Wildcat Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 If I want to make fizzy water at home, is a Soda Stream what I'm looking for? I'm trying to reduce our plastic consumption/waste and this is the only thing that shows up when I look around. I'm trying to replace/replicate the fizzy water (individual serving size bottles) that we buy at Costco. If the Soda Stream *is* what I'm looking for, which one do I want? It seems there are a few options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Yes. We got a non electric push button on top one. Works well. Also got a couple of their glass carafes for longer storage (not to have it sitting in plastic). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OH_Homeschooler Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 I say go for it! I've had mine for 2 years. It's a basic model. Do you like flavored sparkling water? I suggest avoiding the Sodastream mix-ins. I like lime juice or coconut extract for non-sweet water. Torani sugar free vanilla syrup makes a good cream soda. I exchange the CO2 cartridges at Bed Bath and Beyond. Once you purchase the first for about $30, you can exchange the canister for $15. If you have the $5 off coupon, that's $10. At my peak sparkling water consumption, I go through a cartridge a month. When you can exchange the cartridge, you can't get lower waste than that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 Yes I just got one for DH he was drinking soda water. I am refusing to buy plastic bottles any longer. I got the soda stream from Aldi. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostinabook Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 We have one, and my husband uses it all the time. He did get an adaptor so that he can use large, cheap CO2 canisters from the paintball store rather than the Soda Stream ones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcat Posted August 1, 2019 Author Share Posted August 1, 2019 On 7/27/2019 at 6:40 PM, Pen said: Yes. We got a non electric push button on top one. Works well. Also got a couple of their glass carafes for longer storage (not to have it sitting in plastic). This is the Jet/cheapest one, right? On 7/27/2019 at 9:50 PM, OH_Homeschooler said: I say go for it! I've had mine for 2 years. It's a basic model. Do you like flavored sparkling water? I suggest avoiding the Sodastream mix-ins. I like lime juice or coconut extract for non-sweet water. Torani sugar free vanilla syrup makes a good cream soda. I exchange the CO2 cartridges at Bed Bath and Beyond. Once you purchase the first for about $30, you can exchange the canister for $15. If you have the $5 off coupon, that's $10. At my peak sparkling water consumption, I go through a cartridge a month. When you can exchange the cartridge, you can't get lower waste than that. By basic model, is this the Jet/non-electric one that Pen mentioned? I was wondering if that was the best way to 'test the waters' (pun intended). Thanks for the info on the flavorings and exchanges. It's for dh as I don't like carbonated water. He drinks the plain sparkling mineral water from Costco, so I'm thinking this would be a decent replacement for that? On 7/28/2019 at 3:41 AM, Melissa in Australia said: Yes I just got one for DH he was drinking soda water. I am refusing to buy plastic bottles any longer. I got the soda stream from Aldi. Thanks for the Aldi tip. I'll have to see if ours has it. On 7/28/2019 at 8:55 AM, Lostinabook said: We have one, and my husband uses it all the time. He did get an adaptor so that he can use large, cheap CO2 canisters from the paintball store rather than the Soda Stream ones. I saw several people online do this, too. Does the paintball store just fill it for him like filling a barbecue propane tank at Costco or something? I wonder how east it would be to find a place to do this where I am. Hmm... Thanks, everyone for your replies. I've been trying to learn more about this to see if it is worth getting for dh but I do have a couple more questions. Is it hard to find a place to do a cartridge exchange? My whole purpose of doing this is because recycling just became unavailable to us and I'm really wanting to reduce our footprint so I'd hate to be left with empty cartridges and no place to take them. If he makes a bottle (or whatever the term is), can he repeatedly open and close it without the fizz going away? Can we transfer the fizzy water to smaller bottles if two people want to drink the water? Or if not, would we just buy an extra manufacturer's bottle and pour some into that? Is it best to drink it right after making it? If it's not obvious, I'm not clear on what happens after you make the water (someone please help me out here--- what is the word I'm looking for? "Making fizzy water" sounds so odd. LOL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 (edited) You're just pumping CO2 into cold tap water. That's it. If you want to flavor it afterwards you can, but otherwise you just have fizzy water. The containers that attach to the soda stream come in a couple sizes. You can just buy what you want to use and can keep a few in the fridge for different people if they want to