Sparkling water sounds like something shiny and bright and surely too hard to make. Sparkling water, sometimes referred to as carbonated water, is also called seltzer water. But it is just every day water to which carbon dioxide gas has been added. This is the predominant component of soft drinks. This process of adding carbon dioxide gas forms carbonic acid and this 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; 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 the process of carbonating water began sometime 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 then form. It is no secret that shaking, and then opening, a bottle of sparkling water will make a considerable mess as the water sprays out of the bottle. This happens with soda pop, as well.
Soda gets its well-known fizz from this same process. Recently, a discovery was made by (I would assume) some kids with nothing else to do. This curious individual mixed Mentos breath mints with the aspartame from a diet soda. This caused the CO2 to react immediately and violently shoot straight up out of the bottle until all the fluid is gone. This little experiment is sure to impress the kids, but it ’s very messy, so I advise against it. As an alternative, just visit YouTube and find hundreds of videos of others doing it – often in some very creative ways.
Sparkling water was once used as a drink to cure stomach distress. But now most doctors recommend that people with acid reflux or other chronic stomach problems avoid sparkling water. Nonetheless, it is helpful in calming nausea.
Sparkling water can also be home made: a reusable seltzer bottle is filled with water, which is then infused 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 from sources causing 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. The brand comes from an area with notable volcanic activity. As the magma gives off carbon dioxide, the water there is rich in minerals. This combines with the water, increasing the solubility of the minerals. This 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 making this refreshing and calorie free drink.
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