Sodastream reviews?

[CalicoKat]

Soda Stream

 

What says the Hive?

[Parrothead]

Sounds like a neat idea.

 

Since I live in Nowhere Land, I wouldn't have one. I would have to pay for shipping to get refills on flavor packets.

[MaMa2005]

We have it because DH drinks a lot of soda. He loves the machine and it works quite well. It has been a great investment. I drink hardly any soda unless I have an upset stomach and then I want something with lots of carbonation. DH always makes my ginger ale with lots of bubbles because he can control the amount of carbonation.

 

We have had ours for YEARS and it is still in perfect working order.

[Dawn in OH]

I just saw that for the first time yesterday and thought that would be great for making my own root beer!

[CalicoKat]

so I had a coupon . . . . . :D

 

The soda syrups have splenda. So we won't be able to use any of those.

 

But the sparkling water essences are perfect. We used to buy LaCroix so we'll be saving on that. We also sparkled up some of our own juice.

 

We'll be making homemade Izze.

[Ferdie]

My kids got one last year for Christmas and loved it. I tried to limit them to twice a week. It was great for study groups and Friday nights when neighbor friends came for dinner. We tried Pete Choice, (Dr. Pepper), rootbeer and Fountain Mist, (not so good).

 

I tried to find naturally sweetened soda syrup on the internet. There were a couple of options, but I never ordered them since they were pricey. Also, our instruction booklet said not to fizz juice so I haven't tried that.. You fizz the water and then pour a syrup into it. The Sodastream syrups have Slenda in them.

 

We don't use it any more since the cartridge ran out. However, I was at BB&B the other day and noticed they exchange cartridges so maybe I will replace our as a holidy treat.

Edited November 24, 2010 by Ferdie

[Dawn in OH]

so I had a coupon . . . . . :D

 

The soda syrups have splenda. So we won't be able to use any of those.

 

But the sparkling water essences are perfect. We used to buy LaCroix so we'll be saving on that. We also sparkled up some of our own juice.

 

We'll be making homemade Izze.

 

You could probably find or create your own soda recipes. I don't think you have to use their mixes.

[CalicoKat]

You could probably find or create your own soda recipes. I don't think you have to use their mixes.

 

agreeed. I'm loving the sparkling water on tap.

[Dmmetler]

I have one and love it. My only caveat-make sure you've got a place to recharge your cartridges locally before you buy, because many stores sell the system, but don't do the recharges, and shipping is high. Williams Sonoma does here.

 

You can get all different kinds of syrups from various sources. One of my favorites is the Vanilla Syrup from Starbucks (which, if you buy it directly from the store, isn't very expensive at all). I also like to use fruit juice concentrates. You don't need to use their syrups.

 

I have no idea if it's less expensive or not, but it does drastically reduce the numbers of cans/bottles that need to be recycled.

[Miss Marple]

Does anyone know if one can buy the real Coca Cola syrup in small quantities for this? We have one, but the boys really only like a couple of the syrups (Root Beer and Lemon/Lime). They don't like the taste of the Dr. Pepper or Cola. Otherwise we really like it. I'm going to check out the Starbuck's syrups but would love to know of other sources and favorites.

[Ferdie]

I have one and love it. My only caveat-make sure you've got a place to recharge your cartridges locally before you buy, because many stores sell the system, but don't do the recharges, and shipping is high. Williams Sonoma does here.

 

You can get all different kinds of syrups from various sources. One of my favorites is the Vanilla Syrup from Starbucks (which, if you buy it directly from the store, isn't very expensive at all). I also like to use fruit juice concentrates. You don't need to use their syrups.

 

I have no idea if it's less expensive or not, but it does drastically reduce the numbers of cans/bottles that need to be recycled.

 

I love the idea of the fruit juice concentrates. Do you know approx ratio of concentrate to sparkling water? How much concentrate do you add to one of their plastic bottles?

 

I just went to get some sparkling apple cider for Thanksgiving dinner but could not bring myself to spend $3 a bottle. I bought some apple juice concentrate, and I am off to BB&B to exchange the charger. We are going to try making our own sparkling apple cider tomorrow. I bought some grape juice and apple raspberry concentrate too.

 

Thanks for the great idea.

[mom2abcd]

:lurk5:

[Britomart]

I don't have the machine, but I've made homemade ginger ale for my husband before - he likes the super-gingery, ginger-beer kind. I just made a simple syrup with ginger-root chunks in it as it boiled, then let it steep awhile as it cooled, and then strained out the ginger-root, then, finally, added the ginger-infused syrup to club soda. It was great.

 

So my question is, if you had this machine, could you make your own simple syrups that way, and then just use your machine to carbonate the water, and mix the two together? I can think of lots of things to could add to the simple syrup and then strain out after: berries, mint, allspice, lemon peel . . . separate times, of course!

 

Is that possible with this machine? It'd save the money and hassle of ordering new syrup.

[CalicoKat]

I don't have the machine, but I've made homemade ginger ale for my husband before - he likes the super-gingery, ginger-beer kind. I just made a simple syrup with ginger-root chunks in it as it boiled, then let it steep awhile as it cooled, and then strained out the ginger-root, then, finally, added the ginger-infused syrup to club soda. It was great.

 

So my question is, if you had this machine, could you make your own simple syrups that way, and then just use your machine to carbonate the water, and mix the two together? I can think of lots of things to could add to the simple syrup and then strain out after: berries, mint, allspice, lemon peel . . . separate times, of course!

 

Is that possible with this machine? It'd save the money and hassle of ordering new syrup.

 

Yes, this is the way it's done. Carbonate your water, add the syrup afterwards. We tried it on cherry juice concentrate and it was delicious.

 

I would love your homemade ginger-ale recipe. :001_smile:

[CalicoKat]

I love the idea of the fruit juice concentrates. Do you know approx ratio of concentrate to sparkling water? How much concentrate do you add to one of their plastic bottles?

 

I just went to get some sparkling apple cider for Thanksgiving dinner but could not bring myself to spend $3 a bottle. I bought some apple juice concentrate, and I am off to BB&B to exchange the charger. We are going to try making our own sparkling apple cider tomorrow. I bought some grape juice and apple raspberry concentrate too.

 

Thanks for the great idea.

 

I think the amount is going to be to taste, trial & error.

 

Aldi's got great sparkling cider for $1.99 a bottle.

[Britomart]

I would love your homemade ginger-ale recipe. :001_smile:

 

I'm so sorry to take so long to respond to this, but I did go and look for it in my recipe book and couldn't find it. To my recollection, all I did was make a simple syrup (1 part sugar to 1 part water). But I added chunks of ginger-root to the syrup and let it sit for a long time, and then took the ginger-root out before mixing it with the club soda. I'm so sorry I don't have any more specifics; I made it several years ago and must have lost the recipe.

[mom2abcd]

I'm so sorry to take so long to respond to this, but I did go and look for it in my recipe book and couldn't find it. To my recollection, all I did was make a simple syrup (1 part sugar to 1 part water). But I added chunks of ginger-root to the syrup and let it sit for a long time, and then took the ginger-root out before mixing it with the club soda. I'm so sorry I don't have any more specifics; I made it several years ago and must have lost the recipe.

 

Thanks for looking. I haven't invested in the Sodastream yet, but I think dh would enjoy it.