[sjwright]

My advice is to learn to enjoy plain soda water – it's my absolute favourite beverage for fine dining as it's fundamentally refreshing and cleanses the palate. It means you enjoy the food more without getting weighed down by liquid sugar or alcohol.

If it's not to your taste, one way to make unsweetened soda water substantially more palatable is to add lemon juice. A particularly convenient way to do this is to use bottled lemon juice. When I'm in a fancy mood I'll also add mint, ice and a few good shakes of bitters.

In Australia, Schweppes sells bottles of sparkling water (soda water) infused with various flavours, including my personal favourite, raspberry[1]. While it's essentially sugar free it still has a very very slight echo of sweetness.

[1] Despite being available for many months they don't list the product on their website. Here's an image: http://shop.coles.com.au/wcsstore/Coles-CAS/images/2/0/4/204...

[cyphar]

> My advice is to learn to enjoy plain soda water – it's my absolute favourite beverage for fine dining as it's fundamentally refreshing and cleanses the palate. It means you enjoy the food more without getting weighed down by liquid sugar or alcohol.

I personally never liked the taste of soda water. However, I just stopped drinking sugared drinks entirely and just drink water or tea (with no sugar, just a bit of milk). It was quite easy to make the switch once I realised that I actually don't like drinking Coke (the "bite" is what acid dissolving your insides tastes like). It's quite amazing how different things taste. Food (mainly fruit and even vegetables) taste much sweeter because I'm not being (as) bombarded by sugar.

[sjwright]

> I personally never liked the taste of soda water. However, I just stopped drinking sugared drinks entirely

Try it again, with your palate shifted, you might like it now. As I said, a good squeeze of lemon can make an enormous difference to its palatability.

[agentgt]

I agree.

While in Paris and Nice France I noticed many diners would order sparkling water. In the US I'm one of the few that will order it at a meal when I go out.

I drink an enormous amount of plain soda water (aka sparkling water aka seltzer aka club soda). Like 64oz to 96oz a day.

My intake has gone up even more now that I fast most of the day, have a soda stream, and vacuumed seal stainless steel tumbler (yeti, rtic, etc). I highly recommend one of those cups.

I swear but don't have proof that soda water curbs appetite more than flat water.

My only annoyance is that soda stream while I suppose helpful to the environment is actually not that cost effective.

[Vendan]

It's a bit expensive, but you can get adapter kits that let you hook a sodastream machine up to a standard CGA 320 CO2 tank, and then you can hook up a 5 or 10 pound CO2 tank. You'd probably be looking at $10~30 for a refill on one of those, which is GREAT considering the standard sodastream tank is only a 1 pounder.

Edit: also, forgot to mention. While your average sports shop paintball gun CO2 refill is dirty as crap, it's really common to have someplace around that has beverage quality CO2 (check breweries, they usually capture the excess from the brewing), and surprise surprise even though the beverage companies make a big fuss about their CO2, your average industrial CO2 supplier is giving you the same CO2 you'd get for food grade. Also look for kegerator suppliers, as they'd be another place to get CO2.

[toomanybeersies]

When I used to have a keg setup, I just filled it at the industrial CO2 supplier.

I never had any issues with dirty CO2, neither did the dozen or so other people I know who also kegged. Carbon dioxide is carbon dioxide as far as I'm concerned.

[Vendan]

Absolutely. I can't find the source, but I remember reading somewhere that the beverage companies put together a "CO2 Purity Requirements" thing, and it turned out industrial CO2 was already way more pure. Surprise!

[gtvwill]

The purity in gasses mostly refers to the presence of water vapour or machine oils. A great example of machine oil presence is in cheap nitrous canisters. Easy to see, just go find someone hitting the hippie crack at a party, wait till they finish a hit and ask to have a geez at their Bulbinator. Unscrew that bad boy and wipe your finger around the inside of the canister. Will 9 out of 10 times come out with oil residue on it. Nasty shit.

[gtvwill]

Just don't get hooked on drinking tonic water. I drank heaps of the stuff during college, turns out high consumption of quinine in tonic water ruins your white blood cell count. I got Q Fever and nearly died from it due to super low white blood cell count. Milk is my go to these days, bit from what I have gathered from international visitors/friends most of the rest of the world doesn't have access to the quality of unadulterated dairy products we do.

[JoeAltmaier]

I ask for a sort of "Arnold Palmer" with half lemonade and half soda water (instead of tea). Similar to what you describe and always available.

[grimmdude]

I totally agree. I've been heavily drinking La Croix sparkling water when I crave a soda and I've never been more hydrated!