrup ! Simply fill ice cube trays with your soda syrup and freeze until solid. Store cubes in freezer-safe container and use 2-3 cubes in a tall glass of cherry seltzer water for the most amazing ice-cold homemade Cherry Coke you can imagine.

How do you make soda without a machine?

While I love our soda machine, it is new to us and I’ve been making homemade soda for years. Simply add a can of carbonated seltzer water to your syrup, no machine necessary. If you do have a soda machine, I don’t recommend adding your syrup to the machine. Unless you like volcanic-like explosions. Simply carbonate cold water and add that to your syrup.

What are the steps in making coke?

I have no idea what steps are included in making genuine Coca-Cola, and the ingredient list is closely guarded. But I’ve worked at creating a delicious drink my family enjoys that sure does taste a lot like the real deal.

And I’m going to break down exactly how I do it. Because, well, the world needs a Coke substitute that has zero junk. If you’re ready to skip the dyes and artificial ingredients and enjoy a guilt-free refreshing soda, here are the steps you need to know…

Homemade Soda Recipe

• 3/4 cup of lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp anise extract (or see notes for substitution)
• 1 tsp dried lavender (save $$ with code SOULYRESTED)
• 4 tsp minced ginger
• 1 TB vanilla extract (I love this one)
• 3/4 tsp white vinegar OR apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1 3/4 cups maple syrup

Combine all ingredients except the maple syrup in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and strain out the solids.

Pour into a quart jar and let cool.

Add the maple syrup and stir.

Keep refrigerated for up to a month.

Yield: 1 quart of soda syrup

To make homemade soda, combine 1 tablespoon of your homemade soda syrup with 1 cup of seltzer water or club soda. Serve over ice.

Or, we love making our own carbonated water too. This is our soda machine. I love it because I can use my own ingredients (usually fruit) to make any flavor of bubbly water I want. (Most soda machines don’t let you add ingredients to the machine.)

Sidenote: I source most of my ingredients from Azure Standard. Go here to find out how this independent food supply chain is fixing a broken food system and connecting food suppliers directly to consumers.

Homemade Soda NOTES

• Substitute 1/2 tsp anise extract with  1/4 tsp allspice.
• Swap in a ¼ teaspoon allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg for every tablespoon of fresh ginger. Or substitute 1/4 tsp ground ginger for every 1 TB fresh ginger.
• Or use 1/4 tsp turmeric powder in place of the 4 tsp fresh ginger in this recipe.
• If you want to always be prepared to make this, consider grating some fresh ginger and freezing it.
• You could substitute honey in place of maple syrup.
• Dried lavender leaves can be used instead of lavender flowers. But I love the great quality of these lavender flowers if you’d like to stock up on some. Use code SOULYRESTED and save.
• If you don’t have lavender on hand, or maybe are waiting on these great lavender flowers that you ordered, you could try an equal amount of a few other herbs instead that might work pretty well. (If you try one, please let me know!): rosemary, lemon thyme, or mint.
• Have fun trying all different flavors of seltzer, make lime coke, strawberry coke, orange coke, you name it… my favorite is black cherry coke. Mmmmmm.
• If you splurge on a carbonated water machine–we LOVE this one–then you can really experiment with lots of neat flavors that you make (I just made a raspberry ginger coke… so good!).
• I source many of these ingredients from Azure Standard. Go here to find out how this independent food supply chain is fixing a broken food system and connecting food suppliers directly to consumers.
• All the ingredients for this homemade soda are included on my Pantry Checklist, which is also loaded with discount codes for you on all my favorite real food ingredients. Download your own Pantry Checklist right here.

If you like homemade soda, you’ll love these drink recipes:

Maple Chocolate Iced “Coffee”

Homemade gatorade

The Best Summer Flavors of DIY Kombucha

Homemade Healthy Tea Blend that Tastes Like Coffee

Decaf Frozen Coffee Alternative

Healthy Hot Chocolate Mix

One Drink we Need to Ditch (podcast episode)

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13

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