Sodastream

Sodastream:  Genesis Soda Starter Kit

 

Gift Guide Age Recommendation:­  18+

 

Review

I must confess:  I am a bit of a soda junkie.  There is nothing I like more after a long day’s work—or with a meal—or if I need a little sugar pick-me-up—than an ice-cold soda.  What I don’t like are the steadily increasing costs of beverages.  In addition to the higher sticker price of most name-brand sodas, many states (mine included) now also add a “bottle deposit” to the purchase of any pre-filled soft drinks.   Cost aside, the sheer volume of soda was a problem.

 

Like so many people, I want to have a fully-stocked beverage menu to suit our guests.  For most of our friends and colleagues, diet soda is usual poison of choice.  Of course we also have to buy regular soda for the under-25 crowd.  Non-caffeinated drinks are necessary for easily-jittered.  Finally, “un-colas,” orange sodas, have an appeal all their own.  With all this variety, the conscientious host may very well be staring down a storage crisis in their pantries!  If only there was a way to have a lot of variety in your beverage choices without having your pantries look like a vending machine stockroom.

 

Enter the Sodastream.  The Sodastream enables you to make 4 liters—of 4 different beverages—in about 3 minutes or less.  The Sodastream works like this, you purchase a soda maker, plastic bottles, flavor concentrates and CO2 carbonator—(these come bundled together in several different kits).  You then fill up the plastic carbonating bottle with your own tap water, carbonate the water using the soda maker, add some flavoring—a gentle slosh of the ingredients and—voila!  You just made soda.

 

The Genesis Soda Starter Kit came with all I needed to get started:  the soda maker itself, a Carbonater Cylinder (good for 60 liters), 2 plastic “carbonating” bottles, 3 larges bottles of sodamix concentrate (enough for 12 liters each), and  a 12-flavor sampler pack. 

 

Set up was easy and intuitive despite the fact there was no instruction manual provided.  The carbonating bottles and carbonator cylinder did however, come with instructions attached to them.  More detailed instructions can be found online for the not-so-tech savvy.

 

Sodastream advertises itself as the convenient, economical and earth-friendly alternative to conventional beverage choices.  In my estimation, they clearly are a better alternative at least two respects:  One, the convenience and two, the ecological.  Hands down, the Sodastream should be considered by all those who are eco-conscious.  While recycling your used cans and bottles is fine thing, it is even better to not disposable products to begin with.  Everything in the sodastream is designed for multiple uses.  Once the carbonators are spent—you have the choice of dropping them at a retail store or shipping back (postage-paid) once you receive your replacement.  Sodastream could not have made it easier for the consumer to be green!

 

The only area where the Sodastream fell a little flat (pun!) was in the economics.  Their website advertises an average cost of $0.25 per can.  That puts a 24-pack of soda right around $6.00 actually a few pennies more than a case of name brands.  Nonetheless, the value is not a complete fizzle (I did it again!).  For people who live in areas with higher than average grocery costs, the Sodastream may come out ahead.  Factor in the ecological and convenience benefits and the Sodastream is quite a value.

 

Now, the questions you have all been waiting for.  How does it taste.  Well, I tasted three different varieties:

 

1. Dr. Pete  (Compare to Dr. Pepper):  This flavor was quite drinkable.  Good taste, but it has a slightly more medicinal finish than regular Dr. Pepper. 

 

1. Lemon-Lime (Compare to Sprite):  Soft drink preference is a subjective thing.  To be honest I hated this flavor.  My wife loved it.   Full disclosure:  I am picky about my citrus drinks.  My wife said she could drink this everyday.

 

1. Cola:  This was far and away my favorite flavor.  The taste was slightly on the sweet side—somewhere around Pepsi and R.C. Cola.  It was delicious! 

 

 

Where to Buy

 

             You can purchase Sodastream products at most housewares stores.  You can  locate a local retailer by using their Sodastream Store Locator.              

            If there isn’t a local retailer near you, you can always buy online thru their store:  Sodastream        

 

Reviewed by: Lucas

 

 Note:  Sodastream provided a Sodastream Starter Kit sample for this review.  No compensation was received.  These are my true and honest opinions.