So, playing with the Sodastream machine is basically the most fun anyone’s ever had, ever.
First of all, here’s why you want one: all the waste created by soda cans and bottles? Eliminated. You use the same two BPA-free bottles over and over to make your soda. Next? You’re provide with all the usual (and some unusual) soda flavors, regular and diet, with no high-fructose corn syrup or aspartame. You don’t have to plug it in to use it, it’s easy and fun. And best of all? The sodas really do taste like what they’re supposed to and the cost comes to pennies per serving. I’m looking at you, Diet Coke addicts.
When it arrived in the mail, we were totally intimidated by the Sodastream carbon tank. It looks like a fire extinguisher, and when I took off the cap, I felt a little scared it would explode. It didn’t, and it snapped into the Sodastream housing with no problem, and until we run out of CO2, we never have to look at it again.
So, we filled the carbonating bottle with water, screwed it in, and pressed the little pump on top to carbonate it. It buzzes when the pressure reaches a certain level of … pressure … and once it buzzes three times, that’s “average carbonation.” We were scared the water would overflow, scared the tank would explode, all sorts of things — but it only took about five minutes for us to forget all about it and go nuts making all kinds of soda! You just mix a capful of their flavor syrup in the carbonated water. It seems like it shouldn’t be that easy, but it is.
We were giddy with delight. We were having a ball. The orange soda was good, the root beer was good — it stood to reason that all the flavors (cola, tonic, energy drink, diet grapfruit, etc.) with which they had supplied us would be awesome, too. We looked at each other, and we knew what we had to do. We had to put booze in it.
My co-tester ran to the liquor store for cheap gin, which he was itching to try with the tonic mix. (It had to be cheap, because we were gonna freaking carbonate it, right? Disaster potential: High.) “You could make a gin and tonic in one bottle!” Fine, here’s $20.
I also had him pick up a cheap bottle of white. “Champagne?” Could it be possible?? And then, in a moment of insanity, I also had him pick up a bottle of red.
It worked. Cheap white wine? Tastes like cheap champagne. Cheap red wine? Tastes like carbonated cheap red wine — sparkling shiraz, anyone? We had a little overflow trouble with the wines; but that’s because the machine wasn’t really designed for wine, so it was fine with us. And anyway, it worked. They were even still carbonated the next day, albeit a little less.
The biggest surprise? The gin. It also worked on the gin (see above). Have you ever tried carbonated gin? Well I have, and I don’t remember anything afterward — I kid, I kid. But it was really good. It was like the most alcoholic gin-and-soda ever created, and dangerously drinkable. We added a dash of tonic and it became the most alcoholic gin-and-tonic ever. I’m pretty sure my co-tester is already seeking investments for the new bar he’s gonna open with carbonated booze.
So, the Sodastream is good for the planet, good for your wallet, good for your health, and almost irresponsibly good for your booze. What else is it? Father’s Day gold. Click here to shop.