Yield: 1 glass (about 8 fl oz)

Baking Soda and Lemon Water: Ratio, Fizz and Sodium

How much baking soda goes in lemon water, in US and metric measures, why it fizzes, and how many milligrams of sodium each spoonful adds to the glass.

Prep Time3 minutes

Total Time3 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 fl oz (240 mL) water, cold or warm; a clear glass lets you see the bubbles
• 1/4 tsp (1.15 g) food-grade, aluminum-free baking soda, level measure; baking powder is a different product and does not substitute
• 1/2 lemon fresh lemon, juiced, about 24 g (0.79 fl oz) of juice; strain out the seeds; bottled juice is weaker

Instructions

1. Level the soda. Fill a 1/4 teaspoon (1.15 g) with food-grade, aluminum-free baking soda and sweep the top flat with the back of a knife. The spoon should look flush, not mounded.
2. Dissolve it in the water. Pour 8 fl oz (240 mL) of water into the glass, add the soda and stir until the water looks clear and no white grains sit on the bottom.
3. Add the juice slowly. Pour the juice of half a lemon in a thin stream while stirring gently. Fine bubbles rise and a thin layer of foam forms on the surface.
4. Wait for the fizz to stop. Let the glass stand until the bubbles thin out and the surface is nearly still. Still water means the reaction has finished.
5. Drink it fresh. Drink the glass in one sitting. Mix a new one each time, since we found no sourced shelf life for the mixed drink.

Notes

Metric amounts are rounded. The 1.15 g figure is 1/4 teaspoon at USDA's household portion of 4.6 g per teaspoon.

Nutrition values are estimates calculated from typical USDA FoodData Central values for raw lemon juice (half a lemon, 24 g) and for baking soda. They are not measured. The calculation uses lemon juice, not lime juice or honey.

Potassium, calculated from USDA lemon juice data: about 25 mg per glass. The recipe card has no potassium field.