Eric's Syrup Adventure!
As many of you know, I recently was fortunate enough to get my hands on 2.5 gallons of SURGE Syrup from a friend who works at a convenience store. However, I don't own a soda fountain so I had to find another way of making carbonated water to mix with my syrup. From past experiences, I can tell you that buying a liter of club soda at your local grocery store is not the answer. The carbonation fizzes out almost immediately. That's when I found iSi's Soda Siphon. For about $50 (with shipping and a 10 pack of CO2 cartridges), it's a device that when used properly, will make some nice fizzy water to give you a pretty true reproduction of SURGE!

Mixing my own SURGE has definitely been an adventure so far and I wanted to share it with you so that you will know what to expect if you choose to make some of your own :) So, below I have some photos and comments on my experiences so far:

1. The Bag in Box

Above is the "Bag In Box" of SURGE Syrup. Its name is very accurate, as it really is just thick cardboard box with a plastic bag full of syrup inside. As you can see, there is a nozzle that pops out of the front portion of the box.

I bought two 1.25 gallon drink dispensers from my local Wal Mart (see below) but needed a way to transfer my syrup into them. Initially, I thought the nozzle would make for easy pouring but unfortunatley it's only use is for connecting the syrup to a fountain. So, I decided to get some scissors and cut a tiny hole right above the nozzle (check out the arrow at the top of the box on the picture on the left, I made the cut right about there.). The best part of this process was that when I cut open the bag, my entire kitchen smelled like SURGE!!!! This is some really strong (and sticky) stuff :)

My two dispensers (center) work fairly well at storing the syrup. Although, the one on the right leaked a little bit until I tightened the nozzle!

From there, I placed my drink dispensers in my kitchen sink (don't try this anywhere near a carpet!) and then I had to get very adept at aiming the stream of syrup in the right direction. When full, I'd have to say that the box weighed at least 25 lbs., although I didn't measure to make sure. The syrup actually poured out fairly well, although it was tough holding that heavy box in the same position for the 15 minutes it took to fill up the first dispenser! The second dispenser was much easier to pour because, well, it was only half full but still took another 15 minutes. I ended up losing a little bit of that precious green syrup along the way, but it wasn't really a significant amount. By the way, I'm not really sure about the best way to store syrup, I'm just guessing it's best to keep it refrigerated for now.

Afterwards, I had some cleaning up to do. I even noticed that some syrup had spilled on my countertop and it would not come off with a wet paper towel! I had to spray some Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner to get it clean. Another tip I can give you is make sure you wear an old shirt with short sleeves! You don't want to get this stuff on your clothing.

2. The Soda Siphon

The Soda Siphon provides some excellent carbonated water to mix with your syrup. I purchased mine at www.popsoda.com

The next step was to set up my Soda Siphon. This was pretty easy but would have been much easier if the instruction manual came in fewer languages! It was a long foldout manual in no less than 6 different languages and it was very easy to get lost.

The Soda Siphon holds about 1 liter of water, and for each liter of carbonated water you make, you need to use a new CO2 cartridge. Cartridges will cost you about 50 cents each and can only be shipped by ground because they could conceivably explode. However, I think it would take a real misfit to pry one of these things open and do any damage, so there's no reason for worry. Your best bet would be to find a local gourmet kitchen shop who carries the cartridges so that you don't have to pay for shipping.

One thing that I should mention is that the instructions state that when you are dispensing the carbonated water from your Soda Siphon into your cup, they suggest you press on the dispensing lever lightly. I didn't listen to them the first few times and I ended up with some flat soda. Apparently, the harder you push on the lever, the faster the carbonation is let out. Pressing gently on the lever does make a big difference and is definitely worth the wait!

3. Finding the Right Mix

This is the amount of syrup I started out with in a pint glass, but I added just a tiny bit more to add some extra flavor.

This was perhaps the hardest part of the adventure. How much syrup is too much? Well, a friend who works for our favorite soda manufacturer told me that when mixing syrup and water in a fountain, it's generally 4.5 parts water to ever 1 part of syrup. But, what exactly is a part? I had no idea but through trial and error, I think I found the right mix. If you check out the photo to the right, you will see how much syrup I poured in a standard pint glass. To be honest, this actually wasn't enough for my tastes, so I added a tiny bit more after I poured in my carbonated water and stirred it in with a spoon. But, one of the cool things about making your own SURGE is that you can make it as strong or as weak as you'd like! It's a good idea to play around with the recipe and decide what you like best.

As for how much carbonated water I added to the mix, you can check out the photo for that below. While using the method of dispensing the water I mentioned earlier, my homebrewed SURGE had a nice level of carbonation to it. Although, it's not quite as much fizz as you are probably used to. Again, experimentation can help bring about better results.

A full glass is a happy glass!

Overall, I found the SURGE I'm making tastes even better than the SURGE made from a fountain! Personally, I prefer a stronger taste and mixing it up myself allows me to do that. I found this to be a very fun and interesting process and hopefully it will help you on your quest for SURGE!!!!

One last thing I wanted to note is that Coca-Cola and its bottlers do not sell syrup directly to the general public. In certain areas of the country, there are businesses who will sell quantities of syrup to consumers. If you can't find a business who sells syrup in your area, you may want to try asking someone who works in a restaurant or convenience store (or anywhere else that has a Coca-Cola Fountain) if they may be able to order some SURGE for you. Another tip is that if someone agrees to order the syrup for you, make sure that you pay them up front! It's a good way to establish trust and it also lets the people helping you out know that they won't be stuck with a box of syrup that they aren't going to use.

And remember, this article in no way intends to undermine the rights and intellectual property of Coca-Cola and its bottlers. The intent of this article is simply to help SURGE lovers find and enjoy the soda they love :) Once again, please, please, please don't sue us!