Sparkling water sounds like something shiny and bright and certainly too difficult to make. Sparkling water is sometimes called carbonated water, and other times seltzer water. But it is just plain water to which carbon dioxide gas has been added. This is the predominant component of soft drinks. This process (adding carbon dioxide gas) forms carbonic acid and gives these drinks, including soft drinks, that fizzy taste.
Sparkling water is not always mineral water, although it is considered by most people to be just that; however, mineral water is classified as water containing more than 250 parts per million of dissolved minerals. So, some mineral water can be classified sparkling water when carbonated, but not all sparkling water can be called mineral water.
It is thought that the practice of carbonating water began in the 1800’s. A brewer discovered that when passing water over fermenting beer a very interesting taste was made.
Today, pressurized CO2 is put into bottles, or can be made with a soda maker at home or in bars and restaurants. When the bottle is open, and the pressure is released, bubbles form. As anyone knows, if you open up a shaken bottle of sparkling water, the water will make a considerable mess as it exits the bottle. Of course, this happens with soda pop, as well.
Soda gets its fizz from the same process. Recently, a discovery was made by (one assumes) some kids with nothing else to do. This clever individual mixed Mentos breath mints with the aspartame from a diet soda. This caused the CO2 to react violently; it shot straight up rapidly out of the bottle until all the fluid was gone. This little experiment may impress the kids, but it ’s a bit messy, so I advise not to do it. Instead, if you visit YouTube you can find hundreds of videos of others doing it – often in some very creative ways.
Sparkling water was once used as a cure for stomach issues. But now most doctors recommend that people with acid reflux or any other chronic stomach problems avoid sparkling water. Nevertheless, if needed, it is helpful in calming nausea.
Sparkling water can also be home made by filling a reusable seltzer bottle with water, and then infusing it with carbon dioxide. A large assortment of calorie free flavors to flavor sparkling water to great taste is sold at allfreightfree.com.
Some sparkling waters come from sources that produce natural carbonation. There is a brand of sparkling mineral water with 100% carbonic acid from the source; this means that no CO2 has to be added to the water. This brand comes from an area with volcanic activity. The water there is rich in minerals, as the magma gives off carbon dioxide. This combines with the water and increases the solubility of minerals. A naturally carbonated sparkling water is the result; it is considered quite delicious and is also very famous.
So now you know everything you wanted to know about sparkling water and how to make refreshing and calorie free drinks.
