Has anyone bought and used one of these? They seem to be better rated than most of the others, and they can carbonate any liquid. The reviews around for the Philips, SodaKing and Soda Stream are horrendous!
Drinkmate Sparkling Water and Soda Maker
bigpallooka on 01/05/2023 - 18:45
Comments
Thanks for your input. There seem to be a lot of people saying that the bottles don't hold the bubbles or that they have to use a lot of gas etc. The review sites come out between 1 and 3 stars for most that I can find. Obviously with the largest market share they would have the most negative reviews statistically.
I find the bubbles last in the bottle a long time if the bottle is full. But if you have a glass and then put the remaining water aside it gets flat faster.
I run mine off a 6kg cylinder. It lasts a long time for the $60 refill cost.
Beware of review sites, they're usually the worst way to determine how good a product is.
Sites like productreview attract negative comments because people who are satisfied with a product will just use it and not bother looking for a website to post a comment just to say "my SodaStream works fine. Water is bubbly." because there's not much to say.
But if they're unhappy they will be much more inclined to look for a place to tell everyone how frustrated they are because the product they bought was faulty. Sometimes their comments are legit, sometimes it's user error, sometimes they have unrealistic expectations or simply do not understand how the product works.
e.g. when they say the bottle doesn't hold bubbles, there's really not much to go wrong with a bottle. It's literally just a bottle with a sealed cap. Unless there is a manufacturing defect, it's not going to leak. Using lots of gas also does not make sense - unless there's a defect, the gas doesn't go anywhere else. A Soda King and Sodastream will use the same amount of gas. Water temperature matters too, the solubility of gasses decreases with increasing temperature so the colder the better.
I have a SodaStream and SodaKing. I'm totally satisfied with both of them but haven't posted a review on productreview as there's not much to say. I don't even know the model of the SodaStream as I bought it for $7 over two years ago at cash converters and use it just about daily.
I prefer it to the Soda King because of the quicker mechanism that doesn't require screwing and unscrewing. I've hooked it up to a 6kg tank to reduce running costs.
I now use the Soda King to carbonate other liquids like fruit juices. Other liquids can froth up easily, the trick is to sloooowly release pressure after gassing. I rinse the Soda King after using it with other liquids.
BTW you can also buy an adaptor that lets you carbonate liquids in normal soft drink bottles. That'll also allow you to re-carbonate soft drinks that have gone flat.
I had about 3-4 bottles of it but then just cbf using soda stream, depends how much you need soda in your life/ commitment to reducing bottle waste.
Carbonate some milk for us and drink it.
"…Skal, a blend of soda and skim milk in Japan. While it might sound unorthodox to some palates, fizzy milk has a long history. Thousands of years ago, Mongolian nomads allowed their mares' milk to ferment, creating the tangy, effervescent beverage known as kumis."
Make some kumis and drink it.
Why?
I had a sodastream for years and now a Philips. They are both fine. The tech is super simple, not much to screw up really.
Must just be a lot of complainers out there. It's hard to know how serious to take online ratings.
No issues at all with my Sodastream Jet (or the sodastream/sodaking gas cylinders that screw in).
You'll find for ever one negative review there are probably 1000 happy customers. Some people just need to vent.
I wouldn't trust productreview, hardly anything gets more than 2-3 stars, bunch of whingers.
I have a Soda King and it's great. I prefer it to the Sodasteam Spirit thata friend has.It leaks far less gas when using so the cylinders last longer ad I findit more consistent with the carbonation.
I ended up purchasing the DrinkMate as it is promoted as being able to carbonate anything and I thought it might be nice to experiment. It works fine. So far, I have only used it with syrups. One curious thing is that while the syrups all say to carbonate the water first then add the syrup, the DrinkMate instructions say to add the syrup then carbonate. I couldn't tell any difference taste-wise when I tried it both ways. Filtered water and tap water don't seem to taste any different to my uneducated palate either.
My $70 sodastream has been going great for several years with heavy use - so I rate it delightful!