Monday, November 12, 2012

#SodaStream bubbles and fizzes this holiday season #holidaygiftguide

Christmas Gift Ideas 2012 
Soda, or pop as I like to call it, is somewhat a staple in our apartment. We always have it! We also recycle bottles and unfortunately, that means we accumulate mountains of empty bottles in the little area in our hallway. It hasn’t been pleasant. It’s bulky and it gets in the way. BabyPom actually gets scared of the pile and stays away from it. Ha, but now, it is finally cleared up thanks to the SodaStream. Bwahaha, I have my own personal soda maker!

I was sent the Genesis model and a variety of drink mixes to test out. Assembling the machine was relatively easy. You hook up the carbonator to the top, pop it into the base, and that’s pretty much it. Even making the drinks was easy. They came with these 1L bottles which you fill with filtered water. You then carbonate the water with what the instructions say about 3 pushes or when the buzz sounds. In my case, usually the buzz didn’t sound until 5-8 pushes. It varied each time and I’m not sure why.
personal soda machine, pop machine
Once the water was carbonated, you could mix in the syrups for whatever flavor you’d like. We were sent both diet and non-diet varieties. Of the non-diet options, there was naturally flavored Cola flavor and Ginger Ale. The Cola flavor reminded me of the gummy coke bottle flavors. In terms of caloric content, it’s probably fairly similar to other brand name soft drinks. The taste of Sodastream flavors are a bit different but still enjoyable.

I am biased towards the diet flavors though of course because it’s 0 calorie! The SO fell in love with the flavor. It was awesome, which is pretty funny because in the beginning, he was skeptical about the whole idea of having a SodaStream. It turns out I wasn’t carbonating it enough for his tastes. Then he started making his own sodas on a daily basis, sometimes even several times a day. He loves the Pink Grapefruit and Cranberry-Raspberry. We would’ve loved a 0 calorie version of those drinks. Depending on the flavor, you can make anywhere from 6-12 liters of soda for a price range of $4.99-$9.99.
make your own pop, soda at home
Overall, we love the system. It’s so convenient to make drinks with and there’s less plastic bottles to deal with. The only issues we have are with the carbonator, which makes 60L of soda if used with the recommended number of pumps. It’s refillable but it does take more than described attempts to get it to normal carbonation (indicated by the buzz). To refill a carbonator costs $29.99 for 2 exchanges, meaning you send in 2 empties for 2 full ones. They'll send you a return box when they ship you your new ones. That's the smallest size they have. Considering if you got the starter kit, you already have 1 carbonator. This means at minimum, you'd either have to do the reorder kit with 1 spare and 1 exchange for $44.99 first in order to continue doing 2 exchanges. Or you can look for a local dealer that will refill the carbonator for you and save on shipping charges too.

In terms of price, depending on how much you use of your carbonator and the flavor you choose to buy, I don't necessarily think that you save that much on soda costs. The site does say it works out to 25 cents per can of soda but it may be for the lower priced sodas. What I do like, however, is the unique flavors offered, the decreased waste in my home, and the ability to create beverages fresh and to our tastes. It really is an awesome product that we fell in love with. It's sure to be a hit with all ages this holiday season.

Stay connected with SodaStream:
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Buy It: Shop online or in stores for your own SodaStream. The Genesis Soda Starter Kit ($119.95) includes the Genesis Home Soda Maker, 1 60 liter Carbonator, 2 Carbonating Bottles, 3 SodaMix bottles of your choice, and the Sodamix Variety 12 pack.

Win It: 1 lucky WOS reader will win a SodaStream of their own during the Nov 23-Dec 7 Holiday Turkey Hunt Event! Please take the time to enter my other giveaways while you're here.

Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above have been provided for the purposes of this review. No other form of compensation was received. Opinions expressed belong to Whirlwind of Surprises and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view my full disclosure, TOS, and privacy policy.

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                                                         Until next time,

39 comments:

Debi@The Spring Mount 6 Pack said...[Reply]

My family loves the soda stream. I almost never buy soda and this way they can make soda here and there when they want a cup.

Unknown said...[Reply]

We have a soda stream. Absolutely LOVE it! The kids love the idea that we can make soda any time. I love the Lemonade flavor they had over the summer. Oh man, Sparkling lemonade! Wow, never would have thought it would have been so delicious!

About a Mom said...[Reply]

My family loves our soda stream!

Unknown said...[Reply]

We've never used the soda stream and I've wonder if it's cost effective. What do you think?

Unknown said...[Reply]

@Kathy - I would say it's cost effective but I personally don't much care for it. The kids love it though - they think it's cool to make their own pop. If you don't want the caffeine and extra sugar you can also make up fruit quenchers but carbonating the water and then adding fruit juice or lemon/lime juice.

