One tablespoon of chicory root syrup into 8–10oz of chilled sparkling water. That is the whole recipe. It takes about ten seconds and gives you 11g of dietary fiber with no added sugar.
The rest of this page is variations, and one piece of advice that matters more than any of them.
The base ratio
1 tbsp (21g) chicory root syrup + 8–10 oz chilled sparkling water + ice = 11g fiber · 0g added sugar · about 40 calories
Pour the syrup in first, then the water on top. Syrup is denser than water, so pouring in that order mixes most of it for you. Stir gently — don't shake, or you lose the carbonation you just paid for.
Use cold water. Warm water goes flat faster and the syrup disperses less evenly.
What it tastes like on its own
Mild. Faintly of caramel and malt, closest to a very light cream soda. It will not taste like cola, because there is no cola flavoring in it.
Some people find it perfect. Others find it under-sweet, which is fair — chicory root syrup is roughly a third to a half as sweet as sugar. A squeeze of lemon or lime sharpens it considerably and is the single best first adjustment.
Six variations
1. Strawberry lemon
1 tbsp syrup · 1 tsp strawberry powder · squeeze of lemon · 8oz sparkling water
Stir the powder into the syrup before adding water — it disperses far better that way. This is the one that looks good enough to photograph.
2. Chocolate cream soda
1 tbsp syrup · 1 tsp cacao powder · 2 drops vanilla · 8oz sparkling water
Make a paste with the cacao and syrup first or it will clump. Tastes like an egg cream, and nobody expects it to work.
3. Ginger snap
1 tbsp syrup · ½ tsp fresh ginger juice · squeeze of lime · 8oz sparkling water
Grate fresh ginger and squeeze the juice through your fingers into the glass. Costs about 30 cents and tastes genuinely expensive.
4. Coffee tonic
1 tbsp syrup · 2oz cold brew · 6oz sparkling water · ice
Chicory and coffee have been drunk together since the 1800s. This is the one most likely to become a daily habit — and habits are what make a bottle worth buying twice.
5. Coconut lime
2 tsp syrup · 1 tsp coconut nectar · squeeze of lime · 8oz sparkling water
The coconut adds the rounded sweetness chicory is light on. Good if you found the plain version too subtle.
6. Iced tea fizz
1 tbsp syrup · 4oz strong chilled tea · 4oz sparkling water · lemon
Needs nothing you don't already own.
Start with half a tablespoon
This matters more than any recipe on this page.
11g of fiber is a large single addition if your current intake is near the US average of around 15g a day. Inulin is fermented by gut bacteria in the large intestine, and fermentation produces gas. Go from very little fiber to a lot overnight and the predictable result is bloating.
Half a tablespoon a day for the first week. Increase from there if you want to — plenty of people stay at half and are perfectly happy. There is no prize for reaching a full spoon quickly.
One soda a day is a sensible ceiling while you are getting used to it.
If you follow a low-FODMAP diet or manage IBS, inulin is a fructan and one of the more reliable triggers. This probably is not for you. More detail in side effects.
Why bother making it yourself
A 600g bottle is about 29 tablespoons — 29 sodas. At $22.49 that works out to roughly 78 cents a serving, against roughly $2.50 for a can of prebiotic soda off the shelf.
You also control what goes in it. No flavorings, no acids, no high-intensity sweeteners unless you add them.
What you give up is convenience and cold fizz on demand, which is a real thing to give up. This is not an argument that cans are bad — it is an argument that if the fiber is what you were buying, you can get more of it for less.
No one is perfect. Just have good balance.