SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
Sodastream: Fantastic soda maker, terrible syrups
The Sodastream home soda maker will save you money and help keep plastic bottles out of the waste stream — just stay away from the company's Splenda-infused syrups.
Tue, Jun 22 2010 at 11:45 PM
Related Topics:
Photo: Sodastream USA
I admit to drinking a lot of soda in my younger days. I never really picked up the coffee-drinking habit in college, so I would rely on the enamel-eating scourge of Appalachia Mountain Dew for my late-night caffeine fixes. Thankfully my mainstream soda days are mostly over, though I still enjoy a Reed's Ginger Beer or a local Maine Root soda every now and then.
A friend turned me on to the Sodastream home soda machine, and I sent them an e-mail asking for a review unit. My biggest gripe with the soda most of us drink is the high-fructose corn syrups and other preservatives they contain, so I thought a Sodastream might be a good way to get my occasional soda fix without having to spend $2 on a natural soda at Whole Foods or having to ingest a bunch of yellow #5 or sodium benzoate.
The Sodastream PR people got back to me quickly and arranged for a review unit to be shipped to me along with a full selection of their soda syrups. I received the package last week and have been having a blast (of CO2) making my own fizzy sugar waters.
Carbon dioxide is amazingly tasty stuff.
Unfortunately, the Sodastream soda syrups are not. In fact I have a hard time even drinking a soda made with the official Sodastream syrups. Why? Blame Splenda, or to be more specific, blame the Sodastream taste engineers who decided to use the artificial sweetener in the entire line of syrups. This obviously comes down to personal preferences, but I find that Splenda, along with all the other artificial sweeteners, taste terrible. There's just something wrong about how they taste.
Look, soda is not healthy and never will be. It's just fizzy sugar water. Even the most all-natural soda found in the crunchiest natural foods store is a big bottle of empty calories. Yeah, it tastes great, but it will never be anything other than a diversion from the Healthy Eating Express. I really wish Sodastream would just embrace that fact and cut out the Splenda. Give us real soda syrups made with real sugar. Maybe keep the Splenda line for the people who don't mind its chemically cloying flavor, but give the rest of us some good old-fashioned sugared syrup.
Luckily, it's really easy to make your own syrups. You can follow any number of recipes for old-fashioned soda syrups or just simply mix lemon or lime juice with some maple syrup right before adding the freshly carbonated water. Orange juice is a nice additive, too; the right ratio of water to juice will make you swear that you're drinking an Orangina.
The Penguin soda machine itself is a beautifully engineered piece of kitchenware. It's easy to use, requires no cleanup, and looks stylish on the countertop. It's fun to operate and gives you store-quality soda in well under a minute. The Penguin is Sodastream's only model with glass carafes; the others use BPA-free plastic. Some of the company's other models allow you to see the CO2 being injected into the water, but the Penguin, by dint of its design, keeps that process hidden away.
All Sodastream makers use a standard CO2 bottle that's available online and at select kitchen stores. (10/28/12 Update: Read about how to save money refilling your CO2 tanks using the SodaMod).
If you drink soda, you should look into getting a Penguin. Sodastream says it costs about $.20 to gas up a liter of water, the same bottle bought at the store can costs five to 10 times that much. The cost of buying those bottles of soda adds up over the course of a year, and for some soda drinkers it wouldn't take terribly long for their savings to offset the ~$200 price for a Penguin Starter Kit. When you factor in all the plastic bottles you'd be saving, you start to see how, if you do drink soda, a Sodastream is the greenest choice available. It's not green, but it definitely is greener.
If you don't want to drop $200 on a soda maker, you can find other Sodastream models for less than half that price. They also make a version designed specifically for the green market — their Eco model is made using recycled plastic and packaged with greener packaging.
Which just makes me wonder: why don't they do the same with all their models? Why not package everything they sell in more eco-friendly packaging? Why not use recycled plastic whenever possible in all their products?
You can follow Sodastream USA on Twitter and read the corporate blog, Ms. Fizz.
UPDATE: I've been told by Sodastream that they have an "all-natural" line of syrups coming out that will be sweetened with simple sugar (no high-fructose corn syrup). I'm looking forward to trying them.
Again, in full disclosure, Sodastream sent me a free Penguin and a collection of flavors for review.
Are you on Twitter? Follow me (@sheagunther) there, I give good tweets.
And if you really like my writing, you can join my Facebook page.
