7 ms·

I'm actually dreading the day that I go to the store and find that my favorite soda syrups have been discontinued. I prefer diet sodas over coffee for my daily

by lgbr 10y ago

I'm actually dreading the day that I go to the store and find that my favorite soda syrups have been discontinued. I prefer diet sodas over coffee for my daily caffeine intake. I started using a SodaStream a couple years ago, and I've come to really enjoy a few of the flavors that they offer, but some of them are already completely impossible to get anymore. This seems mostly due to them being acquired by Pepsi, and this has caused them to redo their entire lineup due to either lackluster sales or corporate politics. I would love it if Open Cola were not only available from manufacturers, but also covered more flavors, because it seems like making soda at home is really catching on (one only needs to look at the sales of the carbonator cap on Amazon to see this) but the availability of syrups is presenting some serious supplier risk. Edit: SodaStream wasn't acquired by Pepsi, they merely had a distribution deal. My mistake.

dspillett 10y ago
> it seems like making soda at home is really catching on ... but the availability of syrups is presenting some serious supplier risk. Wouldn't the answer there be to try making your own of those too? I'd bet good money that a "plain" syrup isn't difficult to make and that relevant flavouring agents are easy to come by.
- lgbr 10y ago
  > Wouldn't the answer there be to try making your own of those too? The difference with carbonation is that I can get CO2 and carbonation equipment really easily, and in different forms from different suppliers. I could even get some yeast from my local store and make it. Carbonating water takes less time and effort than making a cup of coffee. The problem with syrups is that, as you can see from the recipe here on Open Cola, I would spend a lot of time and effort making it. The only syrup I know of that doesn't have this problem is root beer. Most grocery stores in the US seem to carry concentrate which need only be mixed with sweetener and carbonated water. Cola, lemon lime, orange, or other syrups don't have this kind of availability, apart from those from SodaStream.
  - petra 10y ago
    >> Cola, lemon lime, orange, or other syrups don't have this kind of availability Sure, they're not on every grocery store. But Amazon has them, and it's a great distribution channel for that.
  - kbutler 10y ago
    We have a little snow cone maker (ice shaver) that the kids love. We also do Italian sodas periodically. We buy just-add-water punch mix by the gallon in various flavors at our local grocery store. Should work for home-mixed sodas. The Torani flavors in the italian sodas are a good option, but probably expensive for mass soda production?
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > Cola, lemon lime, orange, or other syrups don't have this kind of availability Cola and lemon-lime as a mix, maybe; orange, as well as lemon and lime individually -- and also raspberry, vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, and others -- are very commonly available flavoring syrups in most grocery stores I've seen.
bad_user 10y ago
Given you drink diet sodas, you must care about your health, but drinking diet sodas is more unhealthy than coffee. For one, you're clearly concerned about sugar intake (and you should be), but you see one problem with our sugar intake is that it makes our taste buds tolerant to sugar, so in time it dulls our senses for fruits or milk or other healthy foods with naturally occurring sugar. And the problem is that artificial sweeteners can make this problem even worse. This is like nicotine addicts switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes. It might be slightly healthier, but doesn't do anything for your addiction. If you're a diabetic, there have been studies suggesting that some artificial sweeteners can raise your blood sugar and can trigger an insulin response. If you're concerned about your weight I saw a study suggesting that artificial sweeteners can lead to weight gain. Of course, you know how nutrition studies are - most of them are flawed or questionable, but clearly it's a warning sign. And sugar is not the only bad ingredient in sodas. Another problem is citric acid, linked to tooth decay. Phosphoric acid has been linked to osteoporosis and also tooth decay. Coca Cola has been using Aspartame in their diet products, which has been found to cause cancer. The list goes on. I'm in the same boat as you, I simply want something to drink. Personally I drink plain water (which tastes really good after you cut your sugar intake), coffee with milk in the morning and tea during the day, all without sugar. And I eat fruits for my sugar intake. Grapes taste great this time of year. Or when I have a craving for Coca Cola, which happens from time to time, I simply drink the one with sugar in it, because it tastes better. If my health is going to suffer, at least it has to be worth it.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  (citation needed)
- chrxss 10y ago
  Actually, this is scientifically wrong. The myth that artifical sweeteners are a bad as sugar has been disproved some time ago. For the harm, e-smoking may pose, one cannot really tell. However, the sole intake of nicotine is not as harmful as smoking tobacco. This difference is mostly due to the presence of MAOI in tobacco. Citric acid actually is worse than phosphoric acid, but how many sirups are made with citric acid? Also, if you limit your intake, you should be fine. Alas most juices comprise in part of citric acid.
willcodeforfoo 10y ago
Wait, when was SodaStream acquired? Last I knew they were a publically traded company.
- dagw 10y ago
  It still is as far as I know. There where some rumors a while back that Pepsi might have been interested in putting in a bid, but nothing came of it.
- adventured 10y ago
  They have not been acquired by Pepsi. SodaStream has a distribution deal with Pepsi.
wccrawford 10y ago
I really disliked their diet flavors, and most of the non-diet ones. I managed to find a great rootbeer syrup from someone else, but it still had sugar. Now, I usually either go for an energy drink syrup if I want caffeine (Mio or Power Ade have some good ones) or Koolaid liquid for no-sugar no-caffeine. I make them much stronger than my wife likes, but that's just another feature... You can customize the taste a lot. Losing your favorite flavors sucks, but the silver lining is that it pushed me to look for other flavors, and I definitely found some that I liked.

