The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using SodaStream

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

If the phrase “greatest soda controversies” makes you chuckle a little, given everything the world is going through today, you can be forgiven. Whether Coca-Cola stole its recipe, Jolt soda was the original energy drink, or Fanta’s Nazi ties are unforgivable are questions to debate in quiet moments. On the other hand, whether or not to use the SodaStream is a real question worth asking.

While at first thought, having a home carbonation system that allows you to make your own sparkling water or soda seems cool, it can raise a series of questions: Is it worth the cost? How annoying is it to use? Does the flavor check out? … and so forth. As a diehard SodaStream lover, I am here to tell you that I do think it’s worth it and would happily recommend it to anyone. However, using the machine is not without its cons or pros.

If you’re looking to get the machine and all the supplies in one go, check out the SodaStream Terra Sparkling Water Maker Bundle, available in black, blue, and white. If you want to go the low road, you can get just the machine with one carbon dioxide (CO2) cylinder, one carbonating bottle, and one flavor. Or you can get a larger bundle that includes the machine, two CO2 cylinders, three carbonating bottles, and two flavors. There are other options as well, which will vary in price depending on where you live and what you choose — but first, it behooves you to compare those pros and cons.

People have loved sparkling water for a long time now. Indeed, it has a history older than the United States of America, but home carbonation was nothing more than the faintest dream for centuries. Today, though, you can whip up a bottle for dinner in less than a minute. (It might sound crazy, but you can even use your SodaStream to keep salad greens fresh. We really do live in the future.)

More importantly, though, the SodaStream makes beverages that actually taste great. I was suspicious at first because I’d heard that the home carbonation systems could make the soda taste a little funky. For the most part, with the notable exception of when the cylinder is running low, it tastes just dandy.

On the other hand, things start to taste not-so-great when your CO2 cylinder is running low. Now, it’s usually pretty obvious when the cylinder is almost depleted. During the fizzing process, you don’t see as many bubbles going into the water, and it’s not nearly as loud. When you disconnect the bottle afterwards, you don’t hear the same signature fffffsssssss sound. And when you swirl the water in a glass, you don’t see bubbles.

The biggest hint, though, is the taste, which I’ve found starts to go off a little before the other signs. That means you can either use up the remaining carbonation and bear with the taste, or you can replace cylinders that are technically still useful. It’s a slight bummer.

When you’re first starting out, you will probably want to try the SodaStream Bubly Fruit Drops for Sparkling Water mixed set, so you can sample everything. As time goes on, you might want to experiment more with unique flavors such as Cherry Citrus Drops or Triple Berry Drops. Do note that the availability of these flavors is hit-or-miss, but you can always make such combos yourself.

Because you asked (you didn’t), I’ll go ahead and let you know that my favorite SodaStream flavors, ranked, are, in order from best to worst: cherry, strawberry, mango, blackberry, grapefruit, and lime. Again, the even better news is that you can freely mix all of these flavors to make a cheap and easy substitute for many of the flavor combos you’ll find in brand-name soda cans: strawberry-lime, citrus, mixed berry, and so forth.

It’s nice to switch things up a little. I like to add both Organic Pulp Free Orange Juice or Amazon Brand Happy Belly Cranberry Juice Cocktail, which adds some sugar to the experience as well as flavor. I even love SodaStream soda with a few drops of plain vanilla extract, which is a surprisingly sweet and mellow flavor, though unlikely to cost any less than the flavor drops, given the high price of every kind of vanilla these days.

Just make sure you don’t try anything odd. The SodaStream is not made to carbonate milk, make sparkling wine, elevate juice, or use any liquid other than water. In fact, their warranty guidelines specifically call out that it does not cover “Damage resulting from carbonating liquids other than water,” so please take that into account when considering whether to follow your creative urges.

There are three carbonation levels available, indicated on the top of the machine by buttons with one, two, or three droplets. My son and I like a Level 1 setting, while my daughter and husband like a fiery, burn-your-throat-with-acid-feeling Level 3. Go figure. We settle on a Level 2 most of the time, because we’re usually only making a bottle for ourselves at dinner.

However, at a get-together, when we’re serving more people, we have more freedom to meet everyone’s tastes. So in the end, this is more a pro than a con. Also note that if you don’t finish a whole bottle, you can leave it in the fridge and it will mellow, but you should never recarbonate it, according to SodaStream’s website.

