What MACHINE do you have/want for making fizzy drinks?
We are looking to purchase a unit. What unit? Dunno. Asking!
We have been buying the various nothing sodas for a couple years now. (Not talking about fake sweetener garbage). Just the soda water and natural flavor drinks. Key Lime from LeCroix is my favorite but their range and the Buble (sp) flavors (Black Cherry esp) are quite good with a few duds.
Anyway - interestingly I DO have a nice Al CO2 tank for brewing...........is there a handy way to refill the small exchange bottles?
Tons of questions. What is the BEST? Ha
_________________ Why does the Penguin in Batman sound like a duck?
Because the eagle sounds like a hawk.
Sat Jun 11, 2022 5:54 am
scrid2000
Site Supporter
Location: Pierce County Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2018 Posts: 1989
Real Name: Shane
What MACHINE do you have/want for making fizzy drinks?
We are looking to purchase a unit. What unit? Dunno. Asking!
We have been buying the various nothing sodas for a couple years now. (Not talking about fake sweetener garbage). Just the soda water and natural flavor drinks. Key Lime from LeCroix is my favorite but their range and the Buble (sp) flavors (Black Cherry esp) are quite good with a few duds.
Anyway - interestingly I DO have a nice Al CO2 tank for brewing...........is there a handy way to refill the small exchange bottles?
Tons of questions. What is the BEST? Ha
My folks have a sodastream, seems to work OK.
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Sat Jun 11, 2022 6:11 am
Pablo
Site Supporter
Location: Everson, WA Joined: Sun Jan 6, 2013 Posts: 28177
Real Name: Ace Winky
What MACHINE do you have/want for making fizzy drinks?
We are looking to purchase a unit. What unit? Dunno. Asking!
We have been buying the various nothing sodas for a couple years now. (Not talking about fake sweetener garbage). Just the soda water and natural flavor drinks. Key Lime from LeCroix is my favorite but their range and the Buble (sp) flavors (Black Cherry esp) are quite good with a few duds.
Anyway - interestingly I DO have a nice Al CO2 tank for brewing...........is there a handy way to refill the small exchange bottles?
Tons of questions. What is the BEST? Ha
My folks have a sodastream, seems to work OK.
How often do they really use it? When did they get it? Thanks!
The older ones - so many models - 18 months or so, then broken. Now Pepsi owns them, seems like only two models.
_________________ Why does the Penguin in Batman sound like a duck?
Because the eagle sounds like a hawk.
Sat Jun 11, 2022 6:18 am
Massivedesign
Site Admin
Location: Olympia, WA Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 Posts: 38307
Real Name: Dan
We used to sodastream. It ended up being more work that it was worth, and really the taste was never there for us.
We tried it again a few years later and quickly realized that, again, it wasn’t for us. If you are a fan of La Croix then MAYBE sodastream can work for you.
Sat Jun 11, 2022 7:21 am
Pablo
Site Supporter
Location: Everson, WA Joined: Sun Jan 6, 2013 Posts: 28177
Real Name: Ace Winky
We used to sodastream. It ended up being more work that it was worth, and really the taste was never there for us.
We tried it again a few years later and quickly realized that, again, it wasn’t for us. If you are a fan of La Croix then MAYBE sodastream can work for you.
So you are saying the flavor was too light for you?
Indeed I only need a hint in my drink with no sweet. I see there are aftermarket flavor sellers which excites me a bit.
Thanks!
_________________ Why does the Penguin in Batman sound like a duck?
Because the eagle sounds like a hawk.
Sat Jun 11, 2022 7:28 am
Massivedesign
Site Admin
Location: Olympia, WA Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 Posts: 38307
Real Name: Dan
for making seltzer water, you want to buy an older model sodastream or soda machine compatable with the older blue cylinders. (The ones using the blue canisters)
Sodastream got wise to people using their own CO2 and started coming out with a model that uses a proprietary pink canisters.
You can then buy an adapter for hooking into standard CO2 bottles like above.
You can get food grade CO2 bottles at welding supply stores and home brew shops for $20 for a 5lb bottle which the standard sodastream refills run for about the same cost for about 4x less CO2. I get mine at Central Welding Supply and is "beverage grade." New cylinders to get started run about $100
Be sure to get "beverage" or "food grade" paintball supply shops usually include lubricants in their mix that you don't want to ingest. Ask the people selling if it is. Usually they all sell it as beverage grade now since it's just easier to sell to everyone.
You don't need any fancy regulators, the sodamaker itself regulates the pressure itself. so just get some basic lines. You may need to make some adjustments here and there to make sure the headspacing between the connectors are correct.
All these devices only make regular seltzer water, you can't carbonize adulterated water without causing a large mess because of surface tension. In order to carbonate flavored waters like wine, juices, or beers require specialized equipment with regulators like this one.
Although the easiest way if you just want to do some carbonation for the odd wine or juice is to buy a whipping siphon. The usual brand is ISI, but you can get Chinese clones now that work too.
Sat Jun 11, 2022 8:17 am
Pablo
Site Supporter
Location: Everson, WA Joined: Sun Jan 6, 2013 Posts: 28177
Real Name: Ace Winky
We’ve had a sodastream for over a year and still use it. I feel better not buying all those cans. We use the Bubly (however the hell you spell it) and they’re pretty good. I buy them at bed bath and beyond when they’re on sale and use a coupon on top. That’s where I exchange the canisters too. You add the flavor in after carbonating so you can make it as weak or strong as you like. We just follow the label, 3/4 tsp.
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Sat Jun 11, 2022 10:40 pm
TechnoWeenie
Site Supporter
Location: Nova Laboratories Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 Posts: 18449
Real Name: Johnny 5
The proper way to do it is with a carbonator which is basically a high pressure pump that feeds CO2 into chilled water.. This is usually accomplished with a chiller plate either buried in ice or refrigerated.... But it can be done with room temperature water, just won't get as carbonated.
Expect to pay $2-400 bucks for the associated pump/tank.... and whatever a tank of Co2 runs these days.
Syrup isn't cheap anymore, and once you factor in flavoring, it's usually cheaper to get 2 liters.....
Making your own syrup is dirt cheap, but time consuming..
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Mon Jun 27, 2022 2:30 pm
Pablo
Site Supporter
Location: Everson, WA Joined: Sun Jan 6, 2013 Posts: 28177
Real Name: Ace Winky
The proper way to do it is with a carbonator which is basically a high pressure pump that feeds CO2 into chilled water.. This is usually accomplished with a chiller plate either buried in ice or refrigerated.... But it can be done with room temperature water, just won't get as carbonated.
Expect to pay $2-400 bucks for the associated pump/tank.... and whatever a tank of Co2 runs these days.
Syrup isn't cheap anymore, and once you factor in flavoring, it's usually cheaper to get 2 liters.....
Making your own syrup is dirt cheap, but time consuming..
I have carbonated beer with my tank and soda kegs. It's easy. Small leaks get you though.
I real don't want to make (sugar) syrup. But straight fruit could be interesting
_________________ Why does the Penguin in Batman sound like a duck?
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