I am in the market for a soda maker. I love a nice cold glass of sparkling water with just a small squeeze of fresh lemon juice in the summer heat - a nice pick-me-up.
So I have been looking at soda makers - there are a zillion types it seems. I am kind of attracted to the old fashioned simple bottles that use the small cartridges, but I am open to other possibilities.
If anyone has any experience with any soda maker, I’d love to hear about it, good or bad.
My sister bought a Sodastream, and it’s not bad. We had a syphon of the type you describe when I was a kid (I think that’s all that existed, back then). I am not familiar enough with the cost of our Sodastream to be able to tell you whether it’s more cost-effective than buying Seltzer water or club soda, however.
My boyfriend and I buy cheap bottled seltzer water and mix Mio with it. It’s really good, especially if you get the Lemon seltzer with the lemon Mio.
Sometimes I use the energy ones to have an energy drink. Mio DOES have Sucralose and Acesulfame Potassium though so probably don’t do it too much 
Buy house brand club or flavoured soda at the market. It’s cheaper than you can make with any device other than setting up a carbonation system that uses home brewing gear and a 20 pound CO2 tank.
Also a huge SodaStream fan here, And I just add some lemon juice for flavor. I live on this stuff.
I don’t have a Sodastream. Are there other options that use carbonation tanks that would work as well? Just looking into my options. I drink a lot of carbonated water.
If you drink a lot of it, just grab a SodaStream. The only other real option is an old school seltzer bottle, but those use the little c02 cartridges and you can’t get around them. Plus, they’re really not cheap either! Around $50-$60 most of the time. You can grab a SodaStream for right around that. There’s competing soda makers but last time I checked they’re all more expensive. In reality the SodaStream’s are cheap plastic crap. But they last. I only had one die and my current one has gotta be 10yrs old.
I’ll look into it. Just thought there might be a work around to take the larger CO tanks and an adapter. I saw a few things that came up on Amazon but don’t understand exactly how they were used. Thought maybe some one on here might. I’ll see if I can find the link again.
You can absolutely do that! You’d just need a SodaStream refill hose which is on Amazon from a couple sources. First though check with an Oxygen company in your area to make sure you can get a tank from them. Sometimes you need to give them a deposit on the tank, sometimes not. I’ve heard as low as $25 for a welding sized tank. Some also have the option for “beverage grade” C02, haven’t really decided if that’s a scam or not yet. Home brew shops typically have them as well if there’s one close to you.
be careful with the small cartridges. I dont know if they refill (which is wasteful), and they do like one bottle. I bought 2 soda streams (one is a backup spare, and it gave me the extra CO2). I was burning through 1 bottle a month ($15 exchange at BedBathBeyond).
But I ultimately splurged and bought a 5lb Tank I put in the cabinet This too costs $15 to refill, but it lasts 2-3 months. (I also make my drinks much more fizzy with that huge tank). That and a special cable from Amazon… [But ONLY do that if you are a heavy soda drinker]…
Honestly at the original $15/month with the exchange, it wasn’t bad. Some places will REFILL them for about $8-$10… But it’s hit or miss, and takes too long for me to wait! A spare bottle is $30.
When you factor it in, it makes a lot of sense. I originally did not do it because the cost was too high. When I found out I Could REFILL the units near me for $8, I bit. Then I found the bigger tank. Which I keep turned off (until I am ready to make some soda).
I also learned that adding sweet stuff KILLS my ketones. It doesn’t take much. And I’m talking Sucralose, not “actual” sugar.
It beats lugging a bunch of 2 Liter bottles from the store and then having some go flat!
The cartridges are throw away. I don’t drink a lot of soda, but like it on hot afternoons. I can’t do sweeteners either, but I like just a squirt of fresh lemon, or a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in it, it is super refreshing.
I already ordered an old fashioned Seltzer maker, that uses cartridges, so the deed is already done. If I ever decide I want more soda, I’ll look into the other options. I heard that SodaStream changed from using metal to using plastic last year. I do not like plastic near my food, I use some plastic bags in the fridge and freezer, but I don’t want it near warm foods as it leeches and we have no idea what’s in it, there are so many types of plastic out there. I don’t think I want plastic with my bubbly either.
I have a couple of Liss stainless bottles in the 2-liter variant:
I bought them long ago because I thought the polished stainless steel was beautiful, in fact industrial art. They are excellent soda siphons that require 2x8 gram cartridges to charge. I even used them to dispense beer. But I always found that the carbonation from soda siphons generally (I have a couple of 1-liter Mosa siphons as well) was rather weak and short lived with both water and beer.
Michael,
Try something. The next time you make it.
Make sure you use REALLY cold water (39 degrees is near perfect)… But COLD.
And, after you charge the water. Leave it there for about 45-60 seconds so the gas dissolves more under pressure.
Then see if you notice a difference.
With the SodaStream, it makes a big difference to let it sit. When I release it, I don’t get the big outgassing after it rested.
FWIW…
Let me know…
Thanks!
@CaptainKirk I abandoned soda siphons a couple decades ago (sheesh, time flies!). I only keep them because I think they’re beautiful. I assembled a much more useful system for my purposes, carbonating PET bottles.
