As a young child, there were two presents that were always top of my birthday and Christmas lists. The first was a dog and the second, a SodaStream. But whilst my parents eventually caved to the pester power of three of us and brought home a puppy, the SodaStream remained elusive. Over the years it took on an almost magical air – we’d see them at friends houses, my Dad would talk about the time they tried to make fizzy milk on his younger years (apparently not a thing!) but it never made it over our threshold. My parents just couldn’t see the long term benefits of a machine that allowed you to mix carbonated gas with water and syrups when you could buy drinks just as easily.
Over the years, I forgot about the humble SodaStream. Until it started popping up again in my friend’s houses. For them to use, not their children. It became clear that it was more than just the ‘fun’ item I’d wanted as a child. In an era focused on reducing plastic waste, the SodaStream shone thanks to it’s ability to be reduce the need for plastic bottles and the range of drinks you could make from it had moved on hugely from the sticky syrups of years ago. So when we got the opportunity to try a SodaStream Spirit out, I leapt at the chance. Twenty five years after those endless requests, it was finally time to give a SodaStream a go. Here’s how we got on…
Review: SodaStream Spirit
The SodaStream Spirit is touted as a compact, cordless sparkling water maker. Retailing for around £99.99, the Spirit comes complete with the main body, a carbonating 60L gas cylinder and a re-usable litre bottle for mixing your drink in. Available in a range of colours, each SodaStream Spirit is covered by a two year warranty giving you peace of mind when you purchase that you’re covered courtesy of the number one sparkling water brand in the world.
The SodaStream Spirit In Use
Opening up the SodaStream Spirit box, it quickly became apparent that it would take mere seconds of set up before we were carbonating to our hearts content thanks to the clear visual instructions. Simply remove the back of the main body, remove the lid of the gas canister, slot it in to place and twist it until it’s screwed into place at the top. Replace the back of the main body to hide the gas canister neatly from view. Fill your water bottle with water up to the line, and click it into the dispenser using the tilt-click mechanism to lock it into place at the top. Then carbonate! The button at the top of the machine gives you guidelines on how long to hold it down in order to achieve different levels of fizziness. Give three 2-second bursts for a light carbonation or five for a stronger one… be prepared, that’s pretty bubbly! Once carbonated, remove, mix in any cordials if required, shake and drink!
What Drinks Can I Make?
Whilst the SodaStream is centred around the provision of sparkling water – that doesn’t mean that’s your only option. SodaStream offer a small but well thought out range of flavours to take your drinks to the next level. For those fancying a fruity kick, there are fruit drops; concentrated all-natural, unsweetened flavours that give up to 80 servings (and for the calorie conscious amongst us, are calorie free!). Fancying something a little fancier? Pick from the range of soda syrups giving you the chance to make original lemonade, ginger ale and even cola. And finally, the one that seems to have convinced all my friends… the Indian tonic water flavouring! Whilst we’re keen to check all of them out, I’d say from our research, that the fruit drops seem the most pocket and diet friendly (£2.99 for up to 80 servings) but I’d happily use the other syrups for special occasions (£7.99 for up to 16 servings).
What Do We Love?
Lets start with the obvious thing – using a SodaStream is a really fun way of hydrating. That might sound ridiculous but there’s something really nice about turning an unexciting glass of water into something a little more jazzy. As I write this, I’ve spent the entire time battling off the toddler who’s desperate to make me a drink of fizz. At this rate, I’ll end up drinking more at home than I do on the endless tea rounds in the office. Whilst my children are a little young, I can see the huge appeal in it helping to get older children drinking water. Throw in the possibility of flavourings and I’m sold… it feels like a little slice of decadence to sit down in the evening with a drink I’ve effortlessly made.
Secondly, in an era that’s so focused on sustainability and being eco-friendly, SodaStream are well placed to help reduce our dependence on the manufacture, transportation and use of plastic drinks bottles. SodaStream state that the 60L carbon dioxide cylinder will produce up to 60L of sparkling water, although this is obviously dependent on the level of carbonation that you go for. Once you’ve finished the canister, you can return it to any number of places, including SodaStream directly, for a re-fill and you’ll only pay for the gas itself – not a replacement canister. This encouragement of a re-use mentality means that there’s no waste once you’ve purchased your machine with one gas canister potentially replacing up to 30 bottles of fizzy water that you may otherwise have purchased.
Finally I love that it’s not electric and doesn’t require batteries. It feels like the only thing in the house that isn’t these days and I’m incredibly grateful for it’s simplicity – I don’t want to jinx it but it looks like it would be pretty hard to break it!
What Could Be Better?
I’m actually hugely impressed with the simplicity of the SodaStream Spirit and as such there’s little that I could think could be improved upon. The pricing for the model does seem to vary with various packages available including syrups so I’d recommend taking a look around prior to purchase. When in use, the machine is easy to use and fairly intuitive although measuring that button pressing does take a little getting used to to find the fizz level that you prefer – take that from someone who had some very fizzy water at first!
Overall…
We love our SodaStream Spirit. It fits neatly on the sideboard and thanks to it’s sleek design doesn’t look out of place. The ability to use it so simply means it’s effortless to make fizzy water and add flavourings, whilst the fact that you’re only ever carbonating water means there’s minimal cleaning. Not only has it helped us hydrate more, been a talking point with friends and helped us feel like we’re making more and more small steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle, it’s finally fulfilled that childhood dream of mine. Can’t really ask for more than that, can you!
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