Mixers

Soda Water

Soda water is carbonated water with a small amount of mineral salt added, usually sodium bicarbonate, and no sugar, flavouring or alcohol. British bottles say so on the label: Franklin & Sons lists sparkling water and sodium bicarbonate, and Fever-Tree adds sea salt as well. It lengthens a drink and lifts its aroma without sweetening it, at 90ml in our Tom Collins and Campari and Soda.

Quick Facts

ABV0% ABV

Legal categoryNon-alcoholic

OriginBritain and Europe (18th-century artificial mineral waters)

Flavour Strengthlight

Our keeping timeUnopened: to the best-before date. Opened: a day or two, resealed and refrigerated, before it goes flat.

Storage

Keep sealed and refrigerated; use within a day or two of opening before it goes flat.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Soda Water

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

CleanNeutralEffervescent

Tasting Notes

Neutral and clean with a crisp mineral edge from the carbonation; adds no sweetness or flavour of its own.

Soda water is fizz with a pinch of mineral

What makes soda water soda, rather than plain sparkling water, is the salt. British producers list it: Franklin & Sons 1886 Soda Water is sparkling water and sodium bicarbonate, and Fever-Tree's soda is carbonated spring water, sea salt and sodium bicarbonate, checked on their UK sites on 11 October 2026. The minerals give a faint saline bite that rounds a spirit; there is no sugar, no quinine and no flavouring.

What it does to a spirit is lengthen and lift

Added to a spirit, soda brings the strength down, cools the drink and carries aroma up out of the glass on the bubbles, while adding nothing sweet. That makes it the mixer for drinks that should taste of what is already in them: the Campari and Soda, 45ml of Campari to 90ml of soda, the Whiskey Highball, 100 to 125ml against 50ml of Scotch, and the Americano, where 75ml lengthens Campari and vermouth.

Soda water against the other mixers that lengthen a drink

Soda water

Added to the water: Carbon dioxide and mineral salts, usually sodium bicarbonate
Sugar: None
Changes the flavour: A faint saline edge only
Typical use: Collinses, highballs, fizzes

Sparkling water

Added to the water: Carbon dioxide; mineral water may have nothing else added
Sugar: None
Changes the flavour: No, beyond the source's own minerals
Typical use: Punches and soft drinks

Tonic water

Added to the water: Quinine, sugar or fructose, citric acid
Sugar: About 7 to 8g per 100ml in full-sugar bottles
Changes the flavour: Yes: bitter and sweet
Typical use: Gin and other clear spirits

British lemonade

Added to the water: Sugar, citric acid, lemon flavour
Sugar: Varies: check the label
Changes the flavour: Yes: sweet and lemony
Typical use: Long drinks that want sweetness

Mixer	Added to the water	Sugar	Changes the flavour	Typical use
Soda water	Carbon dioxide and mineral salts, usually sodium bicarbonate	None	A faint saline edge only	Collinses, highballs, fizzes
Sparkling water	Carbon dioxide; mineral water may have nothing else added	None	No, beyond the source's own minerals	Punches and soft drinks
Tonic water	Quinine, sugar or fructose, citric acid	About 7 to 8g per 100ml in full-sugar bottles	Yes: bitter and sweet	Gin and other clear spirits
British lemonade	Sugar, citric acid, lemon flavour	Varies: check the label	Yes: sweet and lemony	Long drinks that want sweetness

Collinses, fizzes and slings depend on how it is poured

In the Tom Collins and the Gin Sling the soda turns a sour into a long drink, so it goes in last, chilled, poured gently down the inside of the glass, with one upward lift of the bar spoon. Fizzes such as the Gin Fizz take 60ml after the shake, never in the shaker. The Mojito runs from 75ml for a sharper drink to 100ml for a longer one. A bottle opened yesterday will not lift anything, so open a fresh one and keep it cold.

Plain sparkling water can stand in for soda in any of these, millilitre for millilitre; the soda's salt is the only difference you might taste.

Using it

Using Soda Water

Usage

Poured last, cold and just opened, along the inside of an ice-filled glass, then lifted once with a bar spoon. Our recipes use 30ml for a spritz splash, 60ml in fizzes and slings, and 90 to 125ml in Collinses and highballs.

Pro Tip

Measure the soda like any other ingredient. The difference between 75 and 125ml is the difference between a bright highball and a watery one, and a top-up by eye drifts longer every round.

Top Tips

Pour it last and gently. Every stir and every splash knocks gas out of the drink.
Keep bottles in the fridge. Cold water holds carbon dioxide far better than warm, so the fizz survives the pour.
Buy small bottles or a siphon. An opened litre loses its fizz well before the last glass.
Never shake it. Soda goes into the glass after the shake, as in a Gin Fizz or a Ramos.

Possible Substitutions

Sparkling Water: swaps millilitre for millilitre, minus the salinity
Tonic Water: only where a bitter, sweeter drink is wanted: it adds quinine and sugar

Production Method

Water charged with carbon dioxide under pressure, with a small dose of mineral salts added for a faint salinity: sodium bicarbonate on most British labels, sometimes with sea salt (Franklin & Sons and Fever-Tree UK labels, checked 11 October 2026). Nothing sweet, bitter or flavoured goes in.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is soda water?

Water charged with carbon dioxide and given a small dose of mineral salt, most often sodium bicarbonate. It has no sugar, no flavouring and no alcohol. The salt adds a faint bite and roundness that plain sparkling water lacks, which is what separates the two on a label.

What does soda water do when added to spirits?

It lowers the strength and adds length without adding sugar or flavour, so the spirit's own taste carries through. The bubbles also help carry aroma up out of the glass. Measure it, though: past about two and a half times the spirit, it simply waters the drink down.

Is soda water the same as sparkling water?

Not on the label. Soda water has mineral salts added; sparkling water is just water and gas, and a natural mineral water with bubbles may by law contain nothing added but the gas. In a mixed drink they do the same job at the same measure, and soda gives a slightly saltier edge.

Is club soda the same as soda water?

Yes, club soda is the American name for the same thing: carbonated water with added minerals such as sodium bicarbonate. Seltzer, also American, usually means plain carbonated water with nothing added, which is closer to what British labels call sparkling water. Recipes that say any of the three are asking for unsweetened fizz.

Soda water or tonic water?

Soda for a dry drink that tastes of the spirit and citrus; tonic when the bitterness and sweetness of quinine are meant to be part of it. They do not swap: full-sugar tonic carries sugar, often 7g or more per 100ml, and soda none.

How long does soda water keep once opened?

Recapped tightly and refrigerated, a day or two, losing fizz each time the bottle is opened. Nothing in it spoils, so a flat bottle is safe; it just no longer does its job. For one or two drinks, a 150 or 200ml bottle wastes nothing.

Does soda water contain salt?

A little. The added minerals are usually sodium bicarbonate, sometimes with sea salt: Fever-Tree's UK soda lists both and gives 0.05g of salt per 100ml, and Franklin & Sons lists sodium bicarbonate alone. That is a small amount, but it is there, unlike in a plain sparkling water.

Make something

Made with Soda Water

Often Used With

Guide by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 10 October 2026

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