CO2 cylinder refills — the main expense after you buy the machine — don’t cost much. They are a flat $16.99, each one lasting for a couple weeks. Theoretically, if you want to save money, you can connect your SodaStream to a commercial CO₂ tank instead of the SodaStream version.

We have never tried this, and we never plan to, but apparently it does make the soda taste a little better and will last a long time, as opposed to the branded cylinders, which need to be replaced every few weeks. Even if you are more adventurous of spirit than we are, note that you will still void your warranty no matter what. The site clearly states that “Abuse, misuse, alteration of the Sparkling Water Maker, or commercial use” aren’t covered.

Affordable or not, the biggest question is whether or not the SodaStream saves you money. The short answer is yes. The longer answer is yes, but not as much as you might think. According to Chowhound research on SodaStream costs, an ounce of store-bought soda in a can costs about 5.17 cents, whereas an ounce of SodaStream with flavor costs 4.25 cents.

If you don’t care about the flavor (I don’t relate, but my husband does), then you’ll pay only about 2.08 cents per ounce. That’s a major cost savings, especially if your plan is to combine your soda water with mixers so that the flavor doesn’t matter. In that case, you’re going to pay way less than unflavored soda water in cans, which usually cost the same as their flavored brethren.

If you don’t live in a state with bottle and can deposits, then it’s possible you’ve never heard of a bottle bill. This essentially means that your state may charge you a small deposit on recyclable containers, such as those in which soda comes. The idea is that you can then take the bottle or can back to deposit it and get money.

This process is annoying at best, but most folks buying cans at the store just eat that cost. In Oregon, where I live, it’s 10 cents, which adds up if you total a whole year of cans.

People enjoy the taste of soda water because when CO2 dissolves in regular water, it creates carbonic acid, which makes for an acidic bite. The taste is also slightly bitter, which many people enjoy, though others are not so enthused, especially when existing minerals in the water deepen that flavor.

Unfortunately, warm water does not stay carbonated in the same way. The CO2 molecules have more freedom of movement in a warm environment, so they do not stay suspended in the water. When they escape, they leave behind a flat, weird-tasting, water-like substance that is different from either tap or soda water. Thus, you’ll need to take time to pre-chill bottles or risk negative results.

In general, using a SodaStream creates less waste. There are several reasons for this. First, we no longer buy sodas that are contained in cardboard boxes. While cardboard is recyclable, and so is aluminum, the recycling process uses resources as well. Yes, it uses fewer resources than making cans and cardboard from scratch, but that’s not the same as using no resources.

I am not claiming that SodaStream uses no resources, of course. Their flavors come in glass bottles, which also require energy consumption for recycling. However, the CO2 cylinders are reusable rather than recyclable, which is a step up. So are the boxes in which they’re shipped, and you ship back the replacements. Since the main reason we got a SodaStream wasn’t about cost, but rather resource consumption, this is a big win for us.

The receiving and returning of the cylinders is extremely convenient. Here’s how it works: When you buy a SodaStream, it comes with one or more CO2 cylinders, so you can start using your machine right away. When you run out of CO2, it’s time to replace those cylinders.

To do so, you order the CO2 cylinders on the website, and they’re shipped to you in a timely fashion. It usually takes about a week to get new cylinders, and you have 60 days from the time of ordering the new ones to return your old cylinders. You put the used cylinders in the same box that your new ones came in. The new cylinders also come with a prepaid shipping label, which allows you to order a UPS pickup or take the box to the UPS store without having to complete any extra steps online.

If you buy and return only one cylinder of CO2 at a time, you will pay a shipping premium. To wit: One bottle costs $14.99 to ship, two bottles cost $2.99 to ship, and three or more bottles are free to ship. For that reason, it’s very smart to always ship three bottles at a time if you can.

For our family of four, a cylinder of SodaStream CO2 lasts a few weeks, meaning a three-bottle rotation lasts about a month and a half. That’s enough usage that it is always worth it to us to ship three bottles back at a time, which means we never have to pay a shipping fee. There’s no penalty for replacing cylinders at a longer frequency, though.

When it comes time to replace your CO2 cylinders, the only hint you will have is that your soda starts to taste flat and bitter, and you don’t see as much carbonation. It would be really nice if SodaStream came out with a mechanism to alert you when the cylinder was running low so that you could make sure to order new ones in time, but currently that’s not an option.

