SodaStream Jet Starter Kit, White

My wife drinks a lot of bottled seltzer water as she says it really improves her digestion. She can drink one to two liters per day so with sales tax and California recycling tax, we can spend $500 per year.SodaStream doesn't deliver the carbonation level she is used to with the store bought seltzer water. After some analysis, I realized this is due to a combination of several factors including the laws of physics and the design of SodaStream. There is a pressure relief valve in SodaStream that limits the maximum pressure. (this might be a safety feature although it doesn't seem really necessary for safety unless their bottles are really weak)This would be ok if it were possible to easily shake the bottle to speed carbonation or to easily leave the machine in a cold place and let the carbonation work slower, however, the SodaStream is too large to shake and too large to leave in my frig.It is also impossible to squeeze the SodaStream bottle to eliminate the "air pocket", a common procedure for people who do home carbonation with recycled 2-liter soda bottles.The process of getting the water cold and carbonating it is also extra work over the alternatives. It may not seem like much to a SodaStream shareholder but at the rate my wife consumes seltzer it does add up. The extra work becomes really apparent when you consider that it is possible to have seltzer water come out of a faucet from a five gallon tank that you refill once every two weeks.The false economy has been discussed elsewhere but I'll say that I also don't get anywhere near the 60 liters promised.SodaStream seems to be a "cheap razors, very profitable blades" business model (although the razor doesn't seem that cheap in this case). I have priced bulk CO2 from a beverage gas supply house (no worries about contamination) at $20 for 20 pounds.The 60 liter SodaStream tanks are rated at 14.5 oz which I will round up to one pound. 20 exchanges at BBB will cost about $300 compared to the bulk price of $20.As for how to use the bulk gas, just look up kegerator. I won't include any links because I'm not profiting from this review. But I'll be happy to provide more details if there is interest.

As a kid I always wanted a sodastream, but my parents were against it. Now I'm all grown up I get to have a sodastream of my own!I was sick of lugging home 2 litre bottles of diet soda from safeway, and virtually breaking my arms off on shopping day (I live upstairs). Also the recycling piled up way too fast in my kitchen. Now I never run out of drink mixers, and don't have to lug heavy bottles around. Totally worth it!I use the diet drink mixes (mainly the diet lemon lime) and find they taste fine. There is a bit of a chemically smell to the diet lemon lime at first (the sweetener I think) but I got used to it, and I make it a little weaker. I like being able to choose the strength of flavor and bubbles.This kit comes with 6 sample flavors to try, each making 1 litre of soda. Includes root beer, orange, lemon lime, diet cola, pink diet grapefruit and energy (red bull). You can buy other sampler packs too - the best way to find what you like. Also you'll need extra sodastream bottles, it only comes with one. I bought a 2 pack afterwards.The instructions aren't super clear, and I kept wondering if mine was working as per design with the noises it made. I ended up surfing youtube and found mine is normal. Instructions say listen for a loud buzz, it's more like a 'PFFFF!!!', and I find 3 PFFF's and I get the carbonation level I like. You have to push down hard on the button.It's not necessarily cheaper than buying 2 litre bottles from safeway, as the gas bottle is quite expensive - but for me it's worth it to save the lugging up the stairs, and lugging out recycling. Convenience is key.I recommend it. Wish I'd bought it earlier.

For some reason I want to hate sodastream. All the plastic, the proprietary valve on the top of the CO2 canisters, the not very attractive design, etc. Nonetheless, where's the competition? Where are the other options? Nowhere. If you love carbonated water and you want to have it all the time there simply isn't any other option (except for the ambitious DIYers out there - more power to you). Just get one and enjoy the bottomless bottle of bubbly water in your fridge. (Note: it really helps to keep a spare bottle of cold water in the fridge so you can refill the sodastream bottle and carbonate it with cold water immediately.)

The product is high quality. Choose your own flavors, with less calories but same great taste as the ones you buy in the store. Free up the space in your fridge and pantry from storing all those pop cans. Go green by eliminating excess waste of pop cans and bottles. Decide how much carbonation you prefer. Great for a camper or any where with limited space. Great in your house for regular use. Make energy drinks or pop for cents instead of dollars. As long as you are comfortable doing your shopping online as that is the only way to get additional flavors, you will love this system.

This thing is pretty fun to use. The tast of each flavor is obviously not the same as the "real stuff". But for doing it at home and not having to purchase cases and liters of soda, this thing rocks. There are a ton of flavors and it's a cinch to use! We are happy we purchased it and look forward to trying all of the flavors and drink options.The only gripe I have is that the whole thing feels a bit cheap. It's made out of fairly thin plastic. It does what it's supposed to, but for the price I feel it should be of a bit more solid construction.

Clearly this was made cheaply, and once the carbonation canister is inserted, the whole thing has weird balance and is not easily moved. Also it is too tall to fit on my countertop, so I have to use it at our kitchen table which is annoying. Thought this would be far more useful than it's really been. Out of five uses, the carbonation in the bottle only lately a day or two at best. It's fine, but not worth the cost, if I had it to do over again.