Here is a revelatory idea that both is refreshing, and may be a way to make home-brew Cola at home! While working on turning some Mesquite syrup, I needed a flavor to add to make it more like a Cola, and may have discovered why many colas use the carmel color, it’s because BURNED SUGAR actually creates a good taste and creates a very nice color in the syrup!
The slightly browned (burned) sugar is added to simmering water, and then boiled slowly to make a syrup that has a very Cola-like taste, so this is why Colas have been dark all these years, the secret is not in cochinea, nor is it cola nut extract, which adds to the flavor, but in actually carmelizing a portion of the sugar, and then cooking that carmelized liquid into a syrup until you get the flavor you want! The syrup mixes instantly with water, adds a good taste, and really seems a good base for other flavored syrups. What follows is a recipe for "Mustang Mesquite Syrup" which is mixed into the carmelized sugar syrup to make a syrup that can then be mixed with carbonated water, similar to a seltzer bottle or Soda Fountain Machine to create a really unusual Southwestern drink, to my knowledge, this is the first, and ONLY recipe on the net for Mesquite Cola!
Take a gallon (or so) of ripe Mesquite beans, the ones that have turned yellow, have red streaks and rattle when you shake them, braek them up roughly, place them in enough water to cover them in a crock pot on low, cook twelve hours, mash up and strain the mixture, cook the mash on high for another forty minutes, then strain the liquid, placing the juice in a large cast-iron pot, simmer it slowly until it forms a syrup, and then mix this syrup with half it’s volume in carmelized sugar syrup, then you can put 2-3 ounces of this into a glass and then add 8-10 ounces of seltzer water or carbonated water to the syrup. A decent tonic water results from buying sparkling quinine water at the store and using this as the carbonated water.
You can also make a decent ginger ale by using the same carmelized sugar mix 1/2 cup and adding about 1/3 cup ground up fresh (I recommend), or 4 tablespoons powdered ginger simmered in liquid and strained to this mixture, and then add 8 ounces of carbonated or seltzer water to 2-3 ounces of the syrup.
It takes time and patience, but the results are fun and delicious!
