Joseph Priestly invented sparkling water, or carbonated water in 1771
Joseph Priestly invented sparkling water, or carbonated water in 1771. He found that the gas created by the beer vats in his local brewery caused water to taste nice when added to it. That gas would later become known as carbon dioxide. In the same year and completely independent of Joseph, a Swedish man by the name of Torbern Bergman created a machine that used chalk and sulphuric acid to achieve the same effect.
The modern process of creating sparkling water differs significantly from those early days and there are even machines that can make sparkling water at the switch of a button, producing quality homemade carbonated water. The process of creating carbonated water is very simple. It involves connecting pressurised canisters of carbon dioxide to a seltzer machine. The machine then forces the pressurised carbon dioxide into water contained in a special bottle to create the fizzy quality associated with sparkling water. Modern homemade devices such as the SodaStream can produce relatively good quality sparkling water.
When compared to soda, sparkling water is the healthier beverage. Even sparkling water from a shop contains fewer ingredients than soda; most suppliers only add either salt or bicarbonate of soda to the bottle in order to replicate the slightly salty taste found in the homemade versions. There is no added sugar, artificial sweeteners or fruit concentrate in any pure sparkling water.
Water doesnÕt taste of anything and sparkling water only tastes vaguely of salt. A large proportion of people prefer the taste of soda to pure sparkling water, there have been efforts by major water suppliers to add different flavours to the water in order to give them added refreshment. For the homemade option, numerous different flavoured syrups have been released. At first the quality of the syrups was debateable. People still preferred the soda option even though the water was the healthier beverage of the two. Some of the syrups manufactured were not particularly healthy either, as they also contained artificial sweeteners and fruit concentrate.
Modern day flavourings reflect changes in public perception of health and more and more people are switching to more natural sources of refreshment. Companies that supply flavours have realised this and have made every effort to make flavoured sparkling water a healthier alternative to soda. These flavours can be found online. A large assortment calorie free flavourÕs to flavour sparkling water for a great taste is sold at http://allfreightfree.com. These flavours contain no extra ingredients, just flavour and are the most natural way to flavour homemade sparkling water.
Sparkling water is becoming increasingly popular. Water is good for peopleÕs health and sparkling water is no exception. With more and more flavours becoming available the general public is switching in droves, with increasing numbers choosing to shop online its never been easier to buy a seltzer water machine and to start creating homemade carbonated water.