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Wednesday, August 2, 2023

How to Make Refreshing Vanilla Italian Soda (With or Without Cream)

Couldn't you go for a chilly, refreshing, nonalcoholic beverage to help keep you cool and hydrated during the dog days of summer (or any time)? This quick and easy Italian vanilla soda recipe reminds me of the lovely, lightly sparkling cold drinks we enjoyed many years ago during our honeymoon in Italy. It can be made with regular or sugar-free vanilla syrup and with or without a splash of heavy cream (Italian Vanilla Cream Soda) and takes less than a minute to prepare. The sugar-free version of this recipe is also low carb and keto friendly.

This post includes not only the Italian Vanilla Soda recipe, including the Italian Vanilla Cream Soda variation, but also a product review of the delicious ChocZero sugar-free vanilla syrup I prefer to use when preparing this delightful cold drink recipe.

Homemade Vanilla Italian Soda Regular or Sugar-Free

This delicious Italian soda is light, refreshing, and can be made with regular or sugar-free vanilla syrup and with or without a splash of heavy cream.

Choosing Your Ingredients

Vanilla Syrup Options

You can make this delightful cold drink with a conventional commercial vanilla syrup, such as Torani Puremade Vanilla Syrup, DaVinci Gourmet Classic Vanilla Syrup or Monin Vanilla Premium Gourmet Syrup, if you aren't avoiding sugar.

Sugar-free vanilla flavoring syrups are also an option, and the one I prefer. While there are several widely available brands of sugar-free flavoring syrups on the market, most include questionable ingredients that can be detrimental to your health. For example, Jordan's Skinny Syrups vanilla syrup contains cellulose gum, sucralose and acesulfame potassium; Starbucks Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup contains maltodextrin, cellulose gum and sucralose; and Torani Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup contains acesulfame potassium and sucralose.

That's why I love using the new ChocZero Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup. See my product review just after the recipe to find out why it's far superior to the other options on the market.

Italian Sparkling Mineral Water

When my order of the new ChocZero sugar-free vanilla syrup arrived, the first thing I did was to add it to some club soda, since I had some in the fridge.

It was tasty, but definitely not similar to the lovely cold drinks we remembered from our trip to Italy. Also, my husband isn't crazy about most carbonated beverages (or, at least, about his body's reaction to them) and he had asked me to suggest non-carbonated, sugar-free cold drinks he could enjoy during the summer other than lemonade.

So, thinking about the Italian sodas we had enjoyed during our honeymoon, which were far less carbonated than conventional sodas, I decided to try to recreate one by mixing the ChocZero Vanilla Syrup into some chilled Italian sparkling mineral water. What a difference! My husband loved it and didn't have a bad reaction to it, as he does to conventional carbonated drinks. Success!

You can use any genuine Italian sparkling mineral water, such as S. Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water or Whole Foods Market Italian Sparkling Mineral Water for the authentic Italian flavor and carbonation level.

Optional Cream

I find this cold drink much more refreshing during the summer without the optional addition of a splash of heavy cream, but I enjoy the added richness of the cream during the colder months. Try this recipe both ways and see which way you prefer. With the addition of the cream, this drink is often called an Italian Vanilla Cream Soda.

Extra-Tall Pilsner Glasses for Serving

Libbey Giant Wheat Beer Glasses, 23-ounce, Set of 6

During the hot weather, it's important to stay hydrated. This Italian vanilla soda recipe is a delicious way to get in extra water! So, I like to make a large, 16-ounce serving and serve it in an extra-tall Pilsner glass.

I find that the curved shape and narrower bottom of these Pilsner glasses make it much easier to hold a very tall drink much more comfortably and securely versus tall, large-capacity cooler drinking glasses with straight sides.

Our glasses were purchased many years ago and are no longer available, but these attractive Libbey Giant Wheat Beer Glasses with a 23-ounce capacity are very similar to ours and have enough room to add ice to your beverage, if desired.

Vanilla Italian Soda Recipe

Italian Vanilla Soda with bottles of ChocZero vanilla syrup and Italian sparkling mineral water

Prep Time: 1 minute

Total Time: 1 minute

Servings: 1 serving

Ingredients

16 ounces Italian sparkling mineral water, thoroughly chilled

3–4 tablespoons regular or sugar-free vanilla syrup for flavoring beverages, such as ChocZero Vanilla Syrup

3–4 tablespoons heavy cream, chilled (optional, for Vanilla Italian Cream Soda)

Instructions

To make Vanilla Italian Soda, pour the chilled Italian sparkling mineral water into an extra-tall Pilsner glass or cooler glass. Stir in the vanilla syrup to taste.
To make the Vanilla Italian Cream Soda variation, follow the instructions for Italian Vanilla Soda, then pour the heavy cream over the prepared soda. You can stir in the cream or just leave it at the top, whichever you prefer.

Enjoy!

ChocZero Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup Product Review

Bottle of ChocZero Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup

ChocZero Vanilla Flavoring Syrup is sugar-free, contains no sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners, blends easily into cold or hot drinks, and tastes delicious!

ChocZero sugar-free vanilla syrup is made by one of my favorite brands of yummy keto-friendly, low carb products with no added sugars. Their vanilla syrup is sweetened with monk fruit, which doesnt spike blood sugar levels, instead of artificial sweeteners and contains 8 grams of functional fiber per two-tablespoon serving (great for gut health).

It also isn't thickened, so it mixes instantly and effortlessly into cold drinks as well as hot beverages. (It's a delicious addition to hot or iced coffee or hot cocoa.)

I love having a healthy alternative to the big-name sugar-free vanilla syrups with questionable ingredients!