The three things that I often get the most flak for all have to do with my drinking habits. No, not those kind of drinking habits, well, kind of. 1. I don't drink coffee (really), 2. I don't drink alcohol (no, really) and 3. I don't even like soda (yes, really!). And yet here I am with a Sodastream? Well, despite being called a Sodastream, this device is about so much more than just soda. Its all about sparkling water, fizzy fruit juices, creativity, saving some cash money, reducing waste, partying, having fun and, okay, soda too.Sodastream kindly provided me with one of their Fountain Jet - Seltzer Starter Kits ($99.95) to try out along with an assortment of SodaMix flavors. The starter kit comes with a soda maker, 60 liter carbonator, and two plastic, refillable 1-liter bottles.
The soda maker itself doesn't run on electricity- you simply press a button to manually release the carbonation into the water bottle. Additionally, the 1-liter bottles are refillable which cuts down significantly on waste. Not only is the Sodastream eco-friendly, but it happens to be wallet friendly as well (I bet you never saw that coming): 120 L worth of carbonator refills is priced at just $29.99. Cue some math magically calculated by Sodastream and that turns out to a mere 25 cents per liter of sparkling water!Based on my experimentation with the machine, the resulting drinks were actually much better than I expected. I was expecting drinks that were flat and bland, but the carbonation levels were excellent leaving me with nice, crisp beverages. The soda mixes themselves weren't something I enjoyed terribly as they do contain sucralose (Splenda)- although they don't contain aspartame (both sucralose & aspartame are artificial sweeteners). I did, however, really like the MyWater Flavor Essence mixes which add a light splash of fruit flavor to your sparkling water. These all natural water flavorings contain absolutely no sweeteners, artificial or otherwise. Personally, I primarily use my Sodastream for creating my own fizzy fruit drinks. I simply mix some sparkling water with a little bit of fruit juice (my favorite is grape), soooo refreshing!
My favorite aspect of the Sodastream (other than the results) is just how fun this machine really is. It only takes a few seconds to create each drink so you can please just about anyone with your own custom refreshments! It is a great conversation piece and is absolutely wonderful for entertaining at home, to take to a party (because its always a great idea to show up a party host) or to give as a gift to your favorite family.
**I was provided with the products mentioned in this post free of charge. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post & was not obligated to give a positive review of the product. All opinions expressed here are mine. **
Great article! I'm still saving up my $250 for the Penguin. Until then, I will have to make do with my little $30 Fizz Giz. It's not as big and showy as the Penguin. But in a way, that's nice 'cuz it fits snugly away in the silverware drawer when I'm not using it. I'm glad you hit on the money savings. Me, I like the "Real Thing", so I buy genuine Coca Cola Classic syrup from Sam's Club ($60 for a 5-gal syrup BIB). One BIB makes 30-gallons - that's 320 single serving sized 12-oz drinks. So each one costs just under 19-cents. Figure a penny for the co2 and you are at $1.20 per 6-pak. Not bad, considering we pay $3.50 per 6-pak of name brand drinks at WalMart in my neck of the woods. Thanks for the great post!
ReplyDeleteIt does look absolutely tasty!
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