drink from the bottle. It stays fizzy as long as any other carbonated beverage. It lasts longer if it's kept cold. It's just seltzer water. You can pour it into anything you want for storage as long as it's air tight, but you'd lose a bit of fizz in the transfer. It's better to just put the lid on the bottle you attached to the machine and pour from that when you're ready to use it Edited August 1, 2019 by KungFuPanda 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 2 hours ago, Wildcat said: This is the Jet/cheapest one, right? Yes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostinabook Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 2 hours ago, Wildcat said: I saw several people online do this, too. Does the paintball store just fill it for him like filling a barbecue propane tank at Costco or something? I wonder how east it would be to find a place to do this where I am. Hmm... Is it hard to find a place to do a cartridge exchange? If he makes a bottle (or whatever the term is), can he repeatedly open and close it without the fizz going away? Can we transfer the fizzy water to smaller bottles if two people want to drink the water? Or if not, would we just buy an extra manufacturer's bottle and pour some into that? Is it best to drink it right after making it? If it's not obvious, I'm not clear on what happens after you make the water (someone please help me out here--- what is the word I'm looking for? "Making fizzy water" sounds so odd. LOL) The paintball store fills it for him. I think it initially cost $30 for a canister that is substantially larger than the soda stream ones & then it's only $3 or $4 to refill. Dh found a paintball place before buying the adapter. I think the second place he tried was good with doing it. He ended up buying 2 canisters so that he always has a full one. (He uses it A LOT.) He has a couple of 1/2 liter bottles and a few 1 liter bottles, so he's never transferred anything, but as long as you have a lid that seals tightly I don't know why it would be a problem to divide or to pour into glass instead. I just opened a bottle he made a couple of days ago and there was still plenty of fizz, and I am picky about needing lots of fizz. You can add as much fizz as you want though, so you might have to experiment to see how many presses of the button work best for you. The water should be cold when you fizz and do NOT add flavoring before you fizz. Dh tried that once--huge mess. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 You might want to check goodwill. I think a lot of people bought them and never really used them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 We have the cheap one too. It works fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcat Posted August 2, 2019 Author Share Posted August 2, 2019 22 hours ago, KungFuPanda said: You're just pumping CO2 into cold tap water. That's it. If you want to flavor it afterwards you can, but otherwise you just have fizzy water. The containers that attach to the soda stream come in a couple sizes. You can just buy what you want to use and can keep a few in the fridge for different people if they want to drink from the bottle. It stays fizzy as long as any other carbonated beverage. It lasts longer if it's kept cold. It's just seltzer water. You can pour it into anything you want for storage as long as it's air tight, but you'd lose a bit of fizz in the transfer. It's better to just put the lid on the bottle you attached to the machine and pour from that when you're ready to use it Great info. Thanks. I was thinking "that's all there is to it" but I've been surprised by things before. LOL 21 hours ago, Pen said: Yes. 👍 21 hours ago, Lostinabook said: The paintball store fills it for him. I think it initially cost $30 for a canister that is substantially larger than the soda stream ones & then it's only $3 or $4 to refill. Dh found a paintball place before buying the adapter. I think the second place he tried was good with doing it. He ended up buying 2 canisters so that he always has a full one. (He uses it A LOT.) He has a couple of 1/2 liter bottles and a few 1 liter bottles, so he's never transferred anything, but as long as you have a lid that seals tightly I don't know why it would be a problem to divide or to pour into glass instead. I just opened a bottle he made a couple of days ago and there was still plenty of fizz, and I am picky about needing lots of fizz. You can add as much fizz as you want though, so you might have to experiment to see how many presses of the button work best for you. The water should be cold when you fizz and do NOT add flavoring before you fizz. Dh tried that once--huge mess. Thanks for the info. I've made note of it. 21 hours ago, KungFuPanda said: You might want to check goodwill. I think a lot of people bought them and never really used them. Great idea! Thrifting: the ultimate recycling. Haha. 19 hours ago, Laura Corin said: We have the cheap one too. It works fine. Fantastic. Thanks ladies. 😊 I'll share all of this with dh and see if he wants to proceed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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