SodaStream Review and Giveaway

My two teenagers were very excited when I asked, "So, wanna make some soda tonight?" They had no idea I had a SodaStream in one of the shipping boxes in the corner of the living room. Who would have thought you could make soda at home? We opened up the box and pulled out the parts.

The directions were in the box and with just a few pieces to assemble, the boys put it together easily. I was excited to see all the different soda flavors SodaStream offers over 30 different tastes including regular and diet. It also comes concentrated so it's a great value.

They carefully dropped the top onto the base and sorted through all the flavor samples. Ever tried a cranberry raspberry? Or are you a cola person? They also have apple mango and lemon lime. There are even caffeine free varieties. How about a lemon iced tea or a mint water essence? Ryan decided on root beer and John chose Dr. Pete (guess what that tastes mirrors!).

They filled the included soda bottles with tap water. The bottles are reusable for up to three years, which means we won't be throwing 3 cases of aluminum cans into our recycle bin every week anymore! I LOVE finding eco-conscious ways to live. Plus, the black/silver design fits perfectly into my kitchen with my black/stainless steel appliances. There are several color choices available.

The bottle screws directly onto the SodaStream machine with just the water in it. The flavoring is added after the carbonation step, which means I won't be cleaning sticky stuff off the machine every time my kids make their sodas. Hooray! No electricity or batteries are required to operate the SodaStream and it fits on my counter top under the cabinets attractively.

The next step was to push the button on the top of the SodaStream a couple of times. Each push releases carbonation from the canister into the water, making it carbonated water. How simple! The canister will fill 60 liters of water with carbonation, then I can refill the canister at several local places, saving the earth from even more trash.

When the water was carbonated, they unscrewed the bottle and added their flavorings to the bottles. Then they put the lids on the bottles and lightly shook the bottles to mix the flavor in. They were excited thinking they can each just lay claim to one of the bottles and use the same one over and over. I guess I'm going to have to pick up two more bottles for me and Johnny!

I tasted both of the boys' sodas and they are delicious! I expected the sodas to taste like the cheap store brands but they don't. They are really high quality flavorings and taste really good. I can't wait to try some of the others too.

In the last 24 hours since they put it together, the boys have already made two more flavors each. Each bottle is a liter so they are probably overdoing the whole soda thing, but they're almost 18 years old and I know the novelty of making their own soda is a big part of it. I will definitely continue to use this awesome SodaStream in my home. I think it's a fabulous idea!

SodaStream is my sponsor for the February Freebies Giveaway Hop and that means one lucky Planet Weidknecht winner is going to win their own SodaStream. The giveaway starts at 12:01 am on 2/16 and runs until 11:59pm on 2/21. Click HERE to enter to win your own soda maker! Good luck!
Disclosure: I received these products at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

SodaStream is also on Facebook and Twitter.