We make all of our homemade soda using our Sodastream
. I LOVE Sodastream and I assure you that they did not pay me to write this nor did they even send me any free stuff (I'll always tell you if something was sent to me for free). 
Sodastream
is a simple gadget that sits on the counter and carbonates water. Sodastream sells lots of soda mixes
that you can add to the carbonated water to make homemade soda, but (and now you'll know for sure that they didn't sponsor this post) I think there is no need to buy them. You can make your own homemade sodas by pouring the fizzy water into a glass and mixing in a splash of your favorite juice. I drink a ton of apple soda (apple juice + carbonated water) and orange soda (orange juice + carbonated water). Sure, these homemade sodas don't taste as sweet as store-bought sodas, but they are just as refreshing. I'm not a big water drinker, but I don't want all of the calories from a tall glass of juice; I'd rather save the calories for cupcakes! So, I tend to make my homemade sodas with 80% fizzy water and 20% juice. You can play around and find your own perfect ratio!
One of my new favorite homemade sodas is watermelon soda (shown at the top of this post). I make it by adding just a few tablespoons of homemade watermelon syrup to a glass of carbonated water.
Aside from the flavors that I've already mentioned, some of my other favorite homemade sodas have been:
- Lemon or lime (fizzy water + juice from half a lemon or lime + 2 Tbsp of sugar)
- Lingonberry (fizzy water + a few Tbsp of lingonberry concentrate
)
- Pineapple (fizzy water + pineapple juice to taste)
- Mojito (fizzy water + a few Tbsp of mojito syrup - I made the syrup for my pomegranate mojito cupcakes and had some left over.)
We have a sodastream on our list of things we want to buy... so glad you like it because hearing about someone real that likes it makes me less nervous to buy one. I love flavored waters and seriously we buy like 12 liters a week because my husband and I each have one a night and I know it would be so much cheaper to make my own, but I've been too afraid I'll regret it.
ReplyDeleteI've never made soda but now I really, really want to. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteWe just got a SodaStream! Chuck is using at the club right now for rootbeer, but I can't wait until he bring sit home!
ReplyDeleteoh I want one of these. My husband is a soda addict.....
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never even heard of a machine that carbonates drinks. That's so cool!
ReplyDeleteI had one of these gadgets growing up - probably 25 years ago. I thought it was pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThat is so awesome. I love Izze soda (basically sparkling juice) but it's so expensive. It would be great to make soda that tastes exactly how you want to and is all natural!
ReplyDeleteJust curious, what's the cost like on the cartridge refills? Are they proprietary (i.e. can you have them filled anywhere, or are they limited to one manufacturer)? Are the cartridges available for sale in stores? This sounds so cool, especially because I'm not nuts for a lot of diet sodas and I like the idea of being able to control how sweet it is, and make up my own flavors! But the "maintenance cost" aspect of it with the cartridges makes me nervous, especially when the product itself is on the expensive side.
ReplyDeleteMelissa - You have to buy the Sodastream refills. We get them at William Sonoma (but, I think they may even sell them at Macy's). It's $15 if you bring back your old one to trade in. To me, if you drink lots of soda, it's so worth it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for it...It will help me a lot...
ReplyDeleteI have my mother's old, old Sodastream, that I used growing up, but I haven't been able to find anywhere to buy/refill the gas canister for it, so my own children remain unenlightened to the wonders of homemade fizzy drinks.
ReplyDeleteI liked orange and mango juice the best, but you do have to carbonated the water on it's own first, because using straight juice would overflow the bottle. Something to do with the sugar levels. It used to annoy me that one gorgeous glass bottle only held one glass full though, but I did get to use a bendy straw to drink it!
I still have my first Gen Sodastream and contacted company and they said I could send it back to them and get some money off a new one since the new bottles and carbon cartridges would not work with the old machine. In my area northern Indiana have not found anyone that will refill cartridges unfortunately. I do know that Walmart and Kohl's sell them in their stores now. The 1st Gen Sodastreams had original Canada Dry gingerale, A & W rootbeer, and other name brand syrups in large pump bottles you could buy along with a recipe book that included recipes for Coke, Pepsi, and Royal Crown products. I loved it and used it daily! Good luck and hope you find someone in your area to refill you cartridges!!!!!
DeleteI have had my Sodastream for about 3 years and love it. I don't care for the flavorings that they sell for soda, so I ususally drink it plain, or put lime or lemon in it. The soda flavors all contain some kind of non-sugar sweetner and I don't like that. ]
ReplyDeleteI would encourage everyone one to buy. I would love to have glass bottles, but they only have it for the penquin at williams sonoma, and they are smaller bottles.
One thing to be aware of is that the plastic bottles are only good for about 2years. I just saw on my bottles that they have an expiration date on them, and if they get scratched you shouldn't use them.
I've never tried making soda at home because I'm afraid I can't make a good one..but because of this, maybe I'll try one...hhmm..excited??!!
ReplyDeletewow! what a coincidence! I just recently purchased the Penguin and I'm excited about all the possibilities with flavours! that watermelon syrup looks amazing! I'll have to experiment!
ReplyDeleteSo, can we make our own syrups for the machine? My roommate is buying one for next year but none of the flavors really appealed to me. My grandmother used to make a spicy blueberry soda that I'd like to take a crack at haha. The flavors appear to be thinner than a true syrup, which is why I asked.
ReplyDeleteEky - I add my own syrups and juices in my glass. I don't put put them in the Sodasteam.
ReplyDeleteI have a classic soda siphon bought over at eBay. Really makes me feel some cool bartender. :D
ReplyDeleteOur family loves raspberry fizzy drinks and also you can pop those in the fridge for some popsicle delight! :D
i let my soda self carbonate with yeast... much better than sodastream.
ReplyDeleteCharis - Can you tell me more about how you do this? I've never heard of it and I am curious.
ReplyDeleteI have a sodaStream and I love it. If you want to save a ton of money get the adapter from CO2doctor.com I have been making 2-3 liters of soda a day for the past 6 months and I am still on my first tank. When my tank runs out I will get it refilled for about $25. You just can't beat that price.
ReplyDeleteI carbonate 5 gallons using a soda pre-mix tank or corney keg, available through homebrew supply stores/websites. It works the same as the soda stream but carbonates a whole lot more.
ReplyDeleteI found some instructions and recipes at: http://homemadesodaexpert.blogspot.com/
I like your ideas here. I love fruit sodas!
Be aware that all of the flavors from sodastream have splenda in them which really contaminates the flavor of the soda, except for the "naturals". But the naturals have fructose listed as an ingredient except for the cola. I don't know if that is bad or not.
ReplyDeleteI love my SodaStream. I use it with the drinks you add to water for flavor. You do have to be careful though. That stuff fizzes so added to the soda water it really fizzes and can overflow the bottle or the glass. One of my favorites when I was a kid was Hawaiian Punch and soda water. Also cranberry juice and soda. It works for everything and it saves a lot of money in the long run.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone figured out the actual cost of the soda, including the equipment? I did it generically and it didnt seem to be a savings. I drink a lot of soda. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI use rhe powdered drink mixes (crystal lite) . Put dry mix in a pitcher. Carbonate 2 liters of water. Add to pitcher gradually.
ReplyDeleteI love my soda stream also... I mis alot of different drinks....
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