Strawberry-Rhubarb Soda - Cook's Science

Ingredients

900 g	rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
450 g	strawberries, hulled and sliced thin
100 g	sugar
170 g	cold water
	ice

2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced thin

1 cup (7 ounces) sugar

¾ cup cold water

ice

Essential Equipment

Instructions

- 900 g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 450 g strawberries, hulled and sliced thin
- 100 g sugar
Line fine-mesh strainer with 4 layers of cheesecloth, leaving 2 inches of overhang, and set over 8-cup liquid measuring cup or large bowl. Place rhubarb in blender and blend on high speed until mostly smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer rhubarb to prepared strainer and press with back of ladle to force juice through. When mixture looks dry, gather edges of cheesecloth together to form ball. Using your hands, squeeze ball to extract as much juice as possible; discard rhubarb pulp. (Rinse and hang cheesecloth to dry—you will use it again in step 2.) Transfer rhubarb juice to lidded container. Toss strawberries and sugar together in medium bowl; cover. Transfer both covered containers to refrigerator and let sit for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
- 170 g cold water
Line fine-mesh strainer with reserved cheesecloth, leaving 2 inches of overhang, and set over 8-cup liquid measuring cup or large bowl. Transfer strawberry mixture to prepared strainer and press with back of ladle to force juice through. When strawberries look dry, gather edges of cheesecloth and join in middle to form ball. Using your hands, squeeze ball to extract as much juice as possible. Transfer strawberries to airtight container and save for another use. Gently pour rhubarb juice into strawberry syrup, being very careful to leave sediment behind; discard sediment (some juice will be left with sediment). Stir in cold water, transfer to airtight container, and store in refrigerator until ready to make soda. (Juice can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
- ice
Transfer cream whipper to freezer and chill until very cold, at least 15 minutes. Pour 240 g (1 cup) cold strawberry-rhubarb juice into cream whipper and add 30 g (about 3 cubes) ice. Stir until ice is dissolved. Screw cap on cream whipper and charge with 1 CO₂ cartridge. Shake cream whipper for 20 seconds. With nozzle facing up, cover nozzle with paper towel (to catch any small amount of spray), and very slowly vent cream the whipper completely. Charge with 1 more CO₂ cartridge and shake cream whipper for 20 seconds. Let cream whipper sit for 5 minutes. With nozzle facing up, cover nozzle with paper towel (to catch any small amount of spray), and very slowly vent cream whipper completely. Unscrew cap, pour soda gently down side of serving glass, and serve (with ice, if desired).

Hide Annotation

at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.: Applying heat to strawberries to concentrate their flavor resulted in a cooked, jammy flavor that lacked the freshness I wanted for this soda. Instead, I chose to macerate the fruit for a no-cook syrup. Maceration is the technique of adding sugar to fruit in order to pull out moisture. If the moisture pulled from the fruit is quickly drained away from the fruit, it will taste of little more than sugar water. However, if the exuded juice is left in contact with the fruit for an extended period of time, the juice becomes infused with intense fruit flavor. The longer you let the fruit macerate (up to 24 hours), the stronger the strawberry flavor in the syrup. Letting the rhubarb juice sit during this time allows solids (which interfere with carbonation) in the juice to settle to the bottom so that we can discard them.

Hide Annotation

another use.: These strawberries have given up a lot of their flavor to the syrup, but they still taste good. I like adding them to yogurt and oatmeal.

Hide Annotation

very slowly vent cream the whipper completely.: This step removes air from the cream whipper, which is important for two reasons. First, getting the air out means we have more space to add carbon dioxide, which is what will make our drink nice and bubbly. Second, small pockets of air trapped in the soda act as unwanted nucleation sites, causing the dissolved CO₂ to turn into bubbles in the chamber instead of in our glass.

Hide Annotation



Pour 240 g (1 cup) cold strawberry-rhubarb juice into cream whipper

Hide Annotation

gently down side of serving glass,: All carbonated beverages benefit from being poured like a beer: gently down the side of the glass.

Hide Annotation

very cold,: Carbon dioxide solubility (how well it dissolves into water) increases as water temperature goes down. So, for the bubbliest results, you want your soda to be as cold as possible.

