There is nothing like a glass of ice-cold Coke. And it’s all the better when you make it yourself! You can create the exact flavor you want and control the amount of sugar in your beverage with just a few quick steps. Here are the 6 important items to have on hand.

Seltzer Water

Unless you have a soda maker to make that water fizz (more on that later), you’ll need this staple on hand. Club soda will work in a pinch, as well.

Fruit

Using this method, you can blend or juice various fruits and add the liquid to the carbonated water, tasting as you go until you get the flavor you want. If this method isn’t sweet enough for you, you can also add a sweetener of your choice – simple syrup, honey, sugar, stevia, etc. This is a great method for making strawberry or orange Coke.

Juice

This is the same method described above, but even simpler. You won’t have to go to the trouble of preparing or juicing fruits and adding sweeteners – all the work has been done for you. Simply add carbonated water to juice, testing the ratio to find the perfect balance of bubbly to sweet. Favorite juices for flavoring include grape, lemonade, and berry.

Spices

Yep, you read that right. One thing you’ll want to have on hand for your homemade Coke recipes is spices. You can make ginger ale with fresh ginger, cream soda with vanilla extract, and root beer with a variety of spices including sarsaparilla root bark and licorice root. Yum!

Syrups

If you don’t mind the indulgence, you can collect a variety of syrups to help you achieve the flavors you are after. Torani is perhaps the brand most famous in the U.S., with its syrups gracing everyone’s mid-morning coffee drink or afternoon Italian soda. You’ll find dozens of flavors through their brand. You can also make your own simple syrups and flavor them any way you like.

Soda Maker

If you want the most effortless soda-making experience possible, with access to all the classic flavors, as well as the sparkling water that we’ve all come to love, get yourself a soda maker. Press the button and turn your still water into a fizzy concoction!

And if you want to go really healthy, try your hand at water kefir – a fermented beverage that is just as good for you as kombucha, but far easier to make.