January 2009
How Drinks Are Carbonated And What Carbonation Means
Carbonation occurs when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water or an aqueous solution. This process yields the “fizz” to carbonated water and sparkling mineral water, the head to beer, and the cork pop and bubbles to champagne and sparkling wine.
The quality of carbonated beverages including soft drinks, seltzer and beer is affected by the amount of dissolved CO2 (the gas that causes carbonation) and the amount of carbonic acid in the drink.
Carbonation can occur as a result of natural processes: when yeast ferments dissolved sugars sealed in a pressure-tolerant bottle or keg; when underground volcanic carbon dioxide carbonates well water; or when rainwater passes through limestone into a cave and forms a stalactite. Or it can be done artificially by dissolving carbon dioxide under pressure into the liquid. Sometimes natural carbonation is called conditioning while the term carbonation is reserved for the artificial process.
In many consumer beverages such as soft drinks (well known examples include Coca-Cola, 7 Up, Fanta and Pepsi), carbonation is used to give “bite”. Contrary to popular belief, the fizzy taste is caused by dilute carbonic acid inducing a slight burning sensation, and is not caused by the presence of bubbles. This can be shown by drinking a fizzy drink in a hyperbaric chamber at the same pressure as the beverage. This gives much the same taste, but the bubbles are completely absent.
Carbonation is sometimes used for reasons other than consumption for example: to lower the pH (raise the hydrogen ion concentration) of a water solution, and in the cleaning industry (Chem-Dry and Carbonated Solutions both use carbonated cleaning solutions for carpet cleaning)
In homebrewing, overcarbonation can be dangerous; it can result in bottles gushing or even exploding. Adding priming sugar or malt extract at bottling time to beer that has had its fermentable sugar content totally consumed is the safest approach to carbonation. Exceeding recommended levels of priming sugar for a given recipe is dangerous, as is using inappropriate bottles or improper capping methods. Beer may also be force-carbonated using a keg and special bottling equipment so that the carbonation level can be carefully controlled.
Carbonated water, also known as sparkling water, and seltzer, is plain water into which carbon dioxide gas has been dissolved, and is the major and defining component of most “soft drinks”. The process of dissolving carbon dioxide gas is called carbonation. It results in the formation of carbonic acid (which has the chemical formula H2CO3). A large assortment of calorie free flavors to flavor sparkling water to great taste is sold at
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In earliear days, soda water, was also called as club soda and it was produced in home by “charging” a refillable seltzer bottle and filling it with water and then mixing carbon dioxide. Club soda may be identical to plain carbonated water or it may contain a small amount of table salt, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium sulfate, or disodium phosphate, depending on the bottler. These additives are added in order to impart slightly salty taste to the homemade soda water. The process can also occur naturally to produce carbonated mineral water, such as in Mihalkovo in the Bulgarian Rhodopes.
Sodastream Brand Of Home Carbonation Systems
SodaStream is the name of a brand of home carbonation systems that was invented by Guy Gilbey in 1903. Later versions allowed the addition of concentrates to create carbonated flavored beverages. It was popular in the 1970s and 1980s when there were a number of brand name syrups available, and, after the company merged with Soda-Club in 1998, it was relaunched with an emphasis on healthier drinks.
In the UK (where it was first sold) the SodaStream machine is strongly associated with late-1970s/early-1980s childhood nostalgia.
The SodaStream drinks maker is a device which can force carbon dioxide gas (stored under pressure in a cylinder) into water, making it fizzy. The product includes a machine, a carbon dioxide canister, and one or more reusable beverage bottles (suitable for pressurizing). The bottle filled with water is threaded onto the machine and after a button push, compressed CO2 from the canister is injected which creates sparkling water (known as seltzer too). Various types of concentrated syrups are available, in order to create diet or regular soft drinks with adding a less amount of concentrate into the water bottle after carbonation. Once a canister is empty, it is returned to a supplier and a new canister is purchased.
By using the appropriate variety of concentrate, different flavours of soft drink can be created. Throughout its heydays, various popular brands were available under SodaStream concentrate like Tizer, Sunkist, Fanta,and Irn-Bru.
Competing (Aromhuset of Sweden) Sparkling Water Flavors
The flavor is not sweetened, have no artificial sweeteners and contains no sugar, preservatives, artificial flavors or color. It adds a tasty smell and a light taste without sweetness, acidity or body. No calories. Taste is great and very refreshing. Flavored carbonated water taste much, much better than plain carbonated water.
30ml – 2/3 capsule (2 ml) flavor 1 liter of carbonated water. 1 bottle of 30 ml makes 15 liters of flavored carbonated water.
270ml – 2 pumps (2 ml) flavors 1 liter of carbonated water. 1 bottle of 270 ml makes 135 liters of flavored carbonated water.
Milkstream was a variation of SodaStream milkshake products, made by the same company. The ingredients (milk, ice cream and Crusha syrup) were mixed in a tall glass and inserted into the machine, so that the wand extended into the glass to froth up the shake.
The forerunner of the machine, the “Apparatus for aerating liquids”, was created in 1903 by Guy Hugh Gilbey of the London gin distillers, W & A Gilbey Ltd., and was sold to the upper classes (including the royal household). Flavored concentrates such as cherry ciderette and sarsaparilla, were introduced in the 1920s, along with commercial carbonation machines, and the first machine for home carbonation of drinks was produced in 1955. SodaStream was originally sold in the UK first, but later on it spread into other countries too, including New Zealand, Australia and Germany.
SodaStream machines were popular during the 1970s and 1980s in the UK, and are associated with nostalgia for that period. Their slogan, “Get busy with the fizzy”, started as an advertising jingle in 1979 and proved so popular that they added it to their logo. They finally dropped it in 1996 after 17 years.
While commercially successful, there was a general perception that some of the soft drinks produced by the machines were a poor approximation of their commercial counterparts. It is notable that, in addition to the slightly different flavours of the end result, the bubbles produced by SodaStreams are significantly larger and shorter-lived.