Sparkling Water Explained
Sparkling water: it sounds like something shiny and bright and certainly too complicated to make. Sparkling water is sometimes called carbonated water, is also called 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, but is considered by most people to be just that; but 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 this process of carbonating water began in the 1800’s. Some 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. Naturally, this happens with soda pop, too.
Soda gets its well-known fizz from this same process. A discovery was made by (I would assume) 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 and immediately shoot straight up out of the bottle until all the fluid is gone. This little experiment may impress the kids, but it ‘s very messy, so I would 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 complaints. However, now most doctors recommend that people with acid reflux or other chronic stomach distress avoid sparkling water. Nevertheless, if needed, it is helpful in calming nausea.
Sparkling water can also be made at home 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.
There are sparkling waters that come from sources characterized by natural carbonation. One brand of sparkling mineral water has 100% carbonic acid from the source, which means that no CO2 is added to the water. This certain brand comes from an area with notable volcanic activity. Thanks to the fact that the magma gives off carbon dioxide, the water there is rich in minerals. This combines with the water, increasing the solubility of minerals. A naturally carbonated sparkling water is the result; it is considered quite delicious and has become very famous.
So now you know everything you wanted to know about sparkling water and making this refreshing and calorie free drink.
