Sodas are some of the most important mixers in a bar. They are often used to top off the fancier mixed drinks - the Gin Fizz, Bocce Ball and Alabazam - and are the non-alcoholic ingredient for many of the popular high and low balls. There are a few types of soda that will be employed on a regular basis and these should be included in your every day stock. To understand the difference between each is valuable when experimenting with new drinks or when you're out of one and need a good substitute. All sodas are different - the same as each vodka or gin is different the others - one tonic water may be fruitier or drier and one ginger ale may be sweeter than others.
Soda Guns and Soda Bottles
If you're working in a bar you may have a soda gun to dispense the most popular sodas. This is convenient and quick and once you remember the layout of the buttons this will be one of your main tools that you'll use without thinking about. There are also many bottled sodas which are convenient for the home bartender, traveler or those who want to offer a boutique soda. Some bars will stock the bottled sodas (usually the premium brands if a soda is already in the gun) and with those it is customary for the bartender to top off the drink with a little soda and set the bottle alongside the napkin to allow the drinker to add more to fit their taste.
Small Bottles are Better
When buying bottled sodas choose the smallest bottles possible unless you are planning on using a large amount at once, say for a party. The majority of the carbonation is lost when the seal is first cracked and a Scotch and Soda or Whiskey Fizz with two day old soda will be weak, flat and undesirable. With the smaller bottles you can usually pour one tall or two short drinks for duos like these and every one will be fresh.
Types of Soda
These first four soda waters are very similar to one another and can be substituted for one another in a pinch. When choosing one of these light sodas it is important to remember that your drink will only be as good as your soda, especially when you consider it often makes up more volume of the drink than anything else. Choose sodas that you wouldn't mind drinking straight for the best mixed drinks or add a splash of soda to liven up you fruit highballs like Cape Codder, Sea Breeze and Pearl Harbor.
- Soda Water: Soda water is the foundation for most of the other sodas and is soda in its purest form. It is simply water with carbonation added and is also called sparkling water, carbonated water or seltzer. Bottled soda water is available but the freshest soda comes from an old-fashioned soda siphon and has a sparkle that bottled waters do not. The siphon is the way the bartenders of old made soda and many still use it because of its pure and effervescent soda.
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Club Soda: Club soda and soda water are almost identical, and sometimes club soda is just another name for soda. The two are interchanged in drinks all the time. Club soda is often contains additives such as table salt, and occasionally light flavorings.
Drinks like John Collins, Tom Collins and Vodka Collins have recipes using both soda water or club soda, the decision between the two waters is usually a matter of taste and availability. Other popular soda drinks are Smith & Kearns, Singapore Sling, Wine Spritzer and Mojito.
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Tonic Water: Tonic is a bitter soda water flavored with quinine that was dates from 1858. The amount of quinine in tonics available on the U.S. market is reduced from those sold elsewhere in the world.
The Gin and Tonic is probably the best example of a tonic water drink. It began with British expatriates in India who used the combination of gin's botanicals and tonic's quinine to be an excellent way to prevent malaria.
Schweppes was first produced in the 1870's and is the one of the more popular tonic waters with Canada Dry producing another one that is readily available. Today many boutique tonic waters are available and can be paired with premium gins or other liquors to create the best mixed drinks. Q Tonic and Fever Tree are two of those newer brands that are worth tasting.
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Ginger Ale: Ginger ale is another lightly flavored soda water, except in this case is contains ginger, sugar and each brand's "secret" ingredients. There are two types of ginger ale; golden and dry.
Golden ginger ales such as Blenheim, Vernors and Red Rock are darker and stronger than the dry varieties and were popular before Prohibition. Dry ginger ales are more popular today, mostly because they have a lighter flavor and are more versatile when mixing. Canada Dry and Schweppes are two popular brands of dry ginger ale.
Ginger ale is a versatile soda for tall, refreshing drinks because its sweet spiciness pairs well with so many spirits and flavors. Take, for instance, the classics like the whiskey Highball, the Gin Buck or more innocent Shirley Temple.
- Ginger Beer:
This soda is not as common as the others but it is used in two very important drinks: the Dark and Stormy and Moscow Mule. It has less carbonation and is typically made with a combination of ginger, lemon and sugar. Some commercial brands contain alcohol and some do not. Some of the best ginger beers are from Jamaica and can be found in specialty or natural food markets. Fever Tree and Fentiman's are two nice, premium brands. If you really like ginger beer, it is not difficult to make your own either. Find ginger beer cocktails here. - Citrus Soda:
You'll likely come across a few mixed drinks that list lemon-lime soda (Lynchburg Lemonade, Seven & Seven). There are a lot of options available and many boutique sodas are available and preferred, but 7-Up, Sprite and Sierra Mist are the most common commercial brands. For grapefruit soda in a Paloma and other similar drinks, Squirt is commonly used. - Cola:
Coke, Pepsi, RC or whatever, cola is pretty self-explanatory and it is an essential in any bar. Rum and whiskey are popular spirits to pair with cola (Cuba Libre, Rum and Coke, Colorado Bulldog) and you'll also need it available for more complex drinks like a Long Island Iced Tea.
