OK, my fourth try at soda was cherry vanilla. It was very fast and simple to make, and you don't need fancy extract.

I used 100% pure cherry juice from Trader Joes.

It was simply:

3 quarts pure cherry juice.
About 1 quart water altogether.
1 cup golden brown sugar.
About three tablespoons vanilla extract (non-alcoholic from Trader Joes).
1/4 heaping teaspoon liquid English Ale yeast from White Labs

That's it.

Man oh man, the yeast LOVED that stuff. I should have refrigerated it after just 48 hours, but since I was busy on the weekend, it sat for 4 days. It basically over-carbonated. I have to open the caps just a little and let it sit for 10-15 minutes, or else it will explode all the juice out.

It tastes pretty good. The Trader Joes cherry juice is a bit tart like cranberry juice. It also isn't very sweet, so I added a cup of sugar. It still wasn't sweet enough for my 7 year old. For kids, I'd recommend a cherry mix (with grape juice). Just make sure it's the kind that is mostly juice (preferably 100%). Be prepared to check it a lot sooner than the root beer, however, since it seems to be really yummy to the yeast.

I may add some of this juice to my next batch of root beer to see if it aids carbonation. It shouldn't take away from the rooty flavor if I just use a bit.

Parsa

Sounds good. Let us know how it turns out - thanks!
_________________
Bottoms up!
Kevin Guske

So heres a tribute toast with root beer in hand to you and the many mugs of suds along your happy trails. --Charles Wysocki, artist and root beer fan, 1928-2002