So, I've got a month of Sodastream under my belt, and the results are, well, mixed. Or at least gently shaken.
First and foremost, the device does work as advertised. Take a liter of cold water, attach it to the Sodastream, press the button, and you will get carbonated water. Add syrup to that carbonated water and you will indeed get soda. What, exactly, you get out of it and how much you spend to get it? Well, that's where things get tricky.
Here's the deal. All the basic Sodastream syrups use a blend of sugar and Splenda. Which is good from a calorie standpoint and less good from a flavor standpoint. So far, I've tried the cola, lemon-lime, orange, root beer, and Fake Mountain Dew flavors, and they top out at passable delivery systems for caffeine and bubbles.
The root beer is fucking vile. Undrinkable. I don't know what happened there, but it tastes like cough syrup, and not in a good way.
The "Fountain Mist" is my favorite, but I think that's mainly because I only sort of like Mountain Dew, so only sort of liking Fountain Mist brings it the closest to the real thing.
Now, Sodastream does offer pure sugar syrups - their Sparkling Naturals. But then the economics start going all to hell.
Let's start by declaring a Soda Common Denominator. One liter of soda is approximately three 12 oz cans. One bottle of basic Splendafied Sodastream syrup makes 12 liters. Which means it makes, essentially, three twelve-packs of soda. So that's our baseline.
A bottle of syrup is five bucks. A 60 liter carbonator refill is fifteen bucks. Twelve liters uses up one fifth of that refill, so three bucks. That puts the Sodastream cost of three twelve-packs of soda at eight bucks. Best sale prices these days on soda is about three bucks a twelve-pack, so Sodastream comes out ahead by a buck or more.
But wait. A bottle of Sparkling Naturals is ten bucks. So now we're up to thirteen. Except that the Sparkling Naturals bottles, despite being larger and more expensive, make six liters, not twelve. So that's $20 in syrup and $3 in carbonation to make the equivalent of three twelve packs of soda, which works out to $7.67 per twelve pack of regular soda. Which, unless you live near the worst convenience store on the planet, is not actually a bargain in any way, shape or form.
So, unless you drink diet and can find flavors you like, Sodastream's not going to save you money. It might save you hassle, though. I've certainly slowed down my regular jaunts to Target lugging 3-6 twelve packs around, which is a hidden cost. Not four bucks a twelve-pack of hidden cost, but still.
One thing that is essential if you get a Sodastream is the Nifty Pump. Bed, Bath and Beyond sells them for about three bucks. They're a soap-dispenser-style pump that fits the bog-standard Splenda-sized syrup bottles. Four pumps equals one capful or thereabouts, and the difference they make in ease of use and overall stickiness reduction is enormous.
So now we move into the other area - experimentation. Creating or making soda flavors you can't buy for three to four bucks a twelve-pack at Target. I've tried two different things in the sparkling juice area - first, reducing a carton of weird European grape-apple-pomegranate juice into a syrup, and second, using concentrated cranberry-pomegranate juice from one of those freezer cans.
This, my friends, shows promise. The reduced syrup was delicious, actually. Super-refreshing and fruity. The juice concentrate isn't as thick or sweet as the reduced syrup, so the resulting beverage has a bit more of that sharp, seltzery, carbonated water taste than I'd prefer. Carefully filling the one liter bottle nearly the rest of the way with juice concentrate helps, although it's also a bit difficult because it foams like a motherfucker when you pour it in. Concentrate plus a bit more sweetener, like honey, will probably be the way to go.
Net result? Treat it like a toy. A toy that MIGHT save you some soda money long-term if you can find flavors you enjoy or at least tolerate. Especially if you're already drinking diet. But if you're looking to replace a Pepsi Throwback addiction, it's not going to cut it.