Recipe: Italian soda

Okay, my brother (and sister-in-law) totally got me into Italian sodas. I just looove anything tasty that's liquid-y (Pisces, some?)! This is perfectly refreshing and so tasty it can easily substitute alcohol (considering I go for alcohol socially and more for flavor than anything -- in other words: shots? nah; gin and tonic? yes!).

Really simple to make... trick is: must have ingredients. Being in the land of the brave and the free and the always-decently-exposed, one would expect to find ingredients for anything.--And we did. Not so in countries where... well, you can find whatever you need... for a price. I checked all the usual stores for flavored syrup and didn't find anything, not even a cheap-y option. Would've even gone for some concentrate of something, anything! Nothin' doin'. Probably could've found _something_ at Carrefour (or further in Taipei), but that would've involved an additional hour of journeying, minimum, and I needed to quickly grab something locally, to add to the spread... Had the Hartingdons over for the afternoon. Lovely!

Anyway, I resorted to making my own syrup from scratch (1 fresh pineapple, chopping, cooking, sugar-ing), which wasn't perfect, flavor-wise, but it did the trick, for my first attempt at the thing. Since it's so hot and summery right now, I would've chosen a fruit flavor, had I found syrup -- maybe some passion fruit... had coconut in the States... as opposed to hazelnut, vanilla, etc., which are heavier (to me) flavor-wise...

Was great!!

Oh, today, at a coffee shop, I discovered they sell syrups, which they also use in their coffee concoctions. It's a more Western-ish type coffee place -- though run by Taiwanese -- so I guess that's why they had syrup options... good to know! So, if you can't find syrup in the regular places (or if not for a fair price), see if a coffee shop with Western-ish coffee offerings has it... for sale.

Okay, so, the recipe, without further ado... found a few versions online, but they seem to agree on these general amounts...

-Cup
-Ice
-Straw

-Plain soda/Carbonated water: 1 cup (e.g. 8 ounces)
-Syrup: 1 shot (e.g. 1 ounce)
-Cream/Half-and-half: 1 shot (e.g. 1 ounce)
-Mix, or don't; insert straw; drink

Notes:
-You can put the ingredients in, in whatever order you like -- you might develop a preference, based on how they mix
-Cream's heavier than half-and-half, if you prefer lighter (I imagine milk could do, too)... or no dairy at all, could be good as well, just changes the experience
-Try mixing and matching syrup flavors :)
-Ice amount depends on preference -- I personally don't like watering stuff down with ice, so much

Yaaay!!!

You're welcome. >:)