From: JOHN IANNUZZI <ji0079@EPFL2.EPFLBALTO.ORG>
1. Here's the honey pop(soda) recipe I've been using since B4 1988. Made only in summer time & drunk like mad by my 35-yr-old dau & 68-yr-old me.
2. Ingredients: 4 US gallons well water, 6# light honey (2 qts) (I use black locust), 1/8 teaspoon wine yeast (I use Epernay 2, Pasteur champagne, or Montrachet-- whatever I have on hand), 2 fl oz Extract (root beer, sassafras, cola, etc.--have a large variety on hand).
3. Procedure: Put water in 6 gal white plastic bucket which has valve on bottom. Add honey--I use part of the above as warm/hot water to make honey dispersal easier. Add extract. Sprinkle yeast on top (If water is warm, it'll dissolve in no time flat). Stir & bottle immediately.
4. I have ready to go eight 2-litre plastic soda bottles w/screw tops, previously rinsed in a Campden solution (4 tabs to pint water) & drained upside down in a pint bottle. (As one is draining, I'm Campden swishing another, w/its screw cap on, not my palm, and then replace the draining one).
5. Bottles are filled from the bucket, a couple of inches from the top (to prevent spill over) then later filled to the top from a server bottle.
6. Put in a warm place (at least 70 degrees F.), on their sides, w/ the screw end slightly elevated), for 24 hours or until the bottles are firm.
7. All are stored in a refrigerator for daily use.
8. Note: Mixture shuld be tasted B4 yeast is added; if not sweet enuf, add more honey; if 2 sweet, water. Two oz. of extract is sufficient for four-gallon batch. Campden rinsing is important to prevent offtastes. Even tho refrigerated, caps shud be "exhausted" carefully.
9. If U want to see fotos of process, check the American Bee Journal (Nov 93, pp. 771-773): John Iannuzzi, "Honey Soda Made Easy: For the `beeginner who wants a superior non-alcoholic [sic] drink at a ridiculously low price, here's the step-by-step process," or same magazine (Jul 87, pp. 485-587), same author: "Let's Make Honey Pop: You've had honey- wine and honey beer? Why not a honeysoft drink?"