In the absence of a CO2 indicator, we have learned to keep multiple cylinders in rotation at all times. At first, this means you have to pay for 4-6 cylinders rather than 2-3. However, once you do, you can create a system where you’re always returning 2-3 and getting new ones in time.

SodaStream’s new Quick Connect cylinders make replacing CO2 canisters even easier than before. Instead of unscrewing and screwing them in, you can simply pop cylinders in and out. You will know if you have Quick Connect cylinders because they are bright pink, versus the blue color adorning the traditional CO2 bottles.

The two types of cylinders are not plug-and-play, however, so you can’t simply buy the Quick Connect and swap out your current cylinders. You have to make sure your machine accepts them, which ours does not. If we want to switch systems, we’ll have to buy a new machine. And guess what? We do wish we could switch, because the screw-in system leaves something to be desired.

Our SodaStream has the older screw-in system for replacing the cylinder. You simply take the back off the machine, unscrew the spent cylinder, and screw the new on in its place. It’s overall pretty easy, but the O-ring or washer that goes between the fitting and the cylinder sometimes falls out, which really annoys my husband, the Anointed Changer of SodaStream Cylinders.

We haven’t had the Quick Connect version, but it does sound easier, and my hubs wants to get this one next time. As for me, if my husband were to die, I’m not sure I could continue with the SodaStream because I’m too afraid of having to figure this one out. (Kidding. Mostly.) Once I was past the grieving period, I’d likely buy the new one.

There is a difference between a SodaStream and a soda fountain, but basically, it is like having a mini soda fountain at home, and it is delightful. Who gets tired of soda on demand? One of the best things about it, though, is that it makes so much space in the fridge. We no longer have to chill a dozen or more cans in order to have soda for the week, for guests, or for parties.

This has a positive downstream effect on your flavor options as well. Fridge space usually limits the number of can types you can afford to chill to about two or three. With the SodaStream, though, you only have to chill the flavors and the bottles of water (if you want them cold, which you should). This means you can afford to keep a significantly larger number of flavoring choices on hand.

Nothing in life is free, so obviously you’re going to have to give up a little space somewhere else. We don’t have counterspace we wish to dedicate in the kitchen, so I set up a coffee bar in the dining room with our SodaStream, coffeemaker, espresso maker, coffee canister, and a few plants. It looks real cute, if I do say so myself.

It’s important to note that we’re not talking about a lot of space here either way. The base is about 5 inches a side and fits neatly into a corner. The main concern might be squeezing it under a low countertop, since it’s roughly a foot tall. If you have space constraints, check the dimensions before you order.

When we first got our SodaStream, it broke. We were outside of the Amazon return window but still within the first year of using the machine, so my husband called SodaStream to complain and ask about our options. We were prepared for a fight, because getting companies to honor their products is unfortunately not something with which we’ve had a ton of luck.

However, SodaStream immediately shipped us a new model. It worked perfectly and has not disappointed us in the three years since then. The only problem is that the company wouldn’t take back the busted one to recycle it properly. Customer service claimed it was recyclable through our curbside services, but we really have no way of knowing, so we felt a little guilty just getting rid of it and hoping for the best.

People love seeing us use the SodaStream. At this point, with carbonation technology long past its infancy, most people have seen a home soda maker in action — let’s just say there was a lot more gasping about the process 10 years ago. That said, it’s still really fun to insert the bottle, choose your carbonation level, press the button, and watch it do its thing. (And yes, 20% of me is still convinced it’s going to explode at all times.)

Also, people love choosing their flavor and putting the syrup in. It’s really amazing how such a small amount of liquid can change the entire profile of a large amount, and I can honestly say that it never gets old.

One of the downsides we’ve found with the SodaStream is that it’s not very portable. It has lots of different pieces that don’t pack up nicely. Can you do it? Sure, absolutely, and we’re going to take ours to Montana with us this summer when we go for a month. But for shorter weekend or week-long trips, we never take it, because it’s just not worth it. That means we end up buying cans when we’re on trips, which we don’t feel super good about.

That said, do note that aluminum soda cans are infinitely recyclable. That means you can melt them down and reform them into new cans again and again and again, with no loss of quality. The main waste you eschew by not purchasing store-bought cans is the cardboard, which is not infinitely recyclable, as well as the resources required during the recycling process. All of which is to say, if you need to buy some cans on vacation, I say go for it.