Italian Sodas

Simple, refreshing and fun.

My girls recently tasked me with making Italian Sodas. I was rather surprised that they new what an Italian Soda was and even more surprised that they thought I was going to pull this off. Quickly I went to Google and Pinterest and did a little homework. I found many recipes and concepts so I took a few mental notes and headed to the market.

I picked up the following...

• 6 oz. Organic Raspberries
• 6 oz. Organic Blackberries
• Club Soda
• Organic Half and Half (Optional)
• Organic Cane Sugar
• Whipped Cream (optional)

Once I returned I quickly made the fruit syrups. In the blender I added 6 oz. of Raspberries, 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of filtered water. On a Blendtec hit the "syrups" button, on all others blend on the highest setting for 60 seconds. All of the seeds should be gone and you should have a very smooth syrup  if you do not pour the mixture through a fine sieve. I did the same for the blackberries and then poured them into small mason jars for storage. These syrups should keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.

Next I broke out some glassware, ice, chilled club soda, half and half and a stirring utensil.

I'm using 8 oz glasses so first pour about 2 oz of your syrup into the bottom of the glass.

Add a scoop of ice. Around 2 -3 oz.

Add 3-4 oz of club soda.

Then top with about 1 oz. of half and half.

Stir, top with whipped cream and enjoy!

Note: Dairy products are optional, these can be omitted and the recipe can be adjusted accordingly. So is homemade syrup. There are plenty of quality premade syrups. Monin's are amongst my favorite.