Our kitchen's favourite new appliance is a...SodaStream

SodaStream

It's official—we love our SodaStream in the Chatelaine Kitchen. 

Not only do we love drinking sparkling water (it's more fun than still water), but we also use it in many of the drink and cocktail recipes we develop. We frequently purchase bottles of bubbly water, but find it goes flat halfway through. Now we can make our own whenever we need it, straight from the tap. And since we try to be environmentally friendly in the kitchen (yes, we recycle!), the SodaStream is right up our alley.

Of course, we couldn't resist developing some delicious recipes to go with our new favourite kitchen toy. The SodaStream is perfect for making cold, bubbly drinks for the hot summer.

Click ahead for three lip-smacking homemade Italian soda recipes!

Cherry mint soda

Ingredients
3 cups pitted cherries
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice

Instructions
COMBINE cherries with sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Gently boil, mashing cherries with a potato masher, until slightly syrupy, about 20 min. Remove from heat and strain into a jar. Cool completely, then stir in lemon juice. Stir into soda water with mint leaves to taste. Refrigerate syrup in a sealed jar for up to 1 week.

Makes about 1 cup syrup.

BONUS: Don't discard cherries! Stir 1 tbsp white vinegar and 2 tsp finely chopped chilies in adobo into mashed cherries for a sweet and spicy cherry jam. Serve on burgers.

Raspberry cordial

Ingredients
600 g pkg frozen raspberries
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice

Instructions
COMBINE raspberries with sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Gently boil until slightly syrupy, about 20 min. Remove from heat and strain into a jar. Cool completely, then stir in lemon juice. Stir into soda water.

Refrigerate syrup in a sealed jar for up to 1 week.

Makes about 2 cups syrup.

BONUS: Don't discard strained raspberries! Store in a sealed container in the fridge and serve on toast or scones.

Bitter orange soda

Ingredients
2 large oranges
1 lemon
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice

Instructions
USING a vegetable peeler, peel large strips of rinds off oranges and lemon (try and peel as little of the pith as possible). Partially fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Blanch peels in boiling water for 2 min, then drain. Rinse peels under cold running water.

COMBINE peels with 1 cup water, sugar and honey in saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Gently boil until slightly syrupy, about 30 min.Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely. Stir in lemon juice. Stir into soda water to taste. Refrigerate syrup in a sealed jar for up to 1 week.

Makes about 2 cups syrup.

BONUS: Stir syrup into gin and soda water for a play on the classic Gin and Tonic!