apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We got one of these in May and agree that both the quality and the cost-savings are amazing.

You press down on a button at the top of the SodaStream to shoot carbonated air into a bottle of chilled water. This means you get to adjust exactly how fizzy you want it to be. 3 presses are recommended but we will sometimes press up to 5-6 times to get water so fizzy it hurts!

On the costs: Each carbonator costs about $25 and produces ~120 liters, which brings the total cost to about $0.21 per bottle. Compare this with the cost of store bought sparkling water, priced at about $1/liter. Our family used to average ~12 liters a week. Now instead of spending $12.00/week or $600/year on sparkling water, we're spending $2.50/week or $125/year -- a cost savings of almost $475 over the course of a year.

Finally, the savings for the environment are also unbelievable. Instead of throwing away 600 one liter plastic bottles into the recycling bin -- we reuse the same 4 bottles that were given to us in our initial purchase.

Every responsible soda drinker should run out and buy a SodaStream. This is easily one of the most economical products I've bought in a long time.

Not sure why my comment was deleted earlier (maybe for the product link? Or because I'm disagreeing?) A soda siphon is, i think a more elegant and aesthetically pleasing solution, and more durable than the plastic contraption and bottles. It's also cheaper-ish (126bux for a pack of 360 liter-chargers is .35c a liter), with a 45 dollar or so buy in for the siphon itself.

I like this idea for soda water, but I might note that your 5-gallon Poland Spring most probably still has BPAs in it. Even companies that have gotten rid of BPAs in their standard bottled water bottles, still use plastic for their 5-gallons with BPA. And most of that water is merely municipal water from whatever location it is from anyway. For those of in NYC, there really is no reason not to use tap water.

My parents had a sodastream when I was growing up in the 80's, it was fantastic. My partner and I have recently bought a new one for our home.

The prices in Australia seem a bit cheaper than what is quoted above, it is extremely convenient and economical, and they also sell flavour syrup if you want to make cola, lemonade, tonic etc. Although we mostly just drink the sparkling water.

We no longer have arguments about who is taking out the plastic bottles for recycling.

The problem is that I only want to drink sparkling water now.. no still water ever seems exciting enough!

I agree. Why this countertop contraption when you can use a plain soda siphon like this?
http://www.amazon.com/iSi-Siphon-Brushed-Aluminum-2248/dp/B00007JXR7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1251511979&sr=8-1

The Isi is great. We've had one for years. We use a similar one for making whipped cream.

with the iSi, aren't you chucking the chargers more frequently (and shopping for replacements more frequently)? i like the idea of a refillable carbonator, but i'm not sure it's a viable option for those of us who are not in the states. something to look into...i loves me some sparkling water. thanks for the heads up!

We had one of these when I was a kid, I haven't seen one in years.

Nickety, the chargers are recyclable, and take up very little space (I have a box of ~300 in the closet). You can order them online, I've used creamright.com before.

I love my soda stream so much! Ours is used daily and the savings are adding up, less sugar for me and less artificial sweeteners for hubbie (we both like just plain soda water best-maybe a squeeze of lemon) , less cost, less waste and less WAIST is a side effect too. Both of us have lost weight due to drinking almost no regular sodas anymore.

deja vu all over again

déja vu your déja vu

i'm glad this post came up 'cause this is the next to last frontier of bottled water use for me. i love the idea of being able to control how fizzy the water can be.

Now i just need a solution for travel. i've tried taking an empty bottle and filling it once i get past security, but the water from airport drinking fountains tends to be less than desirable for my tastes.

I love ours too! We use it every day, and I often make a ginger simple syrup for the fridge- a teaspoon in my glass plus fizzy water = your own ginger ale!

Re: the siphons. I researched both and found this to be the lowest cost per liter for my purposes, and I liked that it came w two bottles. The bottles hold the carbonation for quite some time.

They do make an all-glass model called the Penguin.

Fuhgedaboud the seltzer, can you help source those short glasses in the pic at the top?

I LOVE LOVE my sodastream. 5 of my friends have bought them now that they have seen mine and follow in love. Some of my friends bought the more expensive one from Williams Sonoma that is $199. It is a GREAT thing to register for for your wedding. The nicer one is quieter and it has the bottle which is better for presentation but i think it is a bit smaller then the plastic one.

I keep a couple bottles of lemon and lime juice (the ones in the plastic that are 100% juice) and squirt a bit in the water after carbonating. If you drink calistoga, pelligrino or any other soda water, you MUST buy this product. It is the best purchase i have ever made, dramatic but true.

http://www.sodastreamusa.com/
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/e196/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1|16|||0|||||||soda&cm_src=SCH

Love mine!

Yeah, this is def one of my best purchases this year.

Also got a $10 discount code from http://makeyoursoda.com

My tip is get a good variety of flavors