We were at the grocery store and saw a large bottle of Loux (1.5 litres) for $2.29. We thought that was a little expensive, seeing how we can purchase another soft drink in a 2 litre bottle for $1.29. As we discussed what Loux really was, we thought we could just make our own. The ingredients list on the bottle show, in order, carbonated water, natural juice (20%), sugar, citric acid. That is how we knew we could make our own. In order to show you all how easy this is, and how closely similar the two products are, we bought two of the small bottles (330 ml each) at $0.99 each. We already had the carbonated water, juice, and sugar to make our version of this drink without any preservatives.
One reason to make this drink at home instead of buying it is that you can save a little money. But, more importantly, you can reduce the amount of your sugar intake. When we made the orange "Loux-alike", we did not add sugar. But, with the lemon flavoured one, we had to add a little bit of sugar to compensate for the very tart lemon juice flavour.
Here is how we did it:
We started with a half cup of each orange juice and club soda. Tonic water does not work because the flavour of the tonic water interferes with the taste of the orange juice. Mix the club soda and orange juice together and serve in a glass of ice. We did end up adding another 2 TBSP of orange juice to the glass because we wanted the flavour a little stronger and a little sweeter.
Then we put the bottled Loux in a glass of ice and placed that next to our homemade version. Can you tell them apart? Do you see the difference? On the left is the Loux brand drink, on the right is the homemade beverage. They are very similar in colour, but the Loux brand is much sweeter, and slightly more carbonated than the other. But, we did not add sugar. Had we added a Tablespoon or so, they would have been nearly identical.
Next, we made our version of the lemon Loux. Again, we used 1/2 cup of club soda and 1/2 cup lemon juice. This time, we added 2 teaspoons of sugar, as if we were making lemonade with club soda. And, that is exactly what the lemon Loux tasted like -- carbonated lemonade. So, with a little adjustment of the sugar, adding a bit more to personal tastes, we had made a fine substitute for the lemon Loux.
The drink on the left is the Loux brand lemon juice drink, and the one on the right is the homemade drink. You can see they are the same colour, the same cloudiness from the sugar, but the one on the left is clearly more carbonated. We could use a seltzer spritzer (or a SodaStream dispenser, if you have one at hand) so that our "Loux-alike" drink is even more similar. For now, it "loux" like we made a good imitation for half the cost.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes. 3:1-8
Source of quote: http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html
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