Just got one of those Sodastream thingies

[eridani]

http://www.sodastreamusa.com/default.aspx

New Year's resolution to give up diet coke. After the initial investment is paid off, this will be cheaper than any of my store-bought carbonated beverages. Looking forward to summer and adding natural fruit extracts.

[Warpy]

1. I'm not all that nuts about their fruit extracts

and I usually drink the fizzy water plain or with one of their soda mixes.

I do love the convenience of not lugging heavy bottles from the store and then having to recycle all that plastic.

Their soda mixes are very good, though. I'm finding it tough to give them up completely.

[pipoman]

2. I remember these were being sold at

our state fair 20 years ago. I thought about it then, the CO2 was only available from one distributor and I wasn't impressed with his potential for longevity in business, leaving me with a bunch of expensive crap in my basement. Now I don't drink enough soda to make it worthwhile and my kids aren't in the house any longer.

[pscot]

3. That was my thinking too

We used it a lot at first. Not so much now.

[Major Nikon]

7. For about the same price you can simply buy a 5 or 10lb CO2 bottle setup

...which you can use to charge 2 liter pop bottles. This will be much cheaper in the long run.

[NMDemDist2]

10. we did kinda a hybrid of that

i do like the Soda Stream unit right there on the counter. If I had to go somewhere to recharge, I probably wouldn't and since we use upwards of 5 liters a day between hubby and me, it works well for us.

and since the Soda Stream was a Xmas gift, it's even better

see my response below

[Major Nikon]

11. I've never owned a soda stream so I'm not really sure how they work

For the CO2 bottle setup, all you really need is a place to put the CO2 bottle. If you already have a bottle and regulator with a line running to your counter, instead of the soda stream unit, all you need on the end of the hose is a ball lock fitting (~$6.50) and for each 2 liter bottle, you'll need a carbonator cap (~$14). I have 3 carbonator caps so I can do as many as 3 bottles at once. The carbonator cap works on 2 liter bottles or the 20 oz bottles. I think with the soda stream you have to use their proprietary bottles?



http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/ball-disc-1-4-barb-gas.html



http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/the-carbonator.html

[NMDemDist2]

12. the drCo2 site posted by another has the adapters

that's where we got ours. his site actually suggests the Soda Streams as good solid units that do what they do well

http://co2doctor.com/soda.htm

[NMDemDist2]

8. +1!!

we updated ours with 2) 5# canisters ($125) and get them refilled at the local welding shop. 5# lasts us about 6 weeks and cost $8 to refill. We average 6 liters a day in the winter and double that in the summer.

We installed the canisters in the cabinet under the counter and ran the line up to the Soda Stream between the counter and the fridge. It's an excellent answer for us and I save tons of $$$, the planet and my back from when I was trying to support Mr K's Perrier habit LOL

I drink mine plain, but Mr. Ketchup likes to add a squeeze of Real Lemon to his

[Graybeard]

5. I love plain seltzer, no flavoring.

I always buy the bottled kind at the supermarket. The biggest complaint I have heard about those home aerators is that the results are not as bubbly and fizzy as the commercial product.

Do you find a difference in the two. As bubbly? Flavor the same?

[Major Nikon]

6. There's a couple of tricks I've found

First you need to start with the liquid as cold as possible (although certainly not freezing). As you are charging with CO2, give the bottle a good shake. After you charge, give the bottle a good shake again. Leave the bottle at room temperature until the liquid warms back up to room temperature. You can now cool it back down or do with it whatever you want.

I've never had one of the soda stream units. I've got a seltzer bottle (which you really should only use to charge water with CO2). A seltzer bottle works fine if all you want is fizzy water. However, by the time you add syrup to make soda, the results are not as fizzy as bottled soda, but the results aren't bad. It would be the same thing as buying bottled fizzy water at the store and using it to make soda.

I now have a 10 lb CO2 bottle which I use to charge 2 liter bottles. This is really the best way to do it. It costs you about $100 or so to get setup, but you can re-charge the CO2 bottle at homebrew supply stores for just a few dollars and it lasts a very long time. In the long run this is much cheaper than soda stream. You can also charge kegs with it if you want to make your own homebrew.

[NMDemDist2]

9. it's totally bubbly, we love the results. especially since we love the taste of our water

if you don't like your water, take that into account

[surrealAmerican]

13. We switched from plain seltzer from the supermarket ...

... to the home carbonating unit about two years ago. We drink a lot of seltzer.

There is no flavor difference, and you can adjust how fizzy you make your seltzer.

One thing about sodaStream: their flavorings taste pretty bad. Even the non-diet varieties taste like artificial sweetener.
I did a bit of experimenting early on with making my own syrups. I can make a pretty decent ginger ale, and a very good cream soda. My root beer was only so-so. It's something I will try again some day, but mostly I drink unflavored seltzer.

[Major Nikon]

14. Here's where I've been getting my root beer extract

http://homemadesodacompany.com/http/homemadesodacompany.com/rootbeerandsodainstructions.aspx

I've tried all three of their extracts. Of the three I like old fashioned the best with gourmet coming in at a close second. Old fashioned tastes more like commercial root beers such as Dads or A&W. The taste is not exactly the same because they use natural ingredients whereas commercial root beer uses more artificial flavors. The flavor is a bit more spicey in a good way. I've used a few different extracts like Zatarains, Cooks, McCormicks, and some of the ones I've found at local homebrew stores. I like these the best. I recommend that whatever extract you go with, buy their foam enhancer. A little bit goes a long way.

[eridani]

16. My plan is to dispense with the the Sodastream flavorings

--and make my own. I'm appreciating all the helpful hints to that end on this thread.

[HopeHoops]

15. Sounds kinky!