SodaStream Home Soda Maker Product Review

Who doesn't enjoy a cold, refreshing, flavourful soft drink? Or perhaps, simply a nice glass of sparkling water? Certainly many people do, and a lot! Sodas are overly present in today's food mainstream. I must however be utterly truthful and honest with you... I don't drink soda. At least not on a regular basis. Only once in a blue moon really. Why? Definitely not because I don't like soda, but purely for personal reasons. Don't get me wrong though, I love the taste of pop. Although for health, costs and environment reasons, I have made a conscious decision to stay away from all soft drinks. On the other hand, sparkling water I will drink more regularly. Now time to be truthful again... since I've been introduced to SodaStream, my soda world has turned upside down!

SodaStream is an international brand, Israel-based, founded overseas back in 1991. In 2009, SodaStream has started operating in Canada. Their concept is revolutionary. They distribute home beverage carbonation systems, which are made to enable customers to easily transform ordinary tap water into carbonated soft drinks and sparkling water. Neat, I know! What's even more impressive, their machines do not require batteries, electricity, or plumbing, thus allowing you to bring the machine pretty much anywhere, and everywhere. Their products are available in more than 50,000 retail stores in 42 countries around the world. SodaStream is literally the world’s largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of home carbonation systems. They offer six distinct machines, all of which being part of starter kits that also include one 60-liter carbonator and one carbonating bottle, in addition to offering customers a choice of over 25 great-tasting soda-mix flavours, including regular, diet and caffeine-free.

SodaStream Canada has generously provided me with a Green Fizz starter kit, along with a sample kit of 12 different flavours, for review purposes. I didn't quite know what to expect when embarking on this project. I was a tad skeptical. How can a small household machine accommodate me with made-in-seconds drinks? Can it possibly be that efficient? Well here's the bottom line... It' amazing! Plain and simple. For starters, the Green Fizz machine is stylishly designed, ergonomic and user-friendly. Truly easy to get started as well as to create a drink. The machine comes with a 1L bottle that is utilized to make the sparkling water or soda. The method is elementary: you fill your bottle with tap water, chill (or not, depending on your preference), and then carbonate by simply screwing into the drinksmaker and pressing the carbonating lever! And voila! Want a soft drink? Sure thing! Once your water is carbonated, just add the desired flavoured syrup in the bottle, shake gently, allow a few seconds to settle and you're set to go! What is additionally commendable about the SodaStream machine is how you can control the level of fizziness, hence bringing it about to your ultimate liking by either choosing a low, medium or high carbonation. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm always appalled at how flat soda goes shortly after unscrewing the cap. Absolutely maddening. Seeing how you need to fizz a whole 1L bottle in order to obtain a drink, one might gather that the fizziness will die out within no time. To my tremendous surprise, the fizziness was still going strong long after the initial carbonation, thanks to the hermetic seal on SodaStream's bottle caps. It is stated that they actually keep the sparkle longer than on standard plastic bottles. Under the right conditions, your drinks will remain sparkling for over a week! Another thing I was incredibly intrigued about was how tasty the sodas would turn out to be. I mean, let's face it, sparkling water is sparkling water. There's not much room for taste variations there. Yet, many variants and factors can influence the outcome of a pop. Sweetness, fizziness, artificial flavours, sodium, and so on and so forth. I must admit, I was extremely pleased by the taste of SodaStream's sodas. No overly sweetness, no "fake" taste nor weird flavours that might be expected from a homemade drink. To be straightforward, SodaStream's sodas notably mirrors the taste we have been introduced to by the popular brands out there. I would also like to add that none of their soda mixes contain aspartame nor high fructose corn syrup. They use sugar (sucrose) as the sweetener and have a variety of naturally flavoured syrups which do not use any artificial additives such as the Sparkling natural flavours, MyWater, and Cola Premium. Furthermore, all regular sodamix flavours contain a considerably lower amount of sugar, carbs and sodium than store-bought brands (up to 2/3 less to be precise). The diet flavours are sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium, also know as acesulfam K.

Beyond everything I have shared about SodaStream so far in this post, their greatest achievement would unmistakably be their ingenuity on turning the probably most popular beverage on Earth into an ecological drink. Here's an interesting fact, since January 2009, SodaStream has saved the world from over 1.5 billion plastic bottles. I cannot begin to imagine how much that frees our environment. Not to mention their BPA-free reusable bottles that make a huge difference for your planet by cutting down on disposables and recyclables. And let's not forget the great value for your money it proposes together with all the storing space you will gain you say good-bye to all those cans and bulky bottles.

So why should you adopt SodaStream? The answer is simple, why not? It has it all! The beauty of SodaStream is its remarkable convenience, astonishing versatility and its Earth-loving attributes. The SodaStream machines and supplies can be found through online retailers or in stores, across Canada and the United States (and many more various countries, consult their website for more details). In the instance of your carbonator being depleted, SodaStream presents you with two options: buying a new cylinder, or refilling your current one. The second option represents half the cost over buying a new one and ultimately, less garbage in our landfills, parks, rivers, oceans, and incinerators... can you say bonus points!? They have estimated that, for a household of four people, the 60-liter carbonator will need to be replaced or refilled every 6 to 8 weeks (of course, based on the frequency of use and the amount of carbonation used each time). I can only speak for myself, but, all in all, SodaStream's brilliant line of products is unequivocally a winning choice. In the long run, ourselves and the planet can only benefit from opting for SodaStream.



To visit SodaStream, follow the following links:
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