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Soda Stream

I purchased a soda stream machine about a month ago it pretty cool You can carbonate a bottle of water quite easily and they sell syrups to make flavored soda Cola, Orange, Dr Pepper style, Cream and many other flavors and a few diet flavors, their syrups are the old style pure cane sugar syrups. 35 calories per 8 ounces vs 110-120 per 8 ounces of the modern sodas with corn syrup, and they taste pretty good, I like the Ginger Ale, for people who like mixed drinks they make a tonic mix.
 
I also bought one earlier this summer and I love it. The sodas it makes are nice, though I mainly bought mine to enjoy cheap, fresh carbonated water.
 
Kids absolutely love ours.

We don't normally let them have soft drink ( pop, soda ? ) and you can easily mix it with fresh fruit juice as well.

Very economical .
 
yup they are still around start about $79 recharged cylinders 12.99 w/ exchange syrups 4 bucks a bottle
 
I use an iSi soda siphon. http://www.amazon.com/iSi-Siphon-Brushed-Aluminum-2248/dp/B00007JXR7 They use a CO2 cartridge much like the cartridges a pellet gun uses - in fact they are identical, except they don't have oil in them like pellet gun cartridges. The cartridges can be quite spendy, around a buck a piece, but I bought an entire case of them and knocked it down to around 15 cents apiece.

How it works: Fill the siphon with plain tap water (holds about a liter), then charge it by placing a CO2 cartridge in it's sleeve and tighten the sleeve, thus puncturing the cartridge and expelling the gas into the water. Keep the whole thing in the fridge so you have nice, cold, inexpensive, soda water at the ready. Mix about 8 oz to 1 oz syrup of your choice (much like the syrups used in flavored coffees), and you have a very inexpensive, and probably healthier, refresher (restaurants call these Italian sodas).

As someone mentioned earlier, mix with fruit juice, or load the siphon with juice instead of water for a MUCH healthier drink. I have actually double-strained grapefruit juice into my siphon; Pour 2 oz silver tequila over rocks, top with 4 oz carbonated grapefruit juice and a squeeze of lemon for a fantastic Paloma.
 
How big is this machine? Photos? Thanks!

It's about the height of my basic Mr. Coffee coffee maker, but much thinner and with much less depth. You can find the "starter kits" at http://www.sodastreamusa.com/catalog/2 . I purchased the Fountain Jet Starter Kit from Kohl's for about $90, which included the machine itself (really just a plastic case to hold the CO2 tank), a CO2 tank good for 60 Liters of carbonated water, two plastic bottles to use for the water, and a sampler of all their syrup flavors (enough for 1L of each flavor).
 
So could you use Coca Cola premix syrup that you buy at the wholesale shop to make your own?

I don't see why not... All any soft drink that you get from a fountain is syrup and carbonated water. You might have to play with the ratios a bit to make sure you've got the exact dilution that you prefer, but yes; you could easily mix your own Coca Cola at home.
 
NYC Egg Cream top off a glass 2/3rds full of chocolate or vanilla milk with seltzer let frothy head develope and enjoy
 
I have had one for a few years, they are excellent.
You can buy the basic one from Big W, Woolworths here in Aus for around $50 and the syrups are under $5 each.
Mine has a cylinder that is good for 40 liters.
But yes, putting the bottles in the dishwasher or freezer :blushing: will make them crack. Also not a good idea to drop them.
 
Interesting. A friend of mine from Spain used to always insist on an iced glass of carbonated water with his coffee during the summer time. He insisted I try it, and it is indeed a refreshing combination.
 
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