The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- 20 ways to reuse coffee grounds, tea leaves
- 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
- The 9 nastiest things in your supermarket
- 13 natural remedies for the ant invasion
- 10 false facts most people think are true
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
- Best air-filtering houseplants, according to NASA
- Jon Stewart explains the ‘Monsanto Protection Act’
- Making soap: 5 tips for homemade soap
- How to clean brass naturally
From our sponsor
NEWSLETTER
Advertisement
I was thinking the same thing about the new syrups--good but not really less expensive. Then I realized a couple of things: I use less than the label amount and there is still the possible environmental benefit of the reusable bottles/co2 canisters.
Just bought it on the advice of my doctor to cut sugar. He advised mixing the water with juice, which I love. I took one sip and wanted to through up. It's going back to the store!!! I think I'd rather just drink water and have coke less often than drink this crap.
Love the Sodastream and the syrups that they create. Of course I've been a life long diet soda drinker and can't stand the taste of a real soda for anything. I can't even stand the taste of regular sugar in foods. I must be the odd one here =D...but give me artificial sugar any day over regular.
I totally agree. The syrups are terrible. I got the machine at a fundraiser and love making soda but they have got to do a better job with the flavored syrups. Failure. Where were the tasters when they made that. The only flavor that I can stand is the lemon lime.
I happened to get some of their new syrups this weekend--the ones with no artificial sweeteners and with cane sugar. Much, much, better than the originals.
Update: Sodastream now offers a line of "Sparkling Naturals" syrups that have cane sugar instead of those artificial sweeteners. That's the good news.
The bad news is they COST TWICE AS MUCH! So thanks for nothing, Sodastream!
Check the label, twice the price an half the servings. That's 4x the cost.
I like Diet coke ,but I was getting aspartame poisoning. This is really a good product .he entire line contains no aspartame .As you may know aspartame is like drinking cool aid at a Jim Jones party. I am very pleased
I agree that the syrups rot.I don't do artificial sweeteners and my children can't even be coaxed to drink the Sodastream versions.
I received it as a gift to replace the "fizzy water" (like La Croix) that we bought on a regular basis. I have a set of the new natural flavorings but rarely use them. In fact, using them before the expiration date might be tough.
I would buy my own Coca-Cola syrup but it is impossible to get in this area unless you own an official Coca-Cola fountain.
It's amusing to read someone chastizing artificial sweeteners while touting the merits of "genuine" (chemically produced) Coca-Cola syrup.
Perhaps, but my reaction to artificial sweeteners is a seizure which is far less amusing.
I've heard you can get commerical syrups like coke at Sams Club.
Sure you can. And they're at CostCo too. Fizz Giz and Soda Stick owners buying the brand-name varieties get their single serving sized drinks for about 20-cents per bottle. Not bad when you consider that six-packs are now going for $3.99.
True, the Pittsburgh Soda syrups are too expensive, but the recommended mix of the SodaStream flavors is just right for me. Maybe it's not cheaper than store bought cans or bottles, but I don't have to deal with hauling heavy cans/bottles anymore and don't have to spend time recycling them either (in my town this means a trip to the dump!)
I like diet sodas without caffeine and aspartame...find that on the store shelf.
The Splenda taste ruins the soda. Nobody in our famiy can stand the taste of any of Soda Streams flavors, so we are on a quest to find other syrup suppliers. Will look at the Pittsburgh Soda Shop. I also have an email into Willtec . Found them on the web and they offer their own flavors and also mainstream brands-RC Cola
I'll let you know what thye say
Buy syrup,any kind,lemon,cherry,strawberry,pomegranate etc..Make your carbonated water and add the amounts you want,stir and drink.Keep mixing until you find the right ratio
For under $15 - you can't go wrong. Carbonate anything you want - finished drinks, natural fruit juices or fine wine fruit of the vine. Some folks like to carbonate ice cold peppermint schnapps just to see it bubble when they pour it (all about presentation!). The Fizz Giz is cheap and you are NOT locked into a proprietary co2 source - common co2 bulbs have been mfd and sold for nearly a hundred years - you can get 'em anywhere - even in a WalMart store.
In November 2010, I purchased a SodaStream and donated it to my church. Church members especially enjoy Fountain Mist, Orange, Pete's Choice, & root beer.
I will be trying to make a 2 liter soda pop consisting of 1 liter orange and 1 liter Fountain Mist. The aim is to create imitation Livewire Mountain Dew.
I tried syrups from prairie moon and from pittsburgh - the latter is better.
The Pittsburgh Soda Pop link was fantastic!!!!!!! It has soooo many great flavors!!!!
turn to any book on making your own cordials and you will be able to use any of them with your sodastream. I have been doing this for ages with everything from lemon through to elderberry. Just use your imagination, feed your self with home made goodies for far less than the super market and with products that you know what is in them!
Pages