Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm kicking myself. At the beginning of the summer some friends of ours hosted us to their house for a long weekend of wine tasting and to take in a minor-league hockey game (yes, we have a lot of range). I don't know how we got on the subject, but my wife mentioned how nuts I am about my Soda Streams (yes, that's plural) and our hostess sounded pretty interested (she wasn't just being polite, I don't think). So a few days after we got home, I ordered all the things you'd need to get started and had it all delivered to their house as a thank you gift for their hospitality. Too bad the timing wasn't with me, because this starter bundle would have been perfect, plus it would have saved me a few bucks. This is the perfect set. When you add everything up, the bundle includes: * Soda Stream device * Two canisters of CO2. And these are the new quick connect canisters. Nice! * Three reusable liter bottles * Two bottles of flavored syrup It's truly everything you need to get started. Once this becomes a habit and a lifestyle for you, you'll probably invest in more bottles and more spare CO2 canisters so that you never run out. During the pandemic when it was impractical/impossible to go to stores that carry housewares like this, I ended up refilling my canisters two at a time through a mail order company, so it's been a necessity for me to have enough canisters to have two in transit in the mail and still have two at home. I've probably tipped my hand that I'm nuts about my Soda Stream. Since my kids gave me my first one for Father's Day years ago, I've completely quit buying 2-liter bottles of soda from the store, and I've actually reduced my intake of diet sodas by about 90% because I love the taste of the plain fizzy water. This is such a healthier alternative to buying Diet Coke at the store. _____________________________ Thoughts on this model: This is the third generation that I've owned. In my RV I have the first-gen that my kids gave me. It's a little cumbersome, because you have to screw the bottle onto the nozzle with every use and you also have to screw in the CO2 canister when you exchange them. It's still great, but not as advanced. The next gen that I got had a quick-connect for the water bottles. Now this one has the same quick-connect for the flasks, but it also has a quick-connect for the CO2. This is a great improvement, but it creates a compatibility issue for me, because now my new canisters don't work with my older machines. I'll live though. That brings up an issue of compatibility. If you have an older unit like I do, the newer bottles that come with this model won't work with it. The newer bottles are taller and more tapered at the top, but their height prevents them from fitting on the older rigs. One big surprise for me with this model is that you fizz your bottles differently than the older generations. With the older ones, you would just hold the button down and count the number of times that the device makes a noise when it vents: "Pfft, pfft, pfft...done". Three little puffs and your water is fizzy (or fewer puffs per your preferences). This new one doesn't puff or vent, which will take some getting used to. Instead, you hold the button for a second, release, and press it again for a second. Repeat that as many times as you want to get to your desired fizziness (I think 5x is probably the max). If you overfill or if your water isn't chilled enough, water will seep out the overflow valve. I guess the other thing to point out is that this model also has a smaller, more sleek form, and it doesn't take as much counter space. It's not a big difference, but every square inch counts. Also, this is something that will live on your counter presumably until you die or until technology figures out how to fizz the water from your tap (wouldn't that be Nirvana?), so you really do want to take the looks into account and try to fit in with your kitchen decor. My last unit was black and blended in without calling attention to itself, but this good-looking white unit really pops and catches your eye. Fortunately, it's a nice looking device and doesn't offend. I have to put our ugly toaster away every time I use it, but this fits in just fine on the counter. _____________________________ General tips: * The water fizzes 1,000,000% better when it's chilled, so don't just use cold tap water. Fill some bottles with plain water and keep them in the fridge to fizz later on. * Stake out some space in your fridge and claim it for your bottles. Fridge space is like medieval land that is fought for, gained, and then lost again. Even if you're too busy to fill your empty bottle right now, stick the empty back in the fridge as a placeholder so that your column of four bottles on the edge of the shelf doesn't get reclaimed by someone else. * Stick some rubber bands (one per bottle) on a magnet on the side of your fridge or in a nearby drawer. After you finish a bottle and refill it, drop a rubber band over the top like a ring toss game, and now you can quickly see which bottles are already fizzed (no rubber bands) and which ones are plain flat water just chilling and waiting to be fizzed. * Big cup: If you can, see if you can find yourself a huge double-walled steel cup (like a Yeti knockoff) that will hold a full bottle of water and some ice. Tervis cups are great because they don't sweat, but they aren't quite big enough. Finding a tumbler that holds a whole flask will help with your bottle management and also save you trips back to the fridge. * We're old-ish (slightly pre-retirement) and travel a ton in our RV. If you already have a Soda Stream, pick out a newer one for home and retire your older one to the RV.