This is the syrup for our mulled spice soda. Boiling water plus sugar makes a simple syrup, then we add star anise, cinnamon sticks, and allspice. The same spices we heat our apple cider with to make mulled cider.

The other night I was taking orders at the restaurant and a group of folks from India came by, we were talking about the mulled spice soda and they got really excited. “Oh, it’s just like Masala Soda,” they said. Turns out there’s a soda in one part of India, they said it’s made with with black pepper and cinnamon, so it’s pretty spicy.

Thanks for the soda lesson, guys, maybe we can convince Rolando to try a batch.