Infusing herbs into your beverage is a great way to add incredible scents, tastes and health benefits to your beverages. You can add these complex flavors easily using pressure infusion. This post contains instructions and links to two full demonstration videos.
Today we'll create a Basil Infused Orange Sparkler, a Thyme Infused Lemonade and a Rosemary Infused Pomegranate Soda. All of them lightly sweetened to allow the herbal scents and flavors to pair nicely. Special thanks to @KatKACanada for going into her herb garden last week, sharing her rosemary infused pom creation and inspiring this delicious idea!
All three are configured similarly. Place a small amount of syrup in the flavor chamber, about 1/3rd full. Top up the flavor chamber with water. This produces a diluted syrup that lightly sweetens the beverage. This also tones down the orange, lemon and pomegranate fruit flavors to balance with the herbs. Place a carbonator in the carbonation chamber. Put a few ice cubes in the bottle and insert the herbs. Top up the bottle to the rim with very cold water. Close up the system and you're ready to create. Here are the full start to finish video demonstrations of the Basil Infused Orange Sparkler & the Thyme Infused Lemonade.
Below is the final Basil Infused Orange Sparkler. The basil notes complement and soften the orange acidity. Delicious and lightly sweetened. If you keep the bottle sealed for a few hours or overnight before opening the basil notes will get increasingly powerful since the leaves will continue to pressure infuse. Again, here is the full tip to toe video "How To" for the Basil Infused Orange Sparkler.
Here is the Thyme Infused Lemonade. Thyme adds complexity to a straight ahead lemonade and fills the gap left by lightly sweetening it. It is a rich, complex summer drink with 1/3rd the calories of standard lemonade. Enjoy! Again, if you keep the bottle sealed for a few hours or overnight before opening the thyme notes will get increasingly powerful since the thyme will continue to pressure infuse. Here is the full "How To" video for the Thyme Infused Lemonade.
Finally the Rosemary Infused Pomegranate Soda! Keep in mind that the tiny hairs on the bottom of the rosemary will generate a ton of bubbles so you must open this over the sink, moreso than the basil and thyme. It is interesting how the texture of different herbs react differently under pressure. Keeping that in mind, the flavor combination is wonderful!
