I have been thinking about getting one of these to make tonic and club soda for cocktail mixers. I know I would have to get some syrup for tonic water, not sure about club soda. Anybody tried this?
Yup. I'm thinking of doing the same. I hate buying mixers because they always go flat and contain crap ingredients (HFCS, preservatives, etc). I've found a few good recipes online for making a homemade syrup to keep in the fridge than can be added to soda water to create your own tonic for mixing. Others suggest just skipping the tonic all together and using soda with a dash of bitters...I might try that with some gin tonight. I already make Gin old-fashioneds with bitters anyway.
I'm looking at this thing and trying to figure out why it's worth it. The machine is $80. The "carbonator" bottles (good for 60 L) are $35 apiece, which alone works out to $0.58 per liter. If I can buy a liter of club soda at the store for $0.60, what is the point? What am I missing?
I'm looking at this thing and trying to figure out why it's worth it. The machine is $80. The "carbonator" bottles (good for 60 L) are $35 apiece, which alone works out to $0.58 per liter. If I can buy a liter of club soda at the store for $0.60, what is the point? What am I missing?
To be fair to Soda Stream, I'll point out that you can exchange your empty carbinator at retail stores for a full one for about $15. Your ongoing cost is $0.25 per liter for the bubbles. Using the $140 I estimated for the system, you break even after a mere 245 liters.
Also you can use those Bed Bath and Beyond 20% blue coupons on the refills while exchanging. We get those things in the mail all the time.