Soda Stream pop maker

[WrenchHead]

I got one of these for christmas

http://www.sodastreamusa.com/

Do any of you use something like this? I got the machine that carbonates water and a bunch of syrup to make pop at home. I'm already trying to figure out how I can make it cheaper than the company would like me to pay for the syrup and refills of the co2 tank.

Do any of you know a recipe for syrup for pop? Something I could make all naturally with sugar and flavoring of some sort would be cool.

I figured out how much it'd cost me to make 12oz of pop with their products (gas and syrup) and it's 28 cents/can of pop. (you make one litre at a time.)

I want to get the price down to around a nickel a can..

[nippletwister]

Does this mean you'll be cutting back on your vinyl kick for a carbonated water kick?

[MarkK]

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-OpenCola

[alex]

[Halt! Hammerzeit.]

I was going to buy one of these on eBay but got outbidded last minute $1 (ended @ $75). I don't care about making soda, but how's the carbonation ability? Is it super carbonated or "just right" like mineral waters (e.g. Perrier)?

[Pesto]

Use the syrup from this recipe. Experiment.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... index.html

[WrenchHead]

I'll still be buying vinyl and everything else I collect.

You can control the amount of carbonation, so you can make stuff flat or fizzy depending upon your personal preference. The cola mix looks like laundry detergent. I'll have to figure out if it's cheaper to make my own or not. I'm sure I could buy Italian Soda syrup somewhere on the cheap, but that's not the same as sucking down a caffeinated, black colored litre of cola. And this stuff mixes up dark. You can't see through the bottle in daylight when you make up a batch of cola.

[Pesto]

You could probably make a pretty awesome pop by steeping lemon and lime zest in a sugar syrup. Home made 7-up.

[Talenos]

Well, I have a 5lb CO2 tank that cost me less than that thing. I can make a whole 5 gallon keg of soda, and control exactly how much CO2 it needs. I also bought a carbonator cap so I can make smaller batches in just about any standard size bottle. 20 oz, 1 liter, 2 liter.

Beth and I made a batch of root beer from extract, which costs maybe 5 bucks for enough to make 5 gallons. You just need to add sugar too.

[daoist]

Another thing to note is that different drinks require different amounts of CO2, so it's not like you'll be able to set it and forget it anyhow.

[WrenchHead]

They tell you to do the same amount of CO2 for each drink and adjust it to taste. So far the default setting is working out. The downside is that I'm drinking twice as much pop as before I got it. Also, I still prefer Dr. Pepper and real Coke to anything I've had from their mixes. The rootbeer mix is pretty good. Preferred to Barqs, A&W or other cheap ones. Not as good as Natural Draft I buy in glass bottles.

You can buy Dr pepper syrup at Sams Club. However it mixes 1:6 whereas this stuff I'm using now mixes 1:20. Sort of wasteful of the carbonated water to make a liter of Dr. Pepper.

[Talenos]

Yeah soda is generally all at the same carbonation level. But it is much higher than beer.

[atrophic]

How weird, I'm thinking of buying one of these so I googled root beer extracts with sodastream, and good ol' ST comes up in the first page of results.

I'm a big fan of root beer, so I'm going to try it with a few extracts. I'm looking forward mostly to using Sprecher Root Beer extract as it's great in bottles (which can be purchased at Menards).

I'm curious about making my own root beer too, but I'm not sure it's possible as reviews I've read elsewhere say you have to add ingredients after carbonation as anything but water messes up the device. I'll post about my experiences after I give things a try.

And by the way, Williams-Sonoma (at Jordan Creek in DSM) carries the machines, bottles, and co2 cartridges (purchase or exchange), but does not carry any of the soda extracts.

[WrenchHead]

Yeah, I was at Jordan Creek last week and they said it's about 15 dollars to swap CO2 tanks with them. Not horrible.. Cheaper than online.

They carry the 200 dollar Penguin looking model down there. Mine is the genesis model seen here:

http://www.williamglen.com/product.asp? ... 3622&eng=2

I like that it stores away in the kitchen without taking up much space. All of these things do the same thing (carbonate water) so the price doesn't really seem to get you anything on the nicer models. Mine can only accommodate a 60L bottle. I think the penguin can accept the bigger 110L bottles too.

[Fuzzy]

my parents use Zatarain's Root Beer Extract. I'm not the biggest fan of the taste. I'd love to try the sprecher stuff. their bottled root beer is great.

post

son of a gun - just noticed who wrote the post. surprised yr account is still active.

[Talenos]

I've looked at making my own extract as well, but there are so many ingredients that are really hard to find, I'll just stick to ginger ale.

[Fuzzy]

I've looked at making my own extract as well, but there are so many ingredients that are really hard to find, I'll just stick to ginger ale.

me, too. i would love to try my hand at making my own cola or root beer, but the ingredient lists scare me off.

[Pesto]

The main flavor in modern root beer is wintergreen.

