SodaStream – at home soda maker

[ChrisZ]

I flirted briefly with an attempt at sparkling wine, but ended up wasting half a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc as it fizzed all over the kitchen counter - I may return to that experiment another time.

We had a Soda Stream in the 80s - I've been impressed at how they've relaunched it recently.

There's a

where he uses a Soda Stream to fizz up some cheap wine, and then asks random people if they can tell which is expensive champagne, and which is the fizzy wine. Most people get it wrong! Worth a look for some vintage Soda Stream ads... (about 1 minute into the clip)

[OliverB]

butane? I doubt that?

But I've been looking at this machine and the penguin one for a while. I don't like water, but bubbly water is fine, and going through all these throw away bottles is a waste. I like the SStream because you can see what happens, more fun for the kids. good to read the experiences here, I might just have to go and get one soon!

did you ever have to replace a bottle, break one, have one explode after long time use?

[ScoopKW]

Just to repeat, once you have the cornelius keg, the CO2 bottle, and the hose and fittings, sparkling water is essentially free. In general, I dislike proprietary systems.

Checked the sodastream site. Enough CO2 for 130 liters is $50 for a full bottle or $30 for an exchange.

That's $0.40 per liter. I can buy a 20-pound tank, full, for about $80. That will do about 500 gallons. That's close to 1900 liters, at a cost of $0.04 per liter. I dispense into a stainless bottle, and it keeps it's fizz quite nicely.

Of course, my system isn't as pretty, and takes up more space in the 'fridge. But I can go to any Airgas or hydroponics store in North America and swap my tank for about $20.

[Rover]

butane? I doubt that?

But I've been looking at this machine and the penguin one for a while. I don't like water, but bubbly water is fine, and going through all these throw away bottles is a waste. I like the SStream because you can see what happens, more fun for the kids. good to read the experiences here, I might just have to go and get one soon!

did you ever have to replace a bottle, break one, have one explode after long time use?

You're quite right - absolutely not butane, I should have said CO2 cartridge. I get the refills for both my butane torch and the SodaStream at the same place which I did yesterday.

I've never had any issues with the bottles; I have 4 of them all in use for well over a year now.

[mr_meanor]

Word to the wise - DO NOT try to carbonate white wine, unless you like sticky vinegary smelling walls for weeks afterwards!

Soda stream in the UK was the staple for mums trying to economise in the seventies and eighties, but it nearly almost always was false economy and Sodastream disappeared for a while, only to reappear in the past few years with up to date machines. I believe my parents still have an eighties version, white plastic with an orange lever to seal the bottle to the CO2 injector!

[Special K]

Before we bought our SodaStream, we were constantly stopping by the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up more bubbly water. We never got out of there with only bubbly water! I'm sure they miss us.

[Jenni]

I looked into one of these a few summers ago when I was making a lot of drink syrups to be mixed with carbonated water to sell at a few local fairs. However, it turned out that plain bottled carbonated water was so cheap that it wasn't worth it for me.

Just something to bare in mind.

[curls]

I have one and it works well. We use it for the carbonated water and do no not use their syrups (even their regular syrups use artificial sweeteners, at least when we first purchased the unit). It easier than constantly bringing cases of bottled water into the house.

Williams-Sonoma carries some soda syrups from the Sonoma Syrup Company that work well with the carbonated water.

Edited July 30, 2011 by curls (log)

[Shelby]

Since it's been so freaking hot here, I've become obsessed with soda water over ice and a twist (or 6) of lime.

I go through at least 12 bottles of water a week--I could drink more than that, actually.

But, do I want another thing on my counter?? I dunno.

[andiesenji]

I have some old soda siphons that still work well and as they produce essentially the same product (fizzy water).

The cost is usually significantly less.

Frankly, I prefer having my seltzer in a glass bottle. This round one is no longer easily found.

but I think it looks cool! These glass bottles will hold a charge - keep the water fizzy - for months.

I also have a red metal Isi 1 liter and a Stainless steel Liss 2-liter for use at parties.

[Keith Orr]

Picked up a SodaStream at Costco today - came with the larger CO2 tank, two of the 1 liter bottles with the stainless bottoms and an assortment of flavorings - all for $99.99.