Unknown said...[Reply]

I've been wanting a soda stream for a while. I think I would like it for the diet diet drinks and I know my grandchildren would love it.

Becky Davis said...[Reply]

I've been wanting a soda stream to make diet sodas. I've read somewhere you could carbonate crystal light and it turns out really good.

Cinny said...[Reply]

@Kathy, thanks for asking. I delved into the topic a bit in my post above.
"In terms of price, depending on how much you use of your carbonator and the flavor you choose to buy, I don't necessarily think that you save that much on soda costs. The site does say it works out to 25 cents per can of soda but it may be for the lower priced sodas. What I do like, however, is the unique flavors offered, the decreased waste in my home, and the ability to create beverages fresh and to our tastes."
In short though, if you make use of the 20% off/25% off coupons you get from Bed Bath and Beyond & Staples, it could be worth it. I usually buy my soda when it's on sale for $1/2L bottle so it's not too bad and comparable in price. However, this does save me the bottle deposit and the hassle of returning bottles. With Sodastream, you also get your choice of additional flavors.

Unknown said...[Reply]

I have wanted to try one of these with my daughters for awhile now sounds amazing!!

Unknown said...[Reply]

I have always wanted to try this!

Jan Messali said...[Reply]

My daughter has a Soda Stream. It saves her a lot of money. :)

hannah l said...[Reply]

I've been thinking of buying the sodastream for my husband

hannah l said...[Reply]

i'd love to try the orange pineapple flavor

hannah l said...[Reply]

thank you for offering this giveaway

Unknown said...[Reply]

I love that I could give my kids a treat every once in awhile... but I can make it alittle healthier. Love it.

doodlebug said...[Reply]

I've been wanting a Soda Stream for a long time now but haven't been wanting to spend the money to buy one, so am trying really hard to win one. I really want to try the Crystal Light flavors as sometimes I get tired of diet soda.

Linda6506 said...[Reply]

I would love to win a Soda Stream. It sounds so convebient and cost-efficient!

Unknown said...[Reply]

I would love to try the soda stream. I can't have aspartame and am very curious how I could get a low calorie Sprite type drink without the aspartame. Stevia or splenda would be ok.

REINHOLTZ said...[Reply]

I would love to win a Soda Stream Soda Maker .

Anonymous said...[Reply]

I love the design they sent you. I love the idea of making your own soda. It looks fun and the thought of how much money that can be saved is a plus.

Shai Williams said...[Reply]

I have been wanting one for a while just to cut down the amount of plastic that I recycle.

Betsy Barnes said...[Reply]

I love that using Sodastream can eliminate so many plastic bottles from landfills :)

ann said...[Reply]

i keep reading about these soda streamers and see different ones advertised. I entered 2 contests to try and win one - didnt win yet. We drink alot of soda and drink mixes here at our house and this would be so good to have. I like the fact that there are so many flavors of drinks you can get for it.

NenaS said...[Reply]

I've wanted a SodaStream for awhile now, I think it would be so much fun to make your own soda!

618mom said...[Reply]

I have always wanted one of these! My husband drinks a 12 pack of coke a day!

Lala77 said...[Reply]

I've been curious about the Soda Stream I like the idea of less soda cans and bottles lying around and not having to lug them home from the store. It is quite an initial investment though.

freddie said...[Reply]

This would be great fun for my family. My grandkids would just love it.

susan1215 said...[Reply]

I love all of the flavors that are available. I also like that I can save money and it good for the environment because I don't have to buy new bottle.

s2s2 at comcast dot net

pippirose said...[Reply]

It looks like a great product to have around, especially during the holidays.

johnnyp said...[Reply]

I would like a soda stream I think it would be cheaper than purchasing soda at the store

sara ford said...[Reply]

I have been told so many great things about the soda stream and have been trying to win one for so long. I cant wait till I get to try it

Anonymous said...[Reply]

With Soda stream.....I have saved so much $$$$$!!! TY TY!

Anonymous said...[Reply]

orange mango

DShope said...[Reply]

I am such a soda junkie, I would love a healthier way to have soda!

Peggy said...[Reply]

I've heard so many good things about the soda stream and see the commercials all the time. I so want to get one of these

Peggy said...[Reply]

Not sure my first comment took. I've heard so many good things about the soda stream and I would really love to get one

Sarah Perry said...[Reply]

This is such an innovative product!! Would love to have one in our home. If I can make something myself I prefer to :)

carren larsen said...[Reply]

I have wanted one of these since they first came out. Love the idea of making my own soda. I could mix flavors, or make it less sweet. I want one lol

Donna George said...[Reply]

These really reduce the number of cans you buy, and the bottles are recyclable

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