[Talenos]

correct.

[Pesto]

A decent homemade lemon-lime soda shouldn't be hard, though you'd have to experiment with zest/juice ratios.

[WrenchHead]

The key ingredient to good pop is tons of sugar. But it'll also give you diabetes eventually. My doctor told me to quit drinking regular soda because of the way the sugar is delivered to the body like a donkey punch. However, I trust HCFS and sucrose more than I trust any artificial sweetener.

Carbonated water out of the tap in Ames just kinda tastes like ass though. I was thinking about trying some various mixes like coolaid, honey, etc... When you realize what's actually in a can of coke can kill you easily in bigger doses (phosphoric acid and caffeine come to mind) it's easy to see why someone else gets paid to bottle this stuff and nobody makes it at home in their free time.

[Pesto]

The key ingredient to good pop is tons of sugar. But it'll also give you diabetes eventually.

No, it won't. It can make you fat, which is a risk factor, but sugar in and of itself won't give you diabetes.

[Pesto]

When you realize what's actually in a can of coke can kill you easily in bigger doses (phosphoric acid and caffeine come to mind) it's easy to see why someone else gets paid to bottle this stuff and nobody makes it at home in their free time.

Or carbon dioxide.

I just had a great thought. I wonder if we could set up an alarmist website about the dangers of carbonated drinks. After all, CARBON DIOXIDE is a WASTE PRODUCT of your body and A TOXIN. In high enough levels it can be LETHAL. Why would anyone want to put a WASTE PRODUCT back into their own body? Would you eat your own FECES? No. Yet you have no problem ingesting CARBON DIOXIDE, a WASTE PRODUCT. It's as if you're eating your own FECES!!!

What do you think. Could it work?

[daoist]

considering the widespread mistrust of pop already, I think you'd find you have very little work cut out for you.

[WrenchHead]

I will spread the link if someone makes a site.

The logo needs a 2 liter bottle pushing a turd out of it.

I'm just saying if I walked into a chemical supply store to get phosphoric acid and pure caffeine, I'd probably spill the shit in the car on the way home and burn a hole in my seat and hands.

[atrophic]

Here comes a giant "I didn't check the post until now" set of replies.

Yeah, I was at Jordan Creek last week and they said it's about 15 dollars to swap CO2 tanks with them. Not horrible.. Cheaper than online.

And they sell them for $30, which is $5 more than online (but probably cheaper after shipping).

They carry the 200 dollar Penguin looking model down there.

I bought the Penguin because I wanted the glass bottles instead of the plastic ones (which are supposed to be thrown out after a year or two, aren't dishwasher safe, etc.). One possible downside is that you have to add the extract afterward with the Penguin, otherwise it foams all over the inside of the device. It looks like the others might not have that problem.

I think the penguin can accept the bigger 110L bottles too.

It can't. Jet and Edition 1 models only.

my parents use Zatarain's Root Beer Extract. I'm not the biggest fan of the taste. I'd love to try the sprecher stuff. their bottled root beer is great.

I bought the Sprecher syrup from Northern Brewer. Google results on the syrup will show a kegkits.com site, do *not* buy from them (check their BBB rating or even their own forum for all the rip off cases). I skipped Zatarain's because it has anus in it. I hate root beers with anise, they give me a headache. I also have Gnome's extract, which has a very strong flavor to it (maybe a little anise, not enough for a headache). I also have Rainbow Flavors extract, which I haven't tried yet, but smells like it'll have a very strong taste. And soon I should have some extracts from Hoptech, a brewer in California that makes his own stuff. The Sprecher stuff is great. Unlike the others it comes sweetened (HFCS/honey/sugar) so you just mix it 1:4 with water (I do 1:3.5 for more flavor). I also got some flavors in the mail today from SodaStream themselves. I bought the sampler and a bottle of the root beer stuff, haven't tried it yet. Will return with reviews later.

son of a gun - just noticed who wrote the post. surprised yr account is still active.

How long does it take to make an account inactive? I log in maybe once a year or so for some reason or another, usually related to ISU games. I was really surprised to see ST show up on the first page of google results though.

I've looked at making my own extract as well, but there are so many ingredients that are really hard to find, I'll just stick to ginger ale.

me, too. i would love to try my hand at making my own cola or root beer, but the ingredient lists scare me off.

I bought this book which has a bunch of recipes. Collecting the ingredients will probably be a bit of a challenge, but I'd still like to try it. Root beer is probably one of the easier ones to make since it doesn't involve the acids or caffeine.

The logo needs a 2 liter bottle pushing a turd out of it.

lmao, I didn't think the campaign would work til I read that graphic description.

[Fuzzy]

son of a gun - just noticed who wrote the post. surprised yr account is still active.

How long does it take to make an account inactive? I log in maybe once a year or so for some reason or another, usually related to ISU games. I was really surprised to see ST show up on the first page of google results though.

Pretty sure they can't. Just making a lame joke. You know how I do.