So far so good - I filled the bottles with water from the Brita Pitcher.

The main reason I bought it was that I really hate the carting bottles of the store bought product and returning the bottles afterwards. I don't think that the financial savings will be large, but the savings in time and aggravation will be. I figure by the time I run through the 130 liter CO2 tank I'll have broken even dollar wise at about a dollar per liter. It appears that refilled CO2 containers are available locally for $30 which would bring the refill price per bottle down to about a quarter each. The water bottles are supposed to be replaced every three years, which would work out to $10 per year for the more expensive style that came with my unit - so add another nickle or two to the per bottle price and I'm still a happy camper.

I don't disagree with the poster who said that using a Cornelius Keg in his Keggerator is cheaper, but I don't have a Keggerator or the space to put one even if I had the desire to have one.

Also if anyone is so inclined, there is an adapter available on eBay for $90 that lets you hook up a larger CO2 tank - It kind of takes it out of the realm of kitchen countertop friendly though.

[chezcherie]

i got one for christmas. came with a bunch of samples of flavorings, none of which we liked. but i have been drinking tons of VERY FIZZY water, straight from the tap, since we opened it. we tried bottled water, filtered water and tap water, and the tap water was my favorite. i like it so fizzy that when i have a glass of it next to me, i can hear it fizz-fizz-fizzing. verrrrry fizzy. and delicious. i'm hooked! and much better hydrated.

[lindag]

I've been using my S/S on and off now for several years. I go off it for awhile especially when I want to use the counter space for something else. Initially I purchased the unit so I could make my own tonic water as a Gin & Tonic is usually my preferred cocktail-hour drink. Unfortunately the tonic syrup wasn't nearly as good as the brands I get at the grocery. I tried to get used to the taste but just couldn't. Then I tried their diet tonic for awhile but couldn't make myself like that either.

Neither seems to have that 'bite' that real tonic water has; whether it comes from the quinine or what, I don't know. Some of the other syrups are pretty good but I'm not much of a soda drinker though I do like plain soda or seltzer especially when it's extra fizzy.

Maybe they'll come up with a better formula for their tonic someday.

[Shelby]

I got one for Christmas, too!

I was so excited to try it. Got it put together and it didn't work. Fiddled with it forever only to realize the dang canister was empty! Grrrrrr.......

So, I ordered 2 online and they are supposed to be here today.

I get 2 cases of THIS every month from Amazon. Free shipping and I LOVE the stuff. In fact, I'm OUT--I drank more than 2 cases over the holidays--and I'm the only one that drinks it lol.

Anyway, I'm hoping the SodaStream tastes just as good as these canned ones do.

Oh, and along with the canister being empty, one of the flavor packs it came with--the diet cola--had exploded in the box making a big fat mess.

[Joe Blowe]

Maybe they'll come up with a better formula for their tonic someday.

From Build a Better Gin and Tonic:

Just add an ounce of these tonic syrups to soda water and, presto, you have tonic water. I love syrups because they let you control the intensity of flavors. Tomr's Tonic ($8.50, tomshandcrafted.com) is elegantly citrusy and tart. John's Premium Tonic ($7, johnstonic.weebly.com) is surprisingly savory. And Jack Rudy Cocktail Co.'s syrup ($16, jackrudycocktailco.com) is tiki-like with its notes of allspice and lemongrass. If you've found G&Ts to be bland, these syrups will change your mind.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance yet to try any of those syrups

[larryroohr]

I also drink a lot of carbonated water in the summer and got tired of lugging the 2 liter bottles around.

I bought a soda stream and was happy with it until it came time to refill the co2. Their bottles have a proprietary fitting so you can't just have them refilled, and their refill's are pretty expensive, that's obviously where they plan on making their money.

What I ended up doing is buying a co2 tank on ebay (think it's 20 gallons) which is dirt cheap to fill and lasts forever, and got fittings from a brewing store. Now I carbonate a couple 2 liter bottles at a time. It's way less expensive, you get larger bottles of carbonated water, and don't have to worry about running out of co2 and waiting a couple days for the new bottles to get shipped to you.

