Review: Sodastream's Home Carbonation System

By Sonya Davidson

When Sodastream entered into the Canadian market, I was definitely curious. You see, with a teenager and a youngster in the house, and me who, loves a fizzy cold drink, this in-home soda making machine was definitely on my radar. Hit jump for my review.

The starter kit includes a BPA Free reusable and refillable bottle, CO2 “carbonator” gas cylinder and an assortment of flavours pods to sample. The machine itself, an award winning design by Yves Behar, is clean and modern. Hubby’s thrilled that it doesn’t take up too much space on the kitchen counter!

Flavours include the standard tonic, cola, ginger ale, cola and root beer but I was pleased to see options like cranberry and orange mango in the mix. There are over 60 flavours in total including the NEW line of  “better-for-you” exotic flavours that are free from artificial sweeteners, flavours, colours and preservatives. Fruit flavoured syrup concentrates like Kiwi-Pear, Lychee-Green Tea, and Passion Mango, in the new release contain less calories and sugar compared to regular soft drinks.

How it works:

The CO2 canister “carbonator” is locked in place behind the machine and covered. Fill the provided bottle with regular tap or filtered water and secure in the front of the machine. The machine requires no batteries or electricity! Another bonus to the environment! When you’re ready to carbonate the water you can even select the desired amount of fizziness. Within mere seconds the water is carbonated. The final step is adding the flavour of choice.

The Verdict:

I was surprised to learn that Sodastream was founded in 1991 and sold in more than 15 countries around the world. Sodastream arrived in Canada in 2009, but it was only over the past year that I started seeing it pop up in stores.

I absolutely love having the ease of making my own sodas and the ability to control the fizziness. But what’s important is that we can also control the amount of sweetness of the pop. I had even created my own natural flavour sodas like ginger beer with freshly grated ginger, lime and agave syrup.

The boys like rootbeer and it’s not something I buy often. Of course the bonus of minimizing unwanted plastic waste is important and no more lugging around heavy bottles or cans of pop!

I did a little bit of research into the drink comparison of my boys’ love for Rootbeer.

• Calories: Popular Brand Rootbeer  120  vs Sodastream Rootbeer 35
• Sugars: Popular Brand Rootbeer 31g vs Sodastream Rootbeer 9g
• Sodium: Popular Brand Rootbeer 45mg vs Sodastream Rootbeer 2 mg

And what about taste? We did notice that the drinks were not as sweet as regular pop and that’s good, right?  I definitely think it’s a better alternative.  I also find it refreshing to simply add a couple pieces of fresh fruit into the non-flavoured carbonated water.

Oh,  just a word of caution, DO NOT add the flavour before you carbonate the water. I was distracted and did that once by mistake. It was a real sticky mess to clean up!

The machine is great for parties and ideal for university dorms for this back to school season… you won’t have to worry about running out too quickly or having multiple bottles sitting in the fridge.

What happens when you run out of CO2? I discovered that the empty canister can be returned through the “Cylinder Exchange Program” by authorized Sodastream retailers. Return your empty and purchase a new one.  There are several locations including Canadian Tire and Home Outfitters close to my home and alternatively there is an online shipping program directly with Sodastream.

Sodastream will also launch Sodastream Caps that perfectly measure out the amount of syrup needed for one bottle of pop – a logical evolution of the line that I’m welcoming given that I sometimes make a mess while pouring in the flavours from the bottles. The Caps will be available in September shortly after the launch of their new Sodastream Play machine. This new machine will drop to an even better price point of $99.99 when it hits the shelves any day now.