tell me how you like your soda streams

[larig]

I found another thread on this before xmas, so I thought I'd get a little more feedback on them especially from those of you who got one after that november thread.

I read today that you could use diet coke syrup (which you can buy at costco or sams) to make diet coke. Diet coke is one of my major weaknesses, and finding this out makes the soda stream a realistic possibility.

What model do I want? Does costco still have them? What are the important features. TIA!

[cheri]

Love, love, love, love mine! I only use mine to fizz water to mix with juice concentrate, which makes a homemade version of an Izze or a Fizzy Lizzy (which I love, but can't get where I live)--therefore I know nothing about the SodaStream mixes.

I have the cheapest version, and it's going strong 18 months in. I've found that I need a new CO2 canister about every three months. That's with fizzing about one bottle a day.

The only thing I don't like about it is the awkward way you have to tilt the receptacle for the bottle top to screw it in. I'm not sure if the more expensive versions have a better system.

[MommyAllison]

I don't have one, but I did see them at Costco on Sunday. I think they were $99, may have had an instant rebate?

[blisstwins]

They are life altering. I bought mine at Costco and it broke. Took it back and got a new one. I would buy there for the return policy. It is my new go-to gift for family. I don't think the models matter much.

[ahisma]

We love ours! We've had it for two years with no problems. We have the cheapest one as well.

I don't use the syrups, no input there. I do make my own for parties and whatnot - we're doing blueberry lemonade for a dinner this weekend, with a vodka option:)

[citymama]

DH is kind of obsessed with it. He buys various kinds of syrups and makes home-made sodas - mostly things like blackberry and lingonberry though. Most of the time, we use it to make seltzer. I'm not a big fan of the tonic water syrup although I LOVE tonic water generally. We have a Soda Stream and it's held up fine for the past 5 years. I could happily live without it but I'm not really the target audience, DH is!

[larig]

Those are ringing endorsements! Hm. Maybe I'll pick one up tomorrow while DS is at school...

[Meatball Mommie]

We got one for our DS2 who wanted it for his birthday :) Could those posters who make their own syrups post recipes/links? Sounds interesting!

[KrisM]

I really like it. I just use their syrups and it works well. The weird angle for connecting it is my only thing that bugs me too.

I just got my first replacement canister in the last couple weeks and I got mine for christmas.

I love that I don't have as many returnable bottles now :). I hate returning them. I found Kohl's is pretty cheap. I got the machine there for about $54 or so. I just got 8 bottles of syrup with a sale and coupon and it worked to $3.20 each.

[okinawama]

We LOVE ours. It is our most used kitchen tool/appliance. We don't make pop with ours so i dont know how the taste compares with regular diet pops. we use it to make carbonated water with some of their fruit flavored syrup. I also love adding the carbonated water to other juices/teas for the added fizz! I alone usually drink a liter of the carbonated water and my boys drink another half a liter of it each day. It's an excellent product

[wolverine2]

I just got one for mother's day... we love it! I wanted it to try to break my dt. coke addiction so I'm not happy to hear they sell real diet coke syrup. But it kind of grossed me out when I tried the syrups anyway, so maybe I can avoid it. We usually just drink it plain. We have whatever the cheapest model was at BBB w/ a coupon.

[elliput]

Ours gets used several times a day, so we go through a canister about once every three weeks. DH drinks the diet soda (he's not particular about taste as he'll drink store brand diets) as well as the other diet flavors. I prefer to get the natural sodas which are a bit more expensive- the apple mango is very yummy. We recently found a different brand of flavoring at a local natural food store. The brand is Organic Flavrz.

[lmh2402]

we love ours and use it regularly. and my parents use theirs all the time too.

we just make seltzer though - no soda drinkers. super easy and convenient.

[boolady]

I just make seltzer in ours, to which DH and I add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice, but I love it. We are about to refill the canister for the second time, and I got it for Christmas.

As an FYI, though, don't drop one of the canisters (empty, even) on your toe. It breaks your toe if you hit it in just the right spot. :)

[smiles33]

We don't drink soda either but DH loves his Pelligrino so I bought one from Costco (it is on sale for $99) and he loves it. He does fizz it extra (6 instead of the recommended 3 bursts). Totally made my day as I'm the one who lugs the recycling outside and to the curb so no more heavy glass bottles to recycle!

[Simon]

I received one as a gift last December and love it. I make several bottles of plain water each day and then we use the syrups too (bought at BBB) on occasion. Ds1 is also a huge fan so its been a real hit over here.

[DietCokeLover]

I bought one and returned it. I love diet coke and diet coke only, and the diet soda did not taste like diet coke to me so I had to take it back. I love the idea of it though and think it is a great product, but for a die hard diet coke drinker, it just didn't work.

However, will be interested to know if your idea of buying the diet coke syrup works.

[peanut520]

I love mine! I use it daily for seltzer so I can't speak on the syrups. I hear the diet cola is closer to a Shasta. I will occasionally let dd have a treat of a "soda" - splash of vanilla monin syrup, WS syrup, or my own. I am about to get my second canister refill since December ($15 at BBB and you can use the $5 off $15 coupon).

[larig]

I bought one and returned it. I love diet coke and diet coke only, and the diet soda did not taste like diet coke to me so I had to take it back. I love the idea of it though and think it is a great product, but for a die hard diet coke drinker, it just didn't work.

However, will be interested to know if your idea of buying the diet coke syrup works.

I read several posts online about doing it with regular diet coke syrup. The key is the ratio. The syrups that are made for the soda stream are more concentrated. you end up having to use 5.5 parts water to 1 part diet coke syrup. I found several posts on amazon and message boards. here's one. (http://www.amazon.com/using-REAL-coke-syrup/forum/Fx3FRIN0Q9A91U1/TxLJDXANH6L7FR/1/ref=cm_cd_pg_newest?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B001KYT6CS&cdSort=oldest)

eta: I'm with you though, not being able to have actual diet coke was kind of a deal breaker for me.

[larig]

Wow, the good reviews just keep coming. Looks like I'm going to costco.

[echoesofspring]

We love ours, we bought it to replace the seltzer & sparkling water we'd buy and I'm so happy to not be buying all those plastic bottles anymore. Got ours at BBB with a 20% off coupon.

One tip I learned from a friend is to fill up the bottles with water and leave them in the fridge, then when you are ready to fizz them they are already cold, perfect!

[hellokitty]

We've had one for a few yrs and love it. It's the basic model. I took a break from it and recently pulled it back out again a couple months ago. I think that the soda stream flavors are gross. I tried making a few of mine, but wasn't very diligent about it. Mainly, I wanted it for healthier reasons and basically enjoy just drink it as plain tonic water for when I crave pop.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Based on the enthusiastic posts, I bought one for dh. He just wants sparkling water and he's happy enough with how it id making it. Tonight he tried a soda and he swears that adding the syrup made it pretty flat. Did he do something wrong? He has a Sodastream from Costco and was using the Dr. Pete.