Everyone and their mother is watching Season Two of The Bear right now. Literally, I’m watching it with my mother, and we’re on episode seven, so no spoilers! But it’s probably not a spoiler for anyone that the newest season of the cult-favorite TV show is packed with iconic food moments. From the Perfect Omelette to Sydney’s Chicago restaurant tour to the savory cannoli, it’s giving serious food FOMO. Patiently waiting for The Bear: A Cookbook…
But for now, there are some food moments in The Bear that I could totally recreate even without a recipe. Like when Carmy makes himself a PB & J sandwich. All this to say, after emerging from the incredibly stressful chaos of episode six, one moment stuck with me. Actually, I think I blocked everything else out. Anyway, without giving too much away, there’s a scene where Carmy makes DIY Sprite. Everyone was, of course, very impressed with this culinary magic, including me. But I also thought how hard could it be? Could I pull off this kitchen chemistry? Could this be my new party trick? I’ve always wanted to have a party trick.
With my mission in mind, I dove into the thriving corner of the internet devoted to DIY sodas, so you don’t have to. And I learned that making Sprite is about as hard as you make it. Sure, you could just throw some seltzer in a glass with simple syrup, ice, and fresh citrus, but you could also ferment fresh pine needles for three days. Here’s a few of the most notable methods, from easy peasy to pine needle infusion.
Easy Peasy
This method is simple: mix club soda or seltzer water, some fresh lemon and lime, simple syrup (or sweetener of choice), and ice. This is my preferred method, because I probably can’t mess it up, and it doesn’t require specialty equipment or ingredients.
Fancy Schmancy
This method involves crushing lemon and lime peel, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves, adding citric acid, water, and sugar, and then doing something with “your vacuum chamber”? It looks delicious, but I do not have most of the ingredients, and I definitely don’t have a vacuum chamber (unless you count the one in my vacuum). So I think I’ll stick to the easy peasy method for now. But if you're as extra as Carmy in the kitchen, this may be the method for you.
Pine Needle Infusion
This method involves gathering pine needles (or stealing them off a wreath), washing them, cutting off the roots, and letting them ferment in sugar water for three days. The sugar feeds the yeast living on the needles, creating carbon dioxide bubbles, AKA carbonation. This is very cool and scientific, but also requires a lot more advance planning than I know myself to be capable of. But if you are into foraging and fermenting, you should definitely give pine needle sprite a try! Let me know how it goes.
So there you have it. DIY Sprite, three ways. Choose your fighter, and whip it out at your next party to impress everyone with your culinary magic. And hey, even if your Sprite falls flat, you probably won’t end up with (spoiler alert!) a car in your living room.