SodaStream Pure Starter Kit, Black/Silver

Nice machine, good flavors, won’t save money, will save time and hassle

It’s a nice machine, works as advertised, and I find the Diet Cola is very close in taste to Diet Coke. The other flavors are variable in quality and in how closely they replicate the flavor of the market leaders.

However, you will not save money. I’ve put all the math below. For startup costs I’ve assumed you’ll want at least two additional bottles, and two additional canisters. This is probably conservative, since the whole point is to save trips to the supermarket, and the bottles will definitely wear out over time. I’ve amortized these startup costs over 3 years, with four family members each drinking 45 gallons per year of soda. The Diet Cola flavor sells for $8.32 here on Amazon as of today, and refills on the canisters cost $15 each.

Put all this together, and it comes to $1.04 per liter. Average retail on Diet Coke is $0.70. So you won’t save money.

What you will save is your time, your gas, your back and your fridge space. It’s nice to be able…

Refills and shipping keep going up. Shipping slooooow

This is a good product sold by a company that has sleazy business practices. Their practices should be known before committing to buy anything from them, because you are locked into dealing with them (and only them) forever.

The company is misrepresenting the exchange situation in an almost criminal manner. They told me that if I bought 2 more spare bottles for 100 dollars, I would have free shipping for life as long as I ordered two exchange bottles at a time.

Not too long after, they reneged on that, and started charging me for shipping.

In addition, their site says, “Exchange locally to avoid shipping charges”. That was true for me when I bought it. It did not last long. Fewer and fewer places have exchange bottles, and some have really high prices. Today, a local exchange for my (formerly) standard size 130 liter bottle is not possible in 99% of the US. Only the smaller 60 liter bottle is available in my state, as well as several neighboring…

Best appliance in my kitchen (Penguin version) — well, not counting my microwave

I initially bought the Penguin version of this soda maker (same maker, and also sold on Amazon), and it has quickly become the most used appliance in my kitchen next to the microwave. It makes flawless carbonated water and does so in a matter of seconds, from cold tap water without the use of any electricity. The carbonated water it produces lasts far longer in my fridge, in terms of bubbles and fizz, than any carbonated water I’ve gotten from the store, including Pellegrino.

I use my Penguin soda maker with a PUR 2-Stage water filter PUR DS-1800Z 2-Stage Water Dispenser, which sits in my fridge and dispenses cold water that can go right into the soda maker carafe/bottle.

I was skeptical before buying the soda maker as I could not fathom how such a small product could produce carbonated water almost instantly without electricity. But it surpassed all expectations and continues to amaze me…

Click to Editorial Reviews