Outstanding on-demand soda now getting more expensive (updated June 2009)
Written: Jun 14 '07 (Updated Jun 28 '09)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Convenient and easy to use. Excellent flavor choices.
Cons: Not for the non-Splenda crowd. New bottle size and cylinder pricing expensive.
The Bottom Line: If you like the control of making what you want when you want you'll like this. The cost savings have been overstated by the company.
|
|
|
| avaloncourt's Full Review: Fountain Jet Home Soda Maker by Soda Club |
I can't say enough good about the Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker. Making your own soft drinks at home isn't a concept most Americans would think about.
Historically, soda at home has been in the American culture for a long time. Long gone are the days when the 'seltzer bottle' was a common sight in the home. Later on, small units using small carbon dioxide cartridges were faddish but most definitely not practical. Each cartridge was a serving of soda carbonation which wasn't very effective in its delivery.
I've bumped into the Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker online for a while now and pondered it's practicality and use. I sought out reviews and was frustrated by the lack of clear information about the product. I repeatedly returned to the Soda Club website to review what was offered.
I admit I'm a seltzer addict. Some people are addicted to sugar or caffeine. I like carbonation and always have. I have always thought the price of club soda/seltzer/soda water to be obscene. When going to a grocery store it's usually placed with the "mixers." Somehow that makes it an expensive commodity usually relegated to 8 ounce bottles for mixing drinks. I've seen two-liter bottles of seltzer upward of $1.60 - $1.80. One local grocer began stocking a line of seltzers that were better priced but, to get a good deal, I'd have to wait for long periods until a sale came around. By the time one did I was long out of my precious bubble water.
After finally becoming frustrated for the last time over being deprived of seltzer I looked over the Soda Club offerings. If you pay attention to the website you'll note that the machines are perpetually on sale. There's one sale after another so you need not worry that the 'sale' will be gone before you get to buy it. The only way you won't get it on sale is if you purchase from a retail outlet. (More on that later.)
When purchasing you're presented with three different models. The most basic model is the Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker. The middle model is the Edition 1 and the highest is the Penguin. There really isn't much difference between the Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker and the Edition 1.
I closely scrutinized the features of the first two models and came to the following conclusions. The Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker model is the most basic model. It seems to only differ from the Edition 1 in styling... it's shiny. They are both made of plastic with similar form and the same function. The only real and significant difference I can define is that the Edition 1 can be mounted. This would be of interest to boaters and RVers.
The final version is the Penguin and, to be not terribly polite, I'd consider it an utter waste of money. It performs the same function as the cheaper two but is metal and looks like a penguin.
Purchasing from the Soda Club website offers many package variations for the models. If you're a seltzer addict like myself, you can get a cheaper package because you aren't purchasing a large bundle of soda mixes with the unit. Instead, you will receive 12 1-liter sample mix bottles of some of their regular soda options. They also include 6 1-liter diet soda mixes from some of their diet flavors.
If you're a soft drink addict then you can get a better deal with their 'soda' variation. You'll receive 8 12-liter mix bottles (your choice) and 12 1-liter sample mixes of their choice (referred to as portion packs). They will also include 6 1-liter diet portion packs of their choice.
One thing sets their regular soft drink flavors apart from name brand grocery store varieties is calories. On average, a serving of Soda Club soft drinks contains 30 calories, some slightly more or less, depending on the flavor. They use no high fructose corn syrup at all. Soda Club also uses no aspartame and saccharine. The regular flavors contain a mixture of sugar with Splenda.
The Soda Club diet flavors contain Splenda® + Acesulfame K. Even in the diet line Soda Club uses no aspartame and saccharine.
Soda Club products are all kosher (OU)certified as well as Badatz kosher certified. Soda Club seltzer is Passover kosher certified (OUP).
Purchasing larger start-up kits are is key to better value. The real cost in the system is the carbon dioxide bottles. The Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker uses a large CO2 bottle that is just slightly smaller than the unit itself. It makes a total of 110 liters of soda or seltzer with average carbonation. To purchase the larger initial package provides you with three carbonation bottles. The shipment must be sent with a hazardous declaration because of the compressed gas bottles. This creates a penalty charge from UPS. Buying the large quantity of bottles spreads that fee across them.
The carbon dioxide bottles are returnable. Soda Club will provide you with a pre-paid return mailer and the return will credit your account $15. They offer bottle replacement combinations to ease exchange costs. The best approach is to exchange the bottles through a retail site. Doing so eliminates the shipping fees.
The Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker is assembled by screwing the carbon dioxide tank up inside of the machine. That is the extent of the preparation.
Making the seltzer or soda is very easy. The Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker is provided with 1-liter bottles. The larger the package the higher the number of bottles you will have to use. Fill the bottles with cold water. I just keep the bottles in the refrigerator.
The bottles screw into the Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker. A gray button is located on the top of the machine. To carbonate the water you press the button until the machine makes a noise not generally acceptable when company is around. Blame it on the dog. A very large dog. Then you press it twice more with the same sound. This is the carbonation level that the 110 liter carbon dioxide bottle is rated for. If you like more or less bubbles you can go down to two pushes or up as many as five total.
If you're a seltzer drinker, you're done! You just unscrew the bottle and screw on the cap.