Instructions

- 2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced thin
- 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
Line fine-mesh strainer with 4 layers of cheesecloth, leaving 2 inches of overhang, and set over 8-cup liquid measuring cup or large bowl. Place rhubarb in blender and blend on high speed until mostly smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer rhubarb to prepared strainer and press with back of ladle to force juice through. When mixture looks dry, gather edges of cheesecloth together to form ball. Using your hands, squeeze ball to extract as much juice as possible; discard rhubarb pulp. (Rinse and hang cheesecloth to dry—you will use it again in step 2.) Transfer rhubarb juice to lidded container. Toss strawberries and sugar together in medium bowl; cover. Transfer both covered containers to refrigerator and let sit for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
- ¾ cup cold water
Line fine-mesh strainer with reserved cheesecloth, leaving 2 inches of overhang, and set over 8-cup liquid measuring cup or large bowl. Transfer strawberry mixture to prepared strainer and press with back of ladle to force juice through. When strawberries look dry, gather edges of cheesecloth and join in middle to form ball. Using your hands, squeeze ball to extract as much juice as possible. Transfer strawberries to airtight container and save for another use. Gently pour rhubarb juice into strawberry syrup, being very careful to leave sediment behind; discard sediment (some juice will be left with sediment). Stir in cold water, transfer to airtight container, and store in refrigerator until ready to make soda. (Juice can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
- ice
Transfer cream whipper to freezer and chill until very cold, at least 15 minutes. Pour 1 cup cold strawberry-rhubarb juice into cream whipper and add 1 ounce (about 3 cubes) ice. Stir until ice is dissolved. Screw cap on cream whipper and charge with 1 CO₂ cartridge. Shake cream whipper for 20 seconds. With nozzle facing up, cover nozzle with paper towel (to catch any small amount of spray), and very slowly vent the cream whipper completely. Charge with 1 more CO₂ cartridge and shake cream whipper for 20 seconds. Let cream whipper sit for 5 minutes. With nozzle facing up, cover nozzle with paper towel (to catch any small amount of spray), and very slowly vent cream whipper completely. Unscrew cap, pour soda gently down side of serving glass, and serve (with ice, if desired).

Hide Annotation

at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.: Applying heat to strawberries to concentrate their flavor resulted in a cooked, jammy flavor that lacked the freshness I wanted for this soda. Instead, I chose to macerate the fruit for a no-cook syrup. Maceration is the technique of adding sugar to fruit in order to pull out moisture. If the moisture pulled from the fruit is quickly drained away from the fruit, it will taste of little more than sugar water. However, if the exuded juice is left in contact with the fruit for an extended period of time, the juice becomes infused with intense fruit flavor. The longer you let the fruit macerate (up to 24 hours), the stronger the strawberry flavor in the syrup. Letting the rhubarb juice sit during this time allows solids (which interfere with carbonation) in the juice to settle to the bottom so that we can discard them.

Hide Annotation

another use.: These strawberries have given up a lot of their flavor to the syrup, but they still taste good. I like adding them to yogurt and oatmeal.

Hide Annotation

gently down side of serving glass,: All carbonated beverages benefit from being poured like a beer: gently down the side of the glass.

Hide Annotation

very slowly vent the cream whipper completely.: This step removes air from the cream whipper, which is important for two reasons. First, getting the air out means we have more space to add carbon dioxide, which is what will make our drink nice and bubbly. Second, small pockets of air trapped in the soda act as unwanted nucleation sites, causing the dissolved CO₂ to turn into bubbles in the chamber instead of in our glass.

Hide Annotation



Pour 1 cup cold strawberry-rhubarb juice into cream whipper

Hide Annotation

very cold,: Carbon dioxide solubility (how well it dissolves into water) increases as water temperature goes down. So, for the bubbliest results, you want your soda to be as cold as possible.

Recipe

Fresh Strawberry-Rhubarb Soda

Ingredients

Essential Equipment

Instructions

Instructions

Ingredients

Essential Equipment

Instructions

Instructions

Cook’s Science Newsletter

Welcome to the community!