My Dream Machine, The SodaStream

Being a caffeine addict, specifically Coke, Cherry Coke + Dr Pepper, I am always tossing cans out. From the four people in our household, only one does not drink soda, but we go through about three 12 packs a week. You should have seen the smile on my face when I found out I had the opportunity to review the SodaStream. We received the SodaStream about a week ago and have NOT purchased soda from a store since!

Putting the machine together was as simple as removing the top, placing the carbonator bottle (carbon dioxide) into the machine, place the lid back on and you're good to go! There are two 1-Liter bottles (BPA-free, as well as free of phthalates and PCBs) that fit onto the machine. You fill the bottle up, with tap water, to the water fill line and place in the fridge to chill. Once chilled, attach the bottle to the machine. Then with a few pushes of the button, you have carbonated water.

Once carbonated, you can simply removed the bottle from the machine and pour + enjoy! Or you can add flavoring mixes of your choice. We received a number of soda flavors, teas and flavored waters to try out. I personally like the Dr Pete and love the original Soda flavorings. My kidlets liked the Orange and Cranberry Raspberry ones. The only ones I would not drink are the flavored waters as they seemed to have tasted dull to me.

The cost of the machine at $99.95, it's self is a bit steep but if you think about the long term cost of sodas + flavored waters, you could very well save a lot if you drink them as much as I do. If you swap your old one in, a replacement cartridge will cost $15 or purchase a new cartridge for $25 each. The flavor mixes can be purchased for about $5 a piece and the servings per flavorings vary (some up to 50 servings!). Having the SodaStream there's no worry of having to recycle cans + bottles, it doesn't use electricity and it takes up very little space on a counter top.

If you're interested in the soda stream visit their site at http://www.sodastreamusa.com or on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SodaStream.

Nicole

Disclaimer: SodaStream provided me with a free product in exchange for my honest opinion.