If you're a soda drinker you have one more step. Select either a single portion pack or a 12-liter bottle. The 12-liter mix bottles have a measuring cap. Slowly pour the mix into the bottle. Cap the bottle and rotate it to mix the flavoring. That's all.
There are a wide variety of flavors in the Soda Club selection. If you don't mind a Splenda sweetened soda you'll like the Soda Club flavors. They really are quite good. Some people have a distaste of Splenda and should probably avoid the Soda Club products.
Purchasing additional mixes is best priced through the Soda Club website. An order of $50 yields you free shipping. $50 in soda mixes from the website will get you an average of 150 liters. That is 33 cents a liter. Depending on what flavor you prefer the cost is as low as 24 cents a liter.
If you're a seltzer drinker you will see a total cost of about 18 cents a liter. That's a whole lot better than any grocery store anywhere.
If you happen to have a Boater's World store around you the carbon dioxide bottles can be returned to a store for a $15 credit. When the credit to your bottle replacement purchase the price is the same as the website but without the shipping fees. There are other various retail outlets around the country. Check the Soda Club website for specific information.
For the environmentally minded, you are eliminating all of that plastic and aluminum waste associated with soft drink purchases. Keep the mix concentrate bottles tucked away and you'll have large quantities of your favorite beverage on hand anytime you want it.
The product has been available in Europe for quite some time and is just now beginning to catch on here in the U.S. I spoke to a Boater's World manager about the popularity of the product two months ago and he said he was amazed how many people come there for it. He said when Soda Club struck a deal with Boater's World for distribution people were suddenly coming in suprising numbers to pick up the mixes.
It's a good concept as well for the Boat and RV crowd because you only need to keep cold water on board. Then you can select from any flavor on a whim to have soda and you aren't making a large quantity. There's no need for a lot of storage of various sodas.
Update (May 4, 2008): I wanted to take some time to update our SodaClub experience. We still use our Soda Club Fountain Jet Soda Maker every day but, after being able to collect significant usage data, we discovered there is some pretty significant math-massaging on behalf of SodaClub. The CO2 tanks are rated at "110 liters" based upon an average 3-push carbonation. I can wholeheartedly state that you will not ever achieve 110 liters or anywhere near it. We are averaging 75 liters per tank. That's 27% less than the labeling states. I've seen reports on-line of people getting only 55 liters. I must assume that those people are severely carbonating their water. I can't imagine how one would ever come out that low.
I have almost exclusively traded my tanks at Boater's World locations with one occurrence of using the SodaClub on-line ordering for the exchange. Boater's World is definitely the most economical route as you'll pay a $15 (per order) penalty to exchange tanks on-line because of the HazMat fees involved with the UPS shipping. Free shipping does not apply to any tanks purchased from SodaClub. You'd need to exchange as many tanks as possible at one time to make on-line-exchanges worthwhile.
I know that many people using the system have thought about local refilling of the bottles. SodaClub bottles are proprietary in nature. They have a unique double-valve system and you won't be able to find any gas supplier or fire extinguisher refiller capable of refilling them. There is a German person who has developed a tank adapter for refilling purposes but the process is very technical and tricky. While it's a bit of a nuisance and requires you to purchase the adapter and a standard CO2 tank the cost benefits are dramatic. The filling cost becomes 8% of what an exchange costs. I've gone this route but I would never, ever recommend this method for anyone but the most dedicated hacker/tinkerer types. Also, keep in mind that you do not 'own' the cylinders from SodaClub. There is a license printed on the bottle and packaging allowing you to use it which does not permit refilling or tampering with the bottles.
I'm a bit disappointed at SodaClub's overestimation of the tank capacity. It's rather like cordless phone manufacturers telling you a handset is good for up to a mile or your laptop wireless card is capable of 500 feet.
We are still very loyal to the SodaClub soda flavors. A few of the line have been discontinued and some others added. They have now added two seltzer flavorings. These are not soda flavor syrups like cola or root beer but rather flavorings commonly seen as products on grocery store shelves these days. Lemon-lime and Orange are presently available. I consume far more seltzer than I ever drink flavored sodas so this is ideal for me.
Update (June 28, 2008): SodaClub has changed its name to SodaStream. It may not be the most attractive name but it's the name the company has used everywhere but North America.
SodaStream has come out with a new, smaller line of soda makers. Smaller, unfortunately, comes with a price. The new carbonator bottles are less than half the size of the original bottles. At current pricing the carbon dioxide costs 67 cents per ounce (that's ounce of CO2 not finished product). Under the new size the cost is 93 cents per carbon dioxide ounce.
The older soda-makers are still presently available but will surely be phased out soon. The newer, smaller CO2 cylinders fit into the older equipment but the 28 percent increase in gas costs certainly makes the soda-maker less attractive. Eventually they'll cease selling the larger cylinders in favor of the new, smaller size and more profit for them.
There is still an option to use other means to refill cylinders and even some other choices. Perhaps if you searched for information on Soda Club refill you could find third party alternatives which allow you to connect a full-sized, non-proprietary CO2 tank. I still refill by my previous method but there are new, easier methods available.
The flavor mixes have all increased to be $4.99 for 12 liters of finished product.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
avaloncourt
|
|
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.