How to Make Italian Soda at Home

With only 3 ingredients you can easily make the best homemade Italian Soda in minutes. This sweet drink can be made in a variety of flavors everyone will love. I’ll even show you how to build your own Italian soda bar and how to turn this fizzy drink into a cocktail.

Why This Recipe is Great

Fun drinks such as Fruit Punch or a Shirley Temple are great for events and can even be a festive-themed drink for any type of party or gathering. I love making these drinks for my kids or setting up an Italian soda bar for parties.

• Great for parties and get-togethers – Whether you’re planning a fun and festive birthday party, a mother’s day brunch, or a fun backyard barbecue this delicious drink is one both kids and adults will love. Better yet you can create a soda bar for everyone to make their own flavor versions.
• Easily adapted for dietary reasons – These drinks are naturally gluten-free, but if you need to make it dairy-free or even sugar-free you can easily swap out some of the ingredients and still have the same delicious taste.
• Doesn’t cost much to make – There are only 3 main ingredients, 4 if you add whipped cream, in this drink and none of them are expensive. You can even make your own homemade syrup to flavor the drinks.

What is Italian Soda?

This fun and fizzy soda is a drink invented in America by the Italian family who started Torani, the company that makes flavored syrups. The basic recipe for an Italian soda is flavored syrup and club soda. Variations include adding cream but aren’t necessary.

Ingredients Needed

• Flavored Syrups – The best syrup for making Italian soda at home is Torani Syrup because of its wide range of flavors. They’re also the originators of this fizzy drink and have made specific flavor combinations just for preparing them. Some other brands to try are Monin, Amoretti, Sonoma Syrup Co, and DaVinci syrups which can all be bought from Amazon and some are even in your local grocery store.
• Heavy Cream or Half and Half – I prefer an extra creamy beverage, which is why I like to use heavy cream, but you can also use half and half.
• Club Soda – Topping off the beverage with this fizzy flavorless soda water is what makes it so fun and also creates a soda-like taste.
• Garnishes – While garnishing your drink isn’t necessary it makes it so much more fun. I love to top mine off with some whipped cream, cherries, mint leaves, or even sprinkles. I also highly recommend using a festive-colored straw to add a pop of color.

Ingredient Swaps

• Other carbonated options. Instead of using soda water, you can use Sprite, Ginger Ale, tonic water, or even sparkling water. Anything that will add carbonation and bring the soda-like consistency will work.
• Dairy-Free. To make a dairy-free or vegan version either leave out the cream or swap it for something such as canned coconut milk or any version of non-dairy milk or creamer.

How to Make Italian Soda

1. Pour the syrup and ice into your glass. Choose the flavor combination or individual syrups you’d like to use and pour it into the bottom of a high ball or tall glass. Fill the glass with crushed ice.
2. Add the cream. To get the layered look, similar to the DIY Pink Drink, pour the heavy cream in next and very gently stir it to mix just slightly.

3. Top off with club soda and garnish. Pour the club soda on top of the cream and then top off with garnishes such as whipped cream and cherries.

Best Italian Soda Flavors

• Tigers Blood – Kids love this common flavor often found at a shaved ice place and consists of watermelon, coconut, and Strawberry Syrup. This is a great one for birthday parties.
• Orange Creamsicle – Use vanilla syrup plus orange syrup to create this classic flavor.
• Pina Colada – This version is great for adding alcohol. You’ll need pineapple syrup and coconut syrup.
• Lavender – Drinks using lavender such as lavender lemonade are on the rise and for good reason too. It’s not only pretty but has a uniquely delicious taste.
• Chocolate – add a small amount of chocolate syrup to the bottom of your glass or combine it with some vanilla syrup for a sweet treat.
• Amaretto – using some will turn this into a fun cocktail and you can easily make your own Amaretto at home instead of buying some.
• Cherry Lime – this great flavor combination can actually be bought as a single flavor from Torani.
• Peaches and Cream – use some Peach Syrup and vanilla syrup for this one, which is great for summer barbecues.

Serving Suggestions

You can create a themed drink for any special occasion using the wide varieties of syrups available or you can use several syrups to create a soda bar. Another fun option is to serve it as a punch. To do this increase the serving size and pour the ingredients into a punch bowl. Scoop some ice cream on top for a delicious punch recipe.

Here are some other ideas on when to serve it:

• Brunch
• Birthday Parties
• Mother’s Day
• Baby or Bridal Shower
• Just for fun

Recipe Notes and Tips

• Italian soda does not have caffeine but that doesn’t mean you can’t add some. You can easily add some pep by starting with some cold brew coffee or chilled espresso. Just pour it in first and follow the recipe directions for an Italian soda coffee. You can also use Red Bull instead of club soda for even more pep.
• Make your own syrup. You can easily make your own syrups at home too for an even more intense or true flavor. Try Strawberry Syrup, Raspberry Syrup, or even Lavender Syrup.
• To get the beautiful color on the bottom start by adding the syrup to your glass first, then the ice, then the cream, and lastly top it off with the club soda. Just barely give the drink a stir before adding the whipped cream and you’ll get that pretty ombre look.
• Turn it into an Italian soda cocktail. To make this into an alcoholic drink try mixing in your favorite alcohol. Some options to try are gin, vodka, tequila, or rum.
• Use crushed ice for this recipe because it keeps all the layers perfectly chilled, but also keeps the mixture from getting too watery as you drink it.

FAQS

Related Recipes

DIY Starbucks Pink Drink at Home

Shirley Temple Drink

Fruit Punch Recipe

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Italian Soda Recipe

With only 3 ingredients you can easily make the best homemade Italian Soda in minutes. This sweet drink can be made in a variety of flavors everyone will love. I'll even show you how to build your own Italian soda bar and how to turn this fizzy drink into a cocktail.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 3 minutes minutes

Total Time: 3 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 Serving

Calories: 264kcal

Author: Aimee Mars

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 ounces Flavored Syrup such as Torani
• ▢ 6 ounces Club Soda
• ▢ 1 ounce Heavy Cream
• ▢ Whipped Cream optional
• ▢ Cherries optional

Instructions

• Choose the flavor combination or individual syrups you'd like to use and pour it into the bottom of a high ball or tall glass. Fill the glass with crushed ice.
• To get the layered look pour the heavy cream in next and very gently stir it to mix just slightly.
• Pour the club soda on top of the cream and than top of with an garnishes such as whipped cream and cherries.

Notes

• Italian soda does not have caffeine but that doesn’t mean you can’t add some. You can easily add some pep by starting with some cold brew coffee or chilled espresso. Just pour it in first and follow the recipe directions for an Italian soda coffee. You can also use Red Bull instead of club soda for even more pep.
• Make your own syrup. You can easily make your own syrups at home too for an even more intense or true flavor.
• To get the beautiful color on the bottom start by adding the syrup to your glass first, then the ice, then the cream, and lastly top it off with the club soda. Just barely give the drink a stir before adding the whipped cream and you’ll get that pretty ombre look.
• Turn it into an Italian soda cocktail. To make this into an alcoholic drink try mixing in your favorite alcohol. Some options to try are gin, vodka, tequila, or rum.
• Use crushed ice for this recipe because it keeps all the layers perfectly chilled, but also keeps the mixture from getting too watery as you drink it.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 264kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 99mg | Potassium: 32mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 451IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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