Nifty Geek Gift Idea: Make Your Own Soda Machine

Sat Feb 10, 2007 4:19PM EST

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It's hard to get through the day without a can of Coca-Cola (or Dr. Pepper, or my favorite, RC Cola), so when I got the opportunity to check out the Soda-Club Edition 1 home soda maker, I leaped at the chance. If you or someone you love is a fiend for carbonated beverages, you'll get a real kick out of it.

Essentially the Soda-Club is a CO2 dispenser in a handsome package. It's quite compact and takes up minimal space on the countertop, and it doesn't require any power, meaning you can put it just about anywhere. 

Setting up and using the product is a snap. Just insert the CO2 canister (good for 110 liters of soda) into the device, fill a liter bottle with water, and pulse it to the desired level of bubbliness. Then just pour in a capful of flavoring syrup (each bottle is good for 12 liters) 25 varieties are available, including many fruit flavors (with real fruit ingredients, at least in part), diet syrups (sweetened with Splenda), and an energy drink.

It takes some practice to figure out how much carbonation is appropriate, as does figuring out how slowly you should pour in the syrup. (Pour fast and it looks a little like this.) We're still cranking through the flavors, but so far grapefruit and lemon-lime are our favorites. Sadly, the cola flavor just doesn't measure up to real Coca-Cola.

The Edition 1 costs $90 with one CO2 canister and your choice of three soda mixe bottles. Individual flavor bottles are $3 to $5 and CO2 costs $19 for a refill canister. Altogether it's reasonably cost competitive with buying cans of soda buy the case (or two-liter bottles), but the Soda-Club machine is way more fun and at least twice as sticky.

Comments on Nifty Geek Gift Idea: Make Your Own Soda Machine

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  • 1 Posted by mariatm03 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    Are these just coming out in the States...I remember making my own soda in Britain years ago with one of these machines.

  • 2 Posted by kevin325492003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    Used to be a machine called Soda King, we had one almost 20 years ago. Looked very much like this, pretty decent product but finding replacement syrups and CO2 canisters was a hassle.

  • 3 Posted by theplantes143 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    I bought one of these at a local fair this past summer. I love it. The article was correct about the cola flavor not comparing to Coke, but the other flavors are great. I enjoy the Pink grapefruit and the orange mango flavors. They have a Dr. Pepper version called Pete's Choice which my wife absolutely loves. The machine is very simple to use with practically no clean up. Looks very stylish on the counter top in any style kitchen. OH!!! I almost forgot the best part. After the initial investment, this machine saves you tons of money. I was spending a small fortune on soda every week at the market. These bottles of syrup go a long, long way. If you do purchase one, I advise you to also get a sample pack of the sytups. You get alot of flavors, and it makes it nice to offer so many options to guests.

  • 4 Posted by chancelowenberg on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    We recieved one a few weeks back and it is AWESOME. True the flavors aren't exactly like the real ones, but aren't those, like closely guarded secrets or something? We also have a water filtration system in the house which helps too. For replacement syrups, you can order them online from the soda club itself or from boater's world. (Or go to the BW store) Great investment! It's great on long trips! We like the afore mentioned Pete's Choice, Lemon-Lime and Cream Soda as well.

  • 5 Posted by rccwalls on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    These machines have been around for years. For those who prefer Coca Cola or Pepsi, there are normally restaurant or vendor supply businesses where you can buy the concentrated name brand syrups. The cost for other syrups is usually less at these places also.

  • 8 Posted by avariegirl on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    This is quite the handy little gadget. But the most important question would be; where do you buy this device?

  • 9 Posted by optionstradermark on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:46PM EDT Report Abuse

    Another company offering such a machine is www.idrinksoda.com. The major difference is the ability to carbonate so that the drinks come out tasting exactly like the national brand drinks should. They have both Coke and Pepsi products available, the only machine on the market where the national brand products are available because they can maintain the qauality standards set out by Coke and Pepsi with their machine. They also sell many flavors of their own brand to people with Soda Club machines. They have over 30 flavors available that are sweetened with Splenda.

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