How To Make Cream Soda In 8 Easy Steps.

By: Oliver Frederick Giles

Step 1. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cups of sugar into a 500ml bottle. Note: This recipe is for a 500ml bottle. The images show a 2L bottle.

Seep 2. Pour one tablespoon (or half a tablespoon, for a lighter flavor) of vanilla extract into the bottle.

Step 3. Put a small pinch of yeast (about 1/16 teaspoon) into the bottle. Note: If you want faster fermentation, activate the yeast separately in warm water (100 F or 37 C; if it's too hot, the yeast will die) mixed with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Cover and wait until the cup overflows with foaming, distinctly scented yeast. Add this to the bottle. This will shorten the amount of time that you'll need to wait for carbonation to occur.

·       It may be necessary to add yeast nutrient

Step 4. Fill the bottle with water, put on the cap and shake it until the ingredients have dissolved.

Step 5. Leave the bottle to sit at room temperature and the yeast to ferment until the bottle feels hard when squeezed (about 48 hours). If you mixed the yeast with warm water before adding it to the bottle, this might take as little as 12 hours. Do not leave the finished cream soda in a warm place any longer than the time it takes for the bottle to feel hard. Leaving it at room temperature longer than two days, especially in the summer when the temperature is high, can generate enough pressure to cause the bottle to explode!

Step 6. Place bottle in refrigerator (below 40F) for 24-48 hours to stop fermentation and let the yeast settle. Try to put it in a part of the refrigerator that isn't subject to temperature fluctuations (i.e. towards the back, away from the door) and don't agitate the bottle at all.

Step 7. Pour the drink carefully, leaving the dormant yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. This will get rid of all or most of the yeast flavor.

Step 8. Add a dollop of ice cream (optional).