I have been looking at Sodastream carbonated beverage machines. Soda pop keeps getting more expensive and I'm starting to have issues with the ingredients in most commercial sodas.
After doing some research, what I have found is Sodastream sells the machine, CO2 cylinder, syrups and accessories to make your own sparkling water, flavored waters or sodas. They price this so it's a little bit cheaper than buying soda at the store. Their machines are basically just simple CO2 cartridge holders that inject the CO2 into the water.
For the amount of work involved with making my own soda, I want to pay a lot less. The costs with using a Sodastream system include the machine itself, the CO2 bottles, both to purchase and to refill and the syrups.
First, the machine itself. I don't want to pay $80-$180 for what is basically a plastic CO2 bottle holder. Shopping around on craigslist, I see the machines for much reduced prices, say $35 for a slightly used machine and accessories.
Second, the CO2 containers. These can be pricey if you get them from Sodastream. I want at least two cylinders so I can always have a full spare. Once again, craiglist has a lot of these available both full and empty. As far as refills, stores charge around $15 per cylinder exchange. This is ridiculous. You can go to Dick's Sporting Goods and refill for around $3.50. If you want to buy a 20 lb. CO2 tank that you can fill your cylinders from, you can get the gas even cheaper. Savings is around half price for the cylinders on craigslist and 1/5th the price if you fill the cylinders yourself.
The syrups, from reviews I have seen, range from terrible to pretty good. Sodastream has 59 flavors available. These syrups are also pricey and an ongoing source of revenue for Sodastream. Looking for a cheaper alternative, I found many sites that offer recipes for syrups and even natural recipes for using fruit and simple syrup or other sweeteners to make a bunch of flavors such as orange creamsicle and many more. Savings from making your own are around half price from the bottled syrups.
Net results are you can make a liter of sparkling water for less than a nickel and flavored sodas/waters for varying amounts all much less than soda costs. Instead of being just a little cheaper, making these drinks can be much cheaper if you do it right.
One other idea which is frowned upon by Sodastream is using the system to make carbonated drinks other than water. Wine becomes sparkling wine. Apple juice becomes sparkling apple juice. Green tea becomes...
Have any of you guys used a Sodastream? Thoughts on it?
Sodastream | Turn Water Into Fresh Sparkling Water And Soda
After doing some research, what I have found is Sodastream sells the machine, CO2 cylinder, syrups and accessories to make your own sparkling water, flavored waters or sodas. They price this so it's a little bit cheaper than buying soda at the store. Their machines are basically just simple CO2 cartridge holders that inject the CO2 into the water.
For the amount of work involved with making my own soda, I want to pay a lot less. The costs with using a Sodastream system include the machine itself, the CO2 bottles, both to purchase and to refill and the syrups.
First, the machine itself. I don't want to pay $80-$180 for what is basically a plastic CO2 bottle holder. Shopping around on craigslist, I see the machines for much reduced prices, say $35 for a slightly used machine and accessories.
Second, the CO2 containers. These can be pricey if you get them from Sodastream. I want at least two cylinders so I can always have a full spare. Once again, craiglist has a lot of these available both full and empty. As far as refills, stores charge around $15 per cylinder exchange. This is ridiculous. You can go to Dick's Sporting Goods and refill for around $3.50. If you want to buy a 20 lb. CO2 tank that you can fill your cylinders from, you can get the gas even cheaper. Savings is around half price for the cylinders on craigslist and 1/5th the price if you fill the cylinders yourself.
The syrups, from reviews I have seen, range from terrible to pretty good. Sodastream has 59 flavors available. These syrups are also pricey and an ongoing source of revenue for Sodastream. Looking for a cheaper alternative, I found many sites that offer recipes for syrups and even natural recipes for using fruit and simple syrup or other sweeteners to make a bunch of flavors such as orange creamsicle and many more. Savings from making your own are around half price from the bottled syrups.
Net results are you can make a liter of sparkling water for less than a nickel and flavored sodas/waters for varying amounts all much less than soda costs. Instead of being just a little cheaper, making these drinks can be much cheaper if you do it right.
One other idea which is frowned upon by Sodastream is using the system to make carbonated drinks other than water. Wine becomes sparkling wine. Apple juice becomes sparkling apple juice. Green tea becomes...
Have any of you guys used a Sodastream? Thoughts on it?
Sodastream | Turn Water Into Fresh Sparkling Water And Soda
