Is the SodaStream Home Soda Maker worth the investment?

[DeannaK1022]

I had one for about 4 months.. liked it well enough, I don't drink a LOT of soda at home (at work is another story) so I thought it would be more convenient. It was - until the cap stopped holding the carbonation and it was spraying everywhere when you "shake gently" to mix the syrup. We took it back to costco, and they didn't have any left in stock, so now I'm without my soda stream.But I bought a 36 pack of diet pepsi 3 weeks ago and I still have half of them left. so we decided it's not worth it to replace.

 

[lt1jane]

you can buy replacement caps at sodastream.com

I haven't looked to see if Shopko or BB&B (the two places near me that I know carry the stuff) have caps. I know BB&B carries extra bottles. I have several extra bottles already. I'm bringing soda to my next team/cluster meeting. Guess what they're drinking?!?!?!!

 

[lt1jane]

John, that's a GREAT idea to use the mini easy read. I'll tell my husband. I think that will work better for us. I see a few more easy reads in my future now...

 

[pampered1224]

Yep Pat and I think those lines are a bit&* of a problem! The black caps have the measurement lines on the outside!! And as far as I can tell they ain't transparent!! He put a bit too much syrup in the Cola Zero and it was well, yuck! The Diet Mountain Mist is really good! I think they put the caffeine in it too! Now to re-try the diet ginger ale.

 

[NooraK]

I'll definitely have to get extra bottles. The rate DH goes through soda, the two just aren't sufficient. The instructions said the water should be very cold when you carbonate it, so I've been filling up the bottle with water once it's empty. With just two bottles, at the rate DH drinks, we'd only be able to have one flavor at a time: one with what he's drinking, one with water chilling for when he's done with the first.

 

[lt1jane]

Noora, here's a tip. I keep water chilling in the fridge all the time. That was how we initially tried the Fountain Mist. I took the cold water from the fridge, put it in the SodaStream bottle and carbonated and mixed it. You CAN get by with just the two bottles if you want to, but it is convenient to have more.

 

[pampered1224]

We too are keeping two gallon jugs in the fridge. So far we have found that 4 buzzes works best for us. It does not for the cat though! He goes flying out of the kitchen on the first one! I love the diet Fountain Mist and the diet Ginger Ale. Pat loves the diet orange. We both really love the diet grapefruit! The Diet Cola Zero, Diet Root beer, and even the diet Cola is good. We finally have a total per soda. it comes to $.92. A liter bottle of diet dew is $2.09 down here. So... Speaks for itself doesn't it! The only thing I can see as being a problem, we are gonna be so soda'd to death fast as we can not stop trying all the samples! We have 9 left. The Energy drink is not appealing to either of us but the rest sure do sound great! Cranberry-Raspberry, Dr Pete and the diet equivalent. Yeah we will do the regular one too so... Pat is so disappointed though that they do not do a diet grape. Although I have to admit, neither of us have checked the site. But I tell you, you are definitely right in that it is a major money saver. Less than half the cost per liter of retail!!!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

 

[wadesgirl]

Don't forget if you sign up for BB&B's emails or mailing list they will mail you 20% off coupons every so often. Last I knew they even take the expired ones (that could be old news though).

 

[Teresa Lynn]

OMG!! Kitchen Guy I loved that stuff!! You just brought back a flood of memories of sitting at my grandma's table on a Saturday afternoon. I have tears dripping on my keyboard.

 

[ChefNelson]

Heads up - according to my local Target ad (Oshkosh, WI) SodaStream starter sets are on sale for $79.99 this week and you get a $10 Target gift card with purchase. It says all SodaStream accessories are also on sale, so you could use that $10 to get a deal on syrup flavors too then!
I'm starting to think this might be a good idea for our house too....

 

[Teresa Lynn]

I saw that too, but think it might be a better deal at bed bath & beyond if you get the starter one. It comes out to the same price (yes, you don't get the gift card) BUT, you get the sample flavors which will save $ in the end if you don't like some of the flavors.I only use mine for flavored water, tea and wine spritzers none of us are sodas drinkers

 

[NooraK]

Noora, here's a tip. I keep water chilling in the fridge all the time. That was how we initially tried the Fountain Mist. I took the cold water from the fridge, put it in the SodaStream bottle and carbonated and mixed it. You CAN get by with just the two bottles if you want to, but it is convenient to have more.

I had considered that. I was thinking of just putting my FSQSP in the fridge with water. My only problem is, we have a fairly small and already pretty full refrigerator, and I'm not sure if it would fit. One liter bottles are easier to fit between other things.

 

[pampered1224]

Not to mention that the seals on these bottles are so good they will not leak when placed on their sides even. Water filled gallon jugs, water filled soda bottles and all the flavors to keep them chilled as well. We found out that warm syrup really warms up the soda so we put ALL the syrups in the fridge as well. Plus it is recommended by the company to refrigerate after opening. But then again you noted that there is not a lot of room in your refrigerator so...

