This Viral TikTok Homemade Soda Recipe Only Needs 3 Ingredients To Make! Here's How
Mindblown.
By Jasmine Chea — 15 Dec 2022, 06:13 PM
The Internet has come through with other life changing hack again, and this time, we are going to learn how to make homemade soda with just pine needles, sugar, and water!
The recipe was shared by TikTok content creators @msshiandmrhe recently, and the three-ingredient soda is extremely easy to make.
And this hack has our minds blown as to how such an artificial treat can be made at home so naturally.
Not only is this recipe made with 100% natural ingredients, it is also healthier than the average manufactured soda
Pine needles are said to have plenty of antioxidants and are packed with vitamins A and C. They are also said to be great for clearing up coughs, chest congestions, and sinus buildup.
Following @msshiandmrhe's website, here's the recipe on how to make your very own batch of homemade soda:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups white pine needles
- 2 1/2 cups water (use bottled or filtered water)
- 4 tablespoons sugar
Instructions:
1. Collect pine needles from white pine trees. Remove woody ends from the pine needles. Put pine needles in a large bowl, immerse them in cold water, wash, and drain for three times.
2. Spread washed pine needles on a wire rack, let dry on your countertop for about one hour.
3. Place pine needles and sugar to a 1L flip-top glass bottle (or any airtight receptacle).
4. Fill the bottle with filtered or bottled water.
5. Close the lid and give the bottle a good shake so that the sugar is distributed evenly.
6. Place the bottle in an area with good sunlight. However, if the weather is hot, keep the bottle in a bright room but avoid direct sunlight.
7. After three days, fill a cup with ice cubes and add a few slices of lemon. Open the bottle and pour the pine needle soda over the ice cubes. Stir and enjoy.
So, how does a plant manage to make a soft drink? Science, that's how.
According to the website, a type of wild yeast lives on the pine needles. Therefore, when you feed the yeast sugar, it will begin to produce carbon dioxide, which will carbonate the water and make it fizzy.
Do note that when trying out this recipe, do not boil or over wash the needles as it may kill the yeast on them.
Just wash them in a bowl of cool water and rub them gently to remove any dirt or impurities on the needles.
However, before you proceed with the recipe, the food blogging couple have placed a few notes of caution about the main ingredient – the pine needles
The face of the channel and blog, Ms Shi, emphasised that only pine needles from the pine tree should be used for the recipe. She claimed that pine needles are edible and can even be used in brewed teas, broths, and to marinate proteins.
She also specified that she used the needles of the white pine tree (pinus strobus) for the recipe as she claimed it gives the best taste to the concoction.
This is how the white pine tree looks like:
However, she forewarned those interested in trying out this recipe to double-check that the main ingredient is actually pine needles. The TikToker listed down the types of trees that are commonly mistaken for pine trees and should NOT be used for the recipe:
- Yew plum pine or fern pine (Podocarpus macrophyllus)
- Norfolk pine or Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophylla)
- Cypress tree (Cupresses)
- Yew tree (Taxus baccata). Note that yew leaves are poisonous to humans when consumed.
(From left to right) Yew plum pine, Norfolk Island pine, Cypress tree, and Yew tree.
Image via WikipediaThe recipe has since gone viral and many netizens were just as mindblown as us when they saw the end result
The recipe has garnered 3.6 million views and 483,700 likes on TikTok, with many netizens asking if the finished product tasted like an actual soft drink.
The channel has confirmed that it has a similar 'fizzy texture' to Sprite, but claims that it has a more refreshing taste.
Another netizen asked if this soda recipe is healthier than a regular soft drink, to which the content creators replied that it might be, as pine needles contained lots of vitamin C and other nutrients.
Considering how natural this recipe is, maybe we can finally say that drinking soft drinks is healthy now. (We're joking, please limit your sugar intake.)