I've looked at making my own extract as well, but there are so many ingredients that are really hard to find, I'll just stick to ginger ale.

me, too. i would love to try my hand at making my own cola or root beer, but the ingredient lists scare me off.

I bought this book which has a bunch of recipes. Collecting the ingredients will probably be a bit of a challenge, but I'd still like to try it. Root beer is probably one of the easier ones to make since it doesn't involve the acids or caffeine.

Let me know if you ever do that.

[WrenchHead]

You have to add the extract with mine as well. Also if you put water in above the line shown on the bottle it backs up into the machine and sprays everywhere. I talked to a guy that was into paintball and he said it'd cost about 2 dollars to have the 14.5oz can refilled if you can get the right valve hookup for it.

[Pokaris]

Yeah, it's not the same threads as a paintball tank and the wife was not a huge fan of me trying, so I just swap the CO2 tank. We ordered a couple extra tanks and bottles. They apparently make a .5 liter bottle that would be great for taking in the car. I really like the thing, even the "regular" mixes have less calories than standard pop. Most of the flavors are pretty good, I was not impressed by the orange though, but I admit a terrible bias towards Orange Crush. We've had ours like a year now and still use it, although not as much as when it was new. Anyone found where I can get Green River syrup?

[WrenchHead]

Someone on ebay is selling the parts to convert the tanks or refill them at the paintball places. I just don't want to invest in that and have the paintball place refuse to fill it for me.

Sams Club sells the flavor mixes online. I'm not a member, but it's a place to get the syrup locally.

[atrophic]

I got my sampler set of the sodastream flavors. Their root beer is awful. I have an entire bottle of it that I won't be using if anybody wants it. The other flavors we've tried so far haven't been too bad. Their Mt. Dew knock off seems closer to the mark than the other lame attempts by competitors (but then again, I haven't had Mt. Dew in ~5 years, so what do I know?).

Sam's Club doesn't carry them in the store here in DSM, but you can probably do in-store pickup of an online order.

I checked out those parts on ebay, this item actually connects paintball gun tanks directly to the machines, so there's no reason a paintball place wouldn't refill it; they'd just assume it was for paintball. It costs me $1-2 to get my 20 oz paintball tanks filled (or free if you take them paintballing) and they hold about 50% more than the sodastream ones. $100 for the kit is a bit pricey, but at 10x cheaper refills it'd only take 5-6 fills to pay for itself.

[Mr. Bloodthirsty]

I skipped Zatarain's because it has anus in it.

A good reason not to buy.

[daoist]

Hey btw I don't want to be debbie downer, but you guys with these things make sure you're cleaning the fuck out of them. Naaaaaasty shit can grow in the lines and especially on the dispenser of pop machines.

[MarcusAurelius]

well if that were true, restaurants would clean theirs. stop spreading lies.

[daoist]

Take a napkin and wipe up behind the nozzles at a restaurant.

better yet, don't.

[WrenchHead]

Daoist, these things work by you screwing on a bottle full of water onto the machine and carbonating it. You dump the syrup into the bottle after you've removed it from the machine. The machine is sanitary since there's no sugar sitting there for bacteria to get into. There is no hoses or anything.. it's a solid, compact unit.

[daoist]

Oh. Carry on then.

[Pesto]

WA WAAAAA

[Pokaris]

Do not try the Cherry Cola, unless you like cough medicine and then you're set.

If there are any flavors you want a review on, I can do it, I think we have most of them.

[Pesto]

Booger? Vomit?

[Fuzzy]

That considered, I took matters into my own hands. Against the bottle's clear warning, I filled my bottle with something other than regular water to see what would happen. After raiding my supermarket for interesting beverages to bubble up, I tried Ceres lychee juice. Since it's not a pure fruit juice and doesn't have pulp, it approximated water pretty well and resulted in a fantastic soda. It fizzed up more fervently than water, which simply meant I had to be more careful in removing the bottle to prevent a mess. After that, we tried passion fruit juice—fizzier still, with a head like beer that was much more persistent. It seems that sugar content and viscosity are factors in how well random beverages will carbonate, but they're worth trying. The winner, though, was white wine: a cheap bottle of Sauvignon Blanc became instant Prosecco (or close enough), and when mixed with my leftover juice, it made for a perfectly fresh bellini. If a gadget can help me make mimosas from Two Buck Chuck, it's definitely earned its spot in my kitchen.

[nippletwister]

Inexpensive non- methode Champenoise sparkling wine is basically pressure-carbonated similar to soda.

[Fuzzy]

yes.

[Halt! Hammerzeit.]

I bought one. I was walking back from lunch and noticed a store had the Genesis G100 on sale for $80 + 12 free sample flavors. The CO2 swap costs $12.

[Halt! Hammerzeit.]

This looks like a solution to the cartridge swaps. Apparently Sodastream has anti-refill trap mechanism put into the stock valve.

http://www.sodaclubrefill.com