The drawback is you don't have a kitchen counter size device anymore.

Larry

[ScoopKW]

The drawback is you don't have a kitchen counter size device anymore.

I repeat -- kegerator, cornelius keg, regular keg full of beer, CO2 tank, splitter, shutoffs. Fresh beer and soda water any time. Much less all the way around than a Sodastream.

[weinoo]

The drawback is you don't have a kitchen counter size device anymore.

I repeat -- kegerator, cornelius keg, regular keg full of beer, CO2 tank, splitter, shutoffs. Fresh beer and soda water any time. Much less all the way around than a Sodastream.

My guess is your kitchen is larger than 100 sq. ft.?

[ScoopKW]

My guess is your kitchen is larger than 100 sq. ft.?

Yeah, just a tad larger....

But if my kitchen was 100 sqft, I would use an ISI soda bottle, probably with an adapter connected when necessary to a 5-pound CO2 bottle, to save on chargers. I hate "proprietary" anything. "Proprietary" is a nice way of saying, "We've got you by the [censored]. And now we're going to act out that scene from Deliverance, except on your wallet. Now squeal like a piggy!"

[highchef]

Mio's good in the carbonated water, with a bit of lemon...

[larryroohr]

100 sq ft? Think it's 10x20 including appliances and counter space, pretty small.

The co2 setup is in the basement.

The food processor, kitchen aide, dlx, souse vide, and the rest of the arsenal are in an armoire in the spare bed room

edit: Just measured it and I'm aghast, it's 9x11.5. I compensate with my big tv and big pick-em-up truck.

Edited January 8, 2012 by larryroohr (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Just bumping this up to report that my SodaStream Xmas gift has been used since it popped out of the box, typically charging it once or twice every day. The flavors taste like junk to me, but that's not what I'm using it for: we have seltzer with dinner every night and often make our own tonic, or scotch & sodas, or... you get the idea.

I was wary upon opening the gift bc I worried that the CO2 refill would be costly. However, the Staples down the road exchanges cartridges for less than 20 bucks, which means that we're spending significantly less on seltzer than we used to, even when buying cases of cans on sale.

[IndyRob]

I've just noticed that they've reeled in Target. I didn't have time to try to ascertain whether they're participating in the CO2 canister exchange business, but it seems like this is the critical service that hasn't seemed to work in past ventures (Kohls, for instance)

I actually like their diet cola mix as well as I like Coke or Pepsi, but when you carry out the math, the savings are borderline.

But for seltzer, it seems like a clear win.

[SJMitch]

I bought the competitor to Soda Stream: the Primo Flavorstation ($80 at Lowes). The advantage to it is that it uses standard non-crippled paintball-size tanks, so you can just take it to a CO2 supplier and get them refilled. And if you want a spare tank you aren't limited to the Primo branded tank; any standard 20oz CO2 tank will screw in just fine.

I lucked out and found a quality refill place less than a mile from the house. $5 a fill. They said they fill a lot of tanks for kegerators too. And showed me the parts I'd need if I wanted to hook a bigger tank up. I might do so, mostly because the tank screws in to plastic and I worry about the longevity of the unit. With a hose and a quick connect, I can avoid wear and tear on the plastic connection. SodaStream has a patent on the integrated pressure release, so with Primo, after you inject the CO2 you have to press a different button and purge the excess gas, but it's not a big deal. Other than that it works exactly like the SodaStream.

While you can buy adapters for the SodaStream, they tend to be expensive. The Primo needs no modification.

[Shelby]

I can't get over how much we use our Soda Stream.

I drink SO much more water, now.

That's the upside. The downside is that I'm getting up twice a night to pee.

The canisters came with a self addressed return box using UPS as the carrier. Come to find out, it wasn't a label that allowed them to pick up at my house. Rather, I would have to find a UPS drop-off station--which is way easier said than done where I live. Anyway, I packed up my 2 empty canisters and drove the 45 minutes to town to a Bed, Bath and Beyond. You just go straight to the check-out register, hand them your empties, they hand you full ones. You pay and you're outta there. Very convenient--especially if you live in a city.