Vanilla Cinnamon Grapefruit Soda

My sister received a gift card to the restaurant True Foods and invited my mom and I to have lunch with her.  Their food is more healthy/natural with real ingredients made fresh.  While we were there we ordered this house-made grapefruit soda.  It was really refreshing and I couldn't get it out of my head even days later.  So, I decided to try and recreate it on my own.  Soda is not something I really drink anymore since going processed free, but making one at home is not that hard and I can control the sweetener.  What I liked about the one at the restaurant its that it had no added sugar.  How's that for a great soda alternative!  I'm sure that if anyone actually knows how they make it at True Foods they would say I'm doing it wrong, but I still like the result I got.  Here's what you need.

1 grapefruit (the more pink/red the better because they are naturally a little sweeter) I prefer Texas Red

cinnamon

pure vanilla extract

liquid vanilla stevia

sparkling water (this is not straight seltzer or mineral water - the ingredients should just say "carbonated water")

In a small sauce pan, add the juice and pulp from the grapefruit.  If you have a really large, juicy grapefruit then add anywhere from 3/4 tsp. to 1 tsp. of cinnamon.  If it's not that big or doesn't seem like that much juice, add only a 1/2 tsp.  Set this on the stove and bring to a boil.

After a minute it will really bubble and you'll have to stir it constantly for about 5 to 7 minutes.  You are wanting to reduce the liquid by half to concentrate the grapefruit flavor and infuse it with the cinnamon.

You'll know to turn off the heat when it looks like it's only half of what it used to be.  Here's what it looks like after being cooked down.

Now, you will pour the liquid through a strainer to remove the pulp.  I like to strain in into a measuring cup to see how much I've ended up with.  If it's around 1/4 cup, I add 1/2 tsp. of vanilla.  If it's more than that, I will add anywhere between 3/4 to 1 tsp. of vanilla.  The last time I made this I ended up with 1/2 cup of the strained liquid - it was a big, beautiful, juicy grapefruit, so it required more cinnamon and vanilla - about 1 tsp. of each.  Oh, and by the way, don't throw away the pulp - it's delicious.  I like to put the cinnamon grapefruit pulp spooned over some of my clean vanilla ice cream recipe - it is so good!

Once you've added the vanilla to the cinnamon and grapefruit mixture, you are done making your syrup.  Easy, right?  Refrigerate it for a few minutes to cool it down.  Now you are going to make your soda.  This all has to do with your own personal tastes, but here are the general ratios I use for mixing - add more or less of anything you want.  For every cup (8 oz.) of sparkling water, I add 2 to 3 tsp. of the syrup.  You can drink it this way, but I prefer it with anywhere from 2 to 4 drops of vanilla stevia per cup as well.  My husband and kids like a few more drops of stevia than that, so it's all about personal taste.  I like to have the sparkling water already chilled because the ice melts too quickly otherwise and waters it down too much. You can always add more of the syrup if this happens.  I hope you try this and like it - I really do!