Anyone have sodastream?

Cpus

Senior member
Apr 20, 2012
345
0
0
You make your own carbonated water than you buy their soda packets which for $5 can make 33 cans of soda. Am interested in this but wondering if anyone has any experience with it.
 

manimal

Lifer
Mar 30, 2007
13,559
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liek when i pee and its as daerk as soda

thought that was from the bath salts
 

IGemini

Platinum Member
Nov 5, 2010
2,472
2
81
I've worked for their warehousing and have a machine of my own. Any specific questions?
 

Gillbot

Lifer
Jan 11, 2001
28,830
17
81
I have considered one myself but don't see the payback for the little amount of pop I drink.
 

IGemini

Platinum Member
Nov 5, 2010
2,472
2
81
How often do you have to replace the OC2 tank?

Depends on how much carbonation you want. I carbonate lighter than their instructions, I probably make it last for a few syrup bottles. I know some who go absolutely nuts with the carbonation. If you bring in an empty cylinder to one of the chain stores, they usually have a deal to buy a new one at a discount.

There's also two different sizes for the carbonators. The larger one is only able to be used in certain machines.
 

Gooberlx2

Lifer
May 4, 2001
15,381
6
91
My wife tried it. She said it sucked ass compared to brand soda. And really...you gotta drink a lot of pop to come ahead with those things price wise.
 

wirednuts

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2007
7,121
4
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My wife tried it. She said it sucked ass compared to brand soda. And really...you gotta drink a lot of pop to come ahead with those things price wise.
$5 for 33 cans? aldi sells 12pks for 2.24 and i love their lemon lime one, its actually healthy besides the amount of sugar. the others not so much, i guess the grape tastes really good. the orange, mtn dew and cola arent that great.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
4
0
I have one. It's okay, some of the flavors are better than others. The water essence flavors suck ass.
 

IGemini

Platinum Member
Nov 5, 2010
2,472
2
81
Sodastream's business model makes a lot more sense in Europe, where it's way more expensive for brand soda than in the states. Still hasn't stopped them from growing in the past few years.

I like the natural syrups the best. Ginger ale is probably my favorite. Taste's like Schweppes with a bit of lime flavor. The cola is somewhere on the continuum between Coke and Pepsi, closer to the former. If they made a Mountain Dew in the natural variety I go for that. The "regular" syrup has a mix of sugar, sucralose, and acesulfame K as sweetener. I don't really know why they bother with a "diet" lineup since the regular stuff doesn't have all that much sugar.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
49,969
6,291
136
My wife got me one recently (yay leftover Christmas gift cards!). I like it. I don't know how economical it is compared to buying soda, or just buying tonic/sparkling water and then buying the SodaStream syrups, but it is very convenient. I can fizz up OJ or grape juice if I want to (note: always use water in the machine as per the instructions, never juice - add the fizzy water to the juice or syrup afterward, trust me haha) and make whatever flavor soda I want. But you still have to buy the syrups anyway, so it seems like you might as well just buy a few bottles of sparkling water or just buy the soda and be done with it. I'm not a heavy soda drinker, so for me it's more about the cool factor & the convenience. Plus it was free, so what the heck. I'd been wanting one for years just for kicks. I use it now & then. It's cool. Eh.

FYI, Best Buy carries a ton of flavors (random place to buy it, I know, but my local supermarket doesn't sell the SodaStream syrups).
 

TeeJay1952

Golden Member
May 28, 2004
1,532
191
106
I use Lemon Juice, Lime Juice and Black Cherry extract to make my own sparkling waters and I like machine. It is expensive to set up. You do not need their flavors as long as you don't mind experimenting. I got it so I could stop dragging bottles back to store. The 1/2 lemonade 1/2 iced tea mix tasted like Vernor's ginger ale.
 

KeithP

Diamond Member
Jun 15, 2000
5,664
200
106
I have one. Generally I used various fresh squeezed fruit juices to flavor the water rather than any of their syrups. The samples of their syrups provided with the machine were passable but not great IMHO.

However, I haven't used it in months. The bottles are too small and I grew tired of of having to make stuff every day and clean the bottles. To much work for too little reward.

-KeithP
 

slag

Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
10,473
81
101
I've had one since Christmas. It is awesome. A cylinder lasts for slightly over a month and a refill is $15.00. I make a half liter or so a day, usually the diet orange because it is awesome. The flavors are all really good, from the mountain dew clone to the cola, except for the dr pepper one (Dr pete). Its passable, but I don't like dr pepper anyway. The carbonated pink grapefruit is good as is the diet fruit punch.

It's not all about the cost either. I don't have huge 2 liter bottles clogging up the recycle bin anymore and its ultra convenient to make whatever I want to drink at any given point.

Cleaning the bottles is so easy, I don't see how it could be a chore. You swish water around in it, rinse it out, no soap needed, same with the cap, refill, and put it back in the frige. It doesn't inherit any flavors or smells from other sodas you had in it either.

I prefer the diet over the regular with sucralose because I'm on a low carb diet and it tastes good still.
 

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
I'd like to try it, but I do not care for the $40 (?) carbon dioxide refill tanks.

Former restaurant people I know tell me it's like $20 for a jug of syrup and another $50 (or whatever) for a giant tank tank of CO2. I should buy a genuine coke machine...
 

xanis

Lifer
Sep 11, 2005
17,571
8
0
My friend has one. I've only had the ginger ale, but I remember it being pretty good. The only extra expense is the CO2 but IIRC she said it lasts for a while.