Home water carbonator

[jtfrogger]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Where are you folks getting your refill cartridges from? Any places a better price than the rest?

I get the cartridges from London Drugs, primarily because the location is very convenient for me. With an exchange, it costs $20. As far as I am aware, this is a pretty standard cost.

[yads]

There's no difference where you get the refills, so just go to the most convenient place for you.

[Reaper]

Damnit, now I want to get a sodastream and start carbonating hard liquor.

[BigNumbers]

Next query... Has anywhere have good cola syrups available other than the standard Sodastream syrup? Some nice sugarcane cola syrup is what I'm after, but don't seem to see any up here...

[jtfrogger]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

Next query... Has anywhere have good cola syrups available other than the standard Sodastream syrup? Some nice sugarcane cola syrup is what I'm after, but don't seem to see any up here...

Williams Sonoma has a really good cola syrup, but the price is ridiculous. But this wouldn't surprise you if you have ever been in the store.

[Ducay]

I've had decent luck just buying a box of the "Throwback" Pepsi (sugarcane), and reducing the whole lot in a saucepan (very low simmer) until its a syrup consistency. Then I simply store in a squeeze bottle in the fridge until needed and mix with regular SodaStream water.
Saves me so much money!

[photon]

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Ducay

I've had decent luck just buying a box of the "Throwback" Pepsi (sugarcane), and reducing the whole lot in a saucepan (very low simmer) until its a syrup consistency. Then I simply store in a squeeze bottle in the fridge until needed and mix with regular SodaStream water.
Saves me so much money!

Freaking white text....... you had me.

[trumpethead]

This thread always reminds me of Trailer Park Boys...

Ricky: [playing 'Spacemen'] Breaker breaker, come in Earth, this is Rocket Ship 27, aliens ####ed over the carbonator on engine four, I'm gonna try to re###ulate it on Juniper. Uhh, and hopefully they've got some, space weed there, over. How... how was that buddy? I don't ####in' know.
Bubbles: Ricky... that's not very good. Use space words, real ones, not talking about space weed.
Ricky: NAYSA, power rockets are firin' all over the place... they got lasers that are shootin' and uh... Bubbles I can't ####in' do this.

[photon]

http://gizmodo.com/5984274/samsungs-...ream-dispenser

Looks like I'm getting a new fridge.

[Wormius]

Mega bump!

It’s almost time to get another CO2 tank and started thinking about alternatives to the Sodastream - like buying a 5lb tank, but when deep diving into different hacks, I stumbled across Sparkel and that you can just use your own citric acid and baking soda. Has anybody done this and is the carbonation level about the same as the Sodastream?

[Reggie Dunlop]

A little song.
A little dance.
A little seltzer down your pants.

[Wormius]

On that note… has anybody ever carbonated a bathtub full of water? I feel like that would be invigorating, like an arctic bidet.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Mega bump!

It’s almost time to get another CO2 tank and started thinking about alternatives to the Sodastream - like buying a 5lb tank, but when deep diving into different hacks, I stumbled across Sparkel and that you can just use your own citric acid and baking soda. Has anybody done this and is the carbonation level about the same as the Sodastream?

What I saw was that some people found a company that did dry ice/refrigeration and bought CO2 in bulk which could be loaded into their tanks which turned out to be a lot cheaper than the overpriced SodaStream tanks at the store. I think the concerns I heard was it might not be "food grade" whatever that means.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

What I saw was that some people found a company that did dry ice/refrigeration and bought CO2 in bulk which could be loaded into their tanks which turned out to be a lot cheaper than the overpriced SodaStream tanks at the store. I think the concerns I heard was it might not be "food grade" whatever that means.

I looked at the process of cracking open the canisters and loading them with dry ice which sounds kind of interesting, but I think there is a bit more convenience with the Sparkel system since I keep citric acid and baking soda at home anyway. The carbonation itself looks slow though, and not sure if it gets as fizzy as I normally like.

[Canadianman]

Not quite the ridiculous options being discussed, but I build a kegerator for my homemade beer, cider and ginger beer. I have a tap dedicated to just plain water, so I've always got carbonated water on tap.


Had to upgrade to a dual regulator, as beer is usually around 8-12 psi and carbonated water is usually around 25 psi, but it was a fairly simple upgrade and now the kids and guests are happy.


Happy to share my knowledge if someone is looking to build their own.

[Mightyfire89]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Mega bump!

It’s almost time to get another CO2 tank and started thinking about alternatives to the Sodastream - like buying a 5lb tank, but when deep diving into different hacks, I stumbled across Sparkel and that you can just use your own citric acid and baking soda. Has anybody done this and is the carbonation level about the same as the Sodastream?

I’ve had one for about an year and I’m very happy with it. I can’t compare the carbonation level to Sodastream as I’ve never used one of those. It is very convenient (and much more affordable) to buy bulk citric acid and baking soda and not have to worry about CO2 tanks etc. It takes about 5 minutes per 750ml bottle on the highest carbonation setting. Only the Sparkel proprietary bottles will work with the machine.

Overall I would recommend it

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Canadianman

Not quite the ridiculous options being discussed, but I build a kegerator for my homemade beer, cider and ginger beer. I have a tap dedicated to just plain water, so I've always got carbonated water on tap.


Had to upgrade to a dual regulator, as beer is usually around 8-12 psi and carbonated water is usually around 25 psi, but it was a fairly simple upgrade and now the kids and guests are happy.


Happy to share my knowledge if someone is looking to build their own.

Where do you get your CO2 tanks for your kegerator?

[Reggie Dunlop]

There was a kid in the neighbourhood who'd refill empty Sodastream canisters for ten bucks. Had a CO2 tank in the garage, I guess.

[Bill Bumface]

New threads are free! I spent way too long reading the beginning of this before realizing it was over a decade old.

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

There was a kid in the neighbourhood who'd refill empty Sodastream canisters for ten bucks. Had a CO2 tank in the garage, I guess.

I'd be careful with this, food grade CO2 is a thing. The oils they use in food grade equipment are safe for human consumption. It's possible that for "other" CO2, such as paintball guns, they are using oils which could have negative health impacts.

It's also possible it's the same crap and they use it as an excuse to charge more, but I wouldn't risk it without some research.