 

[pampered1224]

How is this for an AHH HAA - DUH moment! Pat bought the Diet Grapefruit mix today and used it. He said it is not the same as the sample pack. Not as flavorful. I asked if he filled it to the line in the cap. He said he thought so. Then it dawned on me. I grabbed the sample pack box from the fridge. They package these so they are just the right amount of syrup. Guess what? They are all 1.7 ounces! So now we know exactly how much syrup the company thinks is the perfect amount of syrup. I gotta find my Mini Easy Read Measuring cup and see if I can mark that. We will use that instead of the caps! I can always get another Mini! But a perfect soda is a now thing!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Not to mention that the seals on these bottles are so good they will not leak when placed on their sides even. Water filled gallon jugs, water filled soda bottles and all the flavors to keep them chilled as well. We found out that warm syrup really warms up the soda so we put ALL the syrups in the fridge as well. Plus it is recommended by the company to refrigerate after opening. But then again you noted that there is not a lot of room in your refrigerator so...

…you can use all your savings from the SodaStream and buy an additional refrigerator!

 

[Careyann]

It would be a great savings if my kids/husband would bother to use it!! I got mine in the recruiting promo last fall, they all thought it would be great and we used it for a month or so and now it sits in the closet and the syrups sit in the cupboard!! I don't drink soda at all, so I never initiate pulling it out!
They had no complaints about taste at least at the time!

 

[NooraK]

…you can use all your savings from the SodaStream and buy an additional refrigerator!

Wonder how long it would take to save up if I put in the price difference of every two liters DH drinks in a jar?

 

[NooraK]

How is this for an AHH HAA - DUH moment! Pat bought the Diet Grapefruit mix today and used it. He said it is not the same as the sample pack. Not as flavorful. I asked if he filled it to the line in the cap. He said he thought so. Then it dawned on me. I grabbed the sample pack box from the fridge. They package these so they are just the right amount of syrup. Guess what? They are all 1.7 ounces! So now we know exactly how much syrup the company thinks is the perfect amount of syrup. I gotta find my Mini Easy Read Measuring cup and see if I can mark that. We will use that instead of the caps! I can always get another Mini! But a perfect soda is a now thing!

The sample packs also say they're 52 ml. I doubt the 2 ml would make a huge difference, so you can just go by the 50 ml mark that is already on the MERMC. It's easier to read than the ounces on the side anyway.

 

[pampered1224]

Oh ain't that the truth!! We also measured the line amount in the cap. Seems to 1.5 ounces. We do know that if you do use the ounces side, it is right at the top of the 1 1/2 lettering. I guess the syrup is far more concentrated as that mere .2 ounces really does make a difference in the taste. We do have one really big problem with it though. Our cat loves to sleep on one of the kitchen chairs. That BUZZ scares him half to death to the point that when we even go near it, he is outta there! Otherwise he literally jumps about three feet off the chair and runs like crazy! Poor guy!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

http://cdn.digisecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Talking-Tom-2.png

 

[pampered1224]

uuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh YUP! THAT'S IT!

 

[KaryCam]

We have had our SodaStream maker for 2.5 years now.
One thing I really like to make is seltzer water.
Sometimes DS mixes the grapefruit flavor and the orange mango flavor together. DH only likes the regular Fountain Mist.
Now that BBB carries them, we use our 20% off coupons when we need to get replacement canisters & syrups.

 

[pampered1224]

We really enjoy ours. We found several flavors that we really like, Diet Fountain Mist, Diet Root beer, Diet Grapefruit and the Cola Zero is not bad either. Pat loves the diet orange but we laughed when he read the Grape ingredients as they replace half the sugar with Splenda and there is absolutely no grape juice in it! Same with the Diet Orange. The Diet Ginger-ale is sorta OK but I have to add a smidge bit more of the syrup. I love the idea of the mixture of grapefruit and orange-mango though. Very tropical! I am glad we got it.

 

[lt1jane]

John, I would recommend when you can spending the $50 to buy the adaptor so you can use regular paintball CO2 tanks instead of refills. Refills of CO2 are under $10 when you have a tank and adaptor.

 

[lt1jane]

It would be a great savings if my kids/husband would bother to use it!! I got mine in the recruiting promo last fall, they all thought it would be great and we used it for a month or so and now it sits in the closet and the syrups sit in the cupboard!! I don't drink soda at all, so I never initiate pulling it out!
They had no complaints about taste at least at the time!

we found a spot on the counter for ours. Also, I do the majority of the grocery shopping and I refuse to buy cans of water/soda any more.

I'm loving that I can carbonate a bottle, pour a smaller glass and flavor that for my son. I don't care if he doesn't drink a glass, but no more wasted cans or even the larger homemade bottles.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

John, I would recommend when you can spending the $50 to buy the adaptor so you can use regular paintball CO2 tanks instead of refills. Refills of CO2 are under $10 when you have a tank and adaptor.

Just remember to leave out the paint balls, or you're liable to get some very interesting colors in your beverages.

 

[baychef]

I think I liked the names of these drinks more than the taste!!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

He looks like a paint ball.

 

[pampered1224]

Oh my he sure does! Loud Mouth Lime! I remember that. Chinese Cherry, Goofy Grape, Injun' Orange, Rootin Tootin Raspberry, and name changes when it became not so politically correct, Choo Choo Cherry, Jolly Olly Orange, Freckle Face Strawberry and a ton of others. I am going to try something. I buy the packages of drink mixes from Aldi. Each packet makes 2 qts of lemonade or grape or tea or punch. I am going to try splitting the packs and adding that to sparkling water. I love fizzy lemonade when you add it to gingerale so I figured what the heck, add the powder to the carbonated water and see what happens. I may end up with an explosion of flavor but I will pour the powder in over the sink to be sure!