This is the best thing to happen to our kitchen...well....since we got a new kitchen! We have a bit of an obsession with seltzer here at Everyday Food and got downright giddy when we found this machine.
This fantastic little guy has a carbon dioxide tank that carbonates your water as fizzy as you like it. All you have to do is screw the bottle onto the machine and give the button a few presses (or a lot of presses if you really like bubbles) and your done! Put the bottles in the fridge and you will always have seltzer on hand.
In Action!
The company also makes their own syrups to make root beer, ginger ale, etc but we typically like it plain, mixed with a little fruit juice or a squeeze of citrus. The machine is manual and does not require batteries or electricity so you can put or take it anywhere (camping, anyone?).
There are several machines to choose from, the least expensive is around $89 and comes with the carbon dioxide tank and two bottles to make seltzer in. I did some calculating and discovered that after you buy the machine, each liter of seltzer you make costs $.25 on average! That is a huge difference from what you pay at the grocery store aaaaand....no bottles to throw away or keep in the pantry...less waste! When your tank is empty, just mail it back to the company or take it to a Williams-Sonoma. They will replace it with a full tank and only charge you for the gas.
I highly recommend this if you drink a lot of the bubbly or use it in your mixed drinks. Do you ever make your own seltzer at home?
From: Jen C | 1/20/10 at 6:42 pm
Yup! I got one of the Soda Stream machines as a Christmas present for myself and I loved it so much I lugged it to every holiday party I went to! Everyone who saw it wanted one (and 3 bought one the next morning!)
I looooooove this thing so much!
From: Michelle | 1/20/10 at 8:09 pm
An old-fashioned seltzer bottle does the same thing without taking up counter space. It's not quite as cheap (I think the gas canisters are more like $.60 per liter) but worth it for me to avoid storing such a large device.
From: Lauren | 1/20/10 at 8:19 pm
I love seltzer and I drink it all the time... I'd love this! It would also be fun for making cocktails!
From: Miz K | 1/21/10 at 4:46 am
I'm an American living in Switzerland and those machine are all over here - ours was our second kitchen purchase after the Nespresso machine. Everyone here recycles, so the machines are a convenient way to keep the plastic PET bottles from piling up. We've tried several of the company's flavor syrups and been impressed with them, but even better are the "sirops" that are so popular here. They are added to sparkling water, still water, and even beer in the summertime. My current favorite is quince and orange flower - it tastes amazing!
From: Heather Meldrom | 1/21/10 at 12:42 pm
That sounds absolutely delicious! Are those sirops available here in America? We would love to try the quince and orange flower syrup...YUM!
From: Heather Meldrom | 1/21/10 at 12:48 pm
I do also love an old-fashioned seltzer bottle, they are classic and beautiful. However, I love the affordability of this machine and it can be stashed away in a cabinet or pantry when not in use!
From: Miz K | 1/21/10 at 12:52 pm
I'm not sure, honestly! This one comes from Migro, a grocery chain here, from their Selections collection: http://www.leshop.ch/leshop/Main.do/direct/uk/Supermarket/-23155 I'm not sure if they ship to the US or not! They also have a hibiscus right now and last year there was a wonderful cactus and lime, but from a different brand.
From: Beth Eakin | 1/22/10 at 10:30 am
I like to make my own ginger ale syrup by boiling some slices of ginger with agave nectar and water. You can make your soda as gingery or as sweet as you like.
From: Neil Stein | 1/29/10 at 4:55 pm
We were contemplating buying one of these machines for over 6 months. We eventually went ahead and ours was delivered last week.
Its one of the best buys i have made- the savings, the taste and most of all the convenience of not having to always drive down to the store to buy soda.
We got it thru http://makeyoursoda.com as there is a saving coupon on the site.
From: arnando | 1/29/10 at 7:52 pm
@ Neil
Thanks for the link. I just ordered it now and the coupon got me $10 off.
From: Sugar + Spice | 2/1/10 at 1:13 pm
My hsuband and I recently invested in a Brita water pitcher so we could eliminate the gazillion bottles we had to recycle weekly. We continue to go through a case of sprakling Pellegrino weekly, and this will be a fantastic way for us to continue our green efforts! Thanks for the tip!
From: Heather Meldrom | 2/2/10 at 2:22 pm
You're right! I love the fact that I don't have to dash out to buy a couple of bottles of seltzer anymore or misjudging and buying too few bottles and having to go back. Especially right now here in New York when it is cold and snowy!
From: Heather Meldrom | 2/2/10 at 2:25 pm
Well, I don't think the online store will ship to NYC from Switzerland.
However, there were a couple of extra quince hanging around here after a photo shoot the other day so I think I am going to try and make a syrup form those! I will post a follow up if there is success!
From: Alex Reagan | 5/8/10 at 5:27 am
Interesting coincidence, I was browsing the net for more information on making soda at your own kitchen and stumbled upon this post, which eventually convinced me to get the same soda machine. I loved it.
From: Mike Spicher | 1/2/11 at 4:56 pm
Making your own soda at home is fun and easy. There are actually lots of companies worldwide that manufacture and sell home soda maker machines. You can browse a list of about 20 companies here: http://www.fizzgiz.com/competitors_and_diy_options.htm
If you don't like the soda syrups from one company, there are plenty of others. Just google for "soda syrup".
From: k | 2/27/11 at 5:01 pm
http://kitchentrialskitchenerrors.blogspot.com/
As of right now talking about soda making!