by lgbr 10y ago

dspillett 10y ago

> it seems like making soda at home is really catching on ... but the availability of syrups is presenting some serious supplier risk. Wouldn't the answer there be to try making your own of those too? I'd bet good money that a "plain" syrup isn't difficult to make and that relevant flavouring agents are easy to come by.

lgbr 10y ago
> Wouldn't the answer there be to try making your own of those too? The difference with carbonation is that I can get CO2 and carbonation equipment really easily, and in different forms from different suppliers. I could even get some yeast from my local store and make it. Carbonating water takes less time and effort than making a cup of coffee. The problem with syrups is that, as you can see from the recipe here on Open Cola, I would spend a lot of time and effort making it. The only syrup I know of that doesn't have this problem is root beer. Most grocery stores in the US seem to carry concentrate which need only be mixed with sweetener and carbonated water. Cola, lemon lime, orange, or other syrups don't have this kind of availability, apart from those from SodaStream.
- petra 10y ago
  >> Cola, lemon lime, orange, or other syrups don't have this kind of availability Sure, they're not on every grocery store. But Amazon has them, and it's a great distribution channel for that.
- kbutler 10y ago
  We have a little snow cone maker (ice shaver) that the kids love. We also do Italian sodas periodically. We buy just-add-water punch mix by the gallon in various flavors at our local grocery store. Should work for home-mixed sodas. The Torani flavors in the italian sodas are a good option, but probably expensive for mass soda production?
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > Cola, lemon lime, orange, or other syrups don't have this kind of availability Cola and lemon-lime as a mix, maybe; orange, as well as lemon and lime individually -- and also raspberry, vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, and others -- are very commonly available flavoring syrups in most grocery stores I've seen.

bad_user 10y ago

Given you drink diet sodas, you must care about your health, but drinking diet sodas is more unhealthy than coffee. For one, you're clearly concerned about sugar intake (and you should be), but you see one problem with our sugar intake is that it makes our taste buds tolerant to sugar, so in time it dulls our senses for fruits or milk or other healthy foods with naturally occurring sugar. And the problem is that artificial sweeteners can make this problem even worse. This is like nicotine addicts switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes. It might be slightly healthier, but doesn't do anything for your addiction. If you're a diabetic, there have been studies suggesting that some artificial sweeteners can raise your blood sugar and can trigger an insulin response. If you're concerned about your weight I saw a study suggesting that artificial sweeteners can lead to weight gain. Of course, you know how nutrition studies are - most of them are flawed or questionable, but clearly it's a warning sign. And sugar is not the only bad ingredient in sodas. Another problem is citric acid, linked to tooth decay. Phosphoric acid has been linked to osteoporosis and also tooth decay. Coca Cola has been using Aspartame in their diet products, which has been found to cause cancer. The list goes on. I'm in the same boat as you, I simply want something to drink. Personally I drink plain water (which tastes really good after you cut your sugar intake), coffee with milk in the morning and tea during the day, all without sugar. And I eat fruits for my sugar intake. Grapes taste great this time of year. Or when I have a craving for Coca Cola, which happens from time to time, I simply drink the one with sugar in it, because it tastes better. If my health is going to suffer, at least it has to be worth it.

cmdrfred 10y ago
(citation needed)
chrxss 10y ago
Actually, this is scientifically wrong. The myth that artifical sweeteners are a bad as sugar has been disproved some time ago. For the harm, e-smoking may pose, one cannot really tell. However, the sole intake of nicotine is not as harmful as smoking tobacco. This difference is mostly due to the presence of MAOI in tobacco. Citric acid actually is worse than phosphoric acid, but how many sirups are made with citric acid? Also, if you limit your intake, you should be fine. Alas most juices comprise in part of citric acid.

willcodeforfoo 10y ago

Wait, when was SodaStream acquired? Last I knew they were a publically traded company.

dagw 10y ago
It still is as far as I know. There where some rumors a while back that Pepsi might have been interested in putting in a bid, but nothing came of it.
adventured 10y ago
They have not been acquired by Pepsi. SodaStream has a distribution deal with Pepsi.

wccrawford 10y ago

I really disliked their diet flavors, and most of the non-diet ones. I managed to find a great rootbeer syrup from someone else, but it still had sugar. Now, I usually either go for an energy drink syrup if I want caffeine (Mio or Power Ade have some good ones) or Koolaid liquid for no-sugar no-caffeine. I make them much stronger than my wife likes, but that's just another feature... You can customize the taste a lot. Losing your favorite flavors sucks, but the silver lining is that it pushed me to look for other flavors, and I definitely found some that I liked.