Did you ever want to turn water into gasoline? Well, this product can't do that but, it can turn regular tap water into soda at a minimal of price in less than 30 seconds. Well, the time has come to make turning water into soda with the utmost ease, very profitable. You are probably wondering how you could do this. If you want to help save your budget and the environment at the same time, then purchase the new "Soda Stream" soda maker. We found ours at Meijer's for only $79.99 and this came with a starter sampler kit. They do have a larger model which will cost you $130.00 and each model only comes with one CO2 canister. The reason that we purchased the smaller model, was because my wife just had bariatric surgery and has to watch how much and what types of drinks that she has. So, what better way to do that and save money, than with a Soda Stream machine.
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Description
This product is made totally of plastic, (this includes the plastic bottle that sits in the front) and this comes in red, white, black and gray in color. The Soda Stream Jet model, takes one 14.5 ounce Co2 canister. This canister screws into the back and the one liter plastic bottle (is BPA free) and holds the water which screws into the front. These plastic bottles have an expiration date stamped on the side towards the bottom. The reason for this date is that since the bottle has to go under pressure, the government has made it mandatory that you replace this bottle after so many uses and two years of uses, for safety reasons. This usually is for a period of two years. The metal canisters or as they call carbonators are made of metal (light aluminum)and the standards are set by the transportation department. These containers are returned to the company and they are cleaned and reused to help with recycling.
This whole unit weighs approximately 5 pounds and is 17" tall x 9" deep. Each of the CO2 containers will cost you about $15.00 for the 14.5 ounce can (makes 60 liters) and $30.00 for the 33 ounce CO2 can( which makes 130 liters of carbonated water). This is the only thing that you will need to take back to the store and exchange. This comes to approximately 0.25 cents per liter. Each of the little bottles of syrup flavors for the soda maker will cost you about $5 per 16.9 fluid ounces container. This will produce about 50 servings or 12 liters of soda (or 33 cans of soda). This soda maker has over 30 different flavors to choose from, and this includes energy, diet, caffeine, and regular syrup mixes.
Where To Purchase New CO2
The first thing that you will probably ask yourself when you get home is how long will the canister last and where do you get another one. Well, the time span of course will depend on how often you use it and how much you make. The other thing is easy, and that is where do you get more of the canisters. I called the company and they told me that the following is where you should be able to exchange or purchase more canisters. All you have to do is go to their website and punch in your zip code and a list of retailers will pop up with directions on how to get there. These places include Target, Williams -Sonoma, Sur La Table, Staples, Sears, ShopKo, Costco, Hyvee, JCPenny, kitchen collection, Kohl's, Macy's, Le Gourmet Chef, Meijer's, Crate and Barrel, Bon Ton, Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Bloomingdales, Bartell Drugs. At all of these places the prices will differ and the assortment will differ a little.
Benefits
If you are wondering about the benefits of this product, well, let me tell you that you will save money and space on your shelf and you will also save space in the landfills. Just the cans alone will help save in you having to smash them up and take them to the recycling center. This also will help because it takes no power or batteries to operate. So, you may have to spend a little in the beginning, but in the long run you will be helping the environment stay clean and your wallet stay full.
Flavors
If you are wondering how many flavors this has, well I can tell you that you will never be able to taste them all. Each retailer has an assorted different kind and they all will differ in price. These include: Sparkling Naturals (Apple Mango, Black Currant and Pear, Cola, Naturally Sweetened Cola, Ginger Ale, Green Tea, Lemon Lime, Orange Pineapple, Pink Grapefruit, and Root Beer), Water Flavor Essences (Lemon Lime, Orange, Raspberry, Mint), Energy Drinks (Red Bull Type, Diet Red Bull Type), Diet Flavors (Caffeine free Cola, Diet Cola, Cola Free, Diet Cranberry Raspberry, Diet Cream Soda, Diet Fountain Mist, Diet Ginger Ale, Diet Lemon Lime, Diet Orange, Diet Dr. Pete, Diet Pink Grapefruit, Diet Root Beer, Diet Tonic, Diet Lemonade, Diet Lemon Iced Tea, Diet Peach Iced Tea), and the regular flavors are (Cola, Cherry Cola, Cranberry Raspberry, Cream Soda, Fountain Mist, Ginger Ale, Lemon Lime, Orange, Dr. Pete, Root Beer, Tonic, Grape, Orange Mango, Lemon Iced Tea, Lemonade, and Peach Iced Tea).
Nutritional Facts
I have found that if you are going to drink the diet flavors that these are made from less sugars (or they use sweeteners such as sweet and low or splenda) and no these also contain 0 calories, these diet flavors are also low in sodium and caffeine. For the most part this drink maker will be a healthy alternative and also tastes just as great as the store bought products. If you want to know what each individual flavor have you will need to purchase that flavor and check out the back of the bottle.
Experience
Our first experience with this product was not a success, but after a few tries it started to taste just like store bought pop. But, after further reviewing of the instruction manual and the fact that the flavor was not up to par, we decided to call the company to see what we were doing wrong. The first thing that we were doing wrong was that we were adding the flavoring to the water before we screwed it up to machine to add the carbonation to the water. If you do this you will find out that the flavor will not be as strong if you carbonate the flavor and water together. You have to do the water alone then add the flavoring.
The next thing that we were doing wrong is not hold down the carbonation lever long enough. I called the company and they will walk you right through it. You need to hold the carbonation button down until you hear a buzzing type noise, and you will need to do this three separate times. When we did this we noticed a definite difference in the carbonation and when we added the flavor afterwards they told us to swish the bottle back and forth a couple of times and this should be enough to mix the flavoring up in the carbonated water.
When we did this properly, we noticed three times as much fizz and bubbles in the water. When we added the flavoring when we were supposed to, you could taste a much fuller flavor. After we did it properly we let the bottle sit on the counter all day long and opened it up at night and it still had a lot of fizz and zip in the flavor in the soda. You can also do as we did and make just plain old sparkling water and the fizz will last all day.
Conclusion
The best thing about this product is the fact that you will save space on your shelves and you will be helping the environment. You will have to first put out a little bit of money in the beginning but you will get a large return in the long run. We were very happy with help that we received from the customer service department. They stayed on the phone and walked me through the correct way to get the proper carbonation in the water. They also answered any and all questions that we had. They did not say good bye, until I was satisfied with knowing that I could operate this machine properly by myself. If you need to get a hold of them, the number is 1-800-763-2258 located in Cherry Hill New Jersey. I can highly recommend this machine and you will notice a positive difference within 30 seconds of using it. Five stars out of 5 for overall use and how environmentally friendly this is.