Over a year ago I was reading an article in the LA Times about reducing the carbon footprint of the food we eat. It occurred to me that the Pellegrino bottled water we loved to drink is shipped here all the way from Italy. Suddenly I had a vision of a giant cargo ship stacked with shipping containers filled with green glass bottles chugging its way across the ocean. I was horrified at the thought and vowed right then to stop buying it.
But there was a problem. We love our bubble water. So, we switched to buying carbonated water from Trader Joe’s which comes in plastic bottles and is manufactured locally. Still, I felt bad. We would drink almost a bottle a day, and even though we recycled the bottles, it seemed like a lot of plastic going in the bin, not to mention the cost adds up after a while.
Fast forward to a few months ago and I came across a product called the SodaStream. I was really impressed, but didn’t buy it because even the least expensive model at $99 sounded like a lot of money. Then summer came and I saw how many bottles of water we were going through and I thought it was time to take another look. The more I read, the more I was impressed. I decided to order one and about a week later had it in my hot little hands. Usually I drink my soda water with just a splash of juice, but as soon as I got this I started dreaming up all the different syrups I could create for it. See below the recipe for my review of the SodaStream Soda Maker.
I love ginger ale, and this was my first attempt at making a syrup to be used for a soda. Many recipes you might see for ginger ale involve adding yeast to assist in the fermentation which creates bubbles (root beer is made in a similar way). But I’m not really interested in making ginger beer here, and I’ve already got the bubbles, so all I needed was a syrup to flavor the water.
I made two batches at the same time to start. One was a simple syrup made with 1:1 ratio of 2 c. white sugar and 2 c. water and 4 oz fresh peeled ginger. The second was made with the same ratio of sugar to water, but I used half brown sugar and in addition to the ginger, I added some spices to, well, spice it up!
The second batch was the hands down winner; not only was the flavor better, but the color was much more along the lines of what I expected.
Ginger Syrup for Ginger Ale
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup palm sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 cups water
4 oz peeled and sliced ginger (I started with 6-7 oz whole fresh ginger)
2 tsp cardamom pods
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp peppercorns
3 ea. star anise pods
In a small pot, combine the sugars and add the peeled and sliced ginger. I used the palm sugar (in the photo at the top) because I had it, but you can also use 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white .
Toast the whole spices in a saute pan until they just begin to brown and become fragrant. Add them to the sugar and water mixture and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes and then turn off the heat.
Allow to steep until cool. At this point you can strain it into a clean container and store it in the refrigerator. Chill.
For me, 2 Tbsp of syrup with 12 oz soda water and some ice makes a very refreshing glass of ginger ale.
The SodaStream Soda Maker
I’m totally thrilled with my SodaStream. There are 4 different models, ranging in price from $99 to $199. The biggest difference is in the styling and that the most expensive model ( called the Penguin) uses glass bottles instead of plastic. I ordered the least expensive model and could not be happier. It also uses a larger carbonator canister so that means less frequent changing and ordering. The other models come with smaller, slimmer canisters. I ordered the “Value Pack” which came with an extra CO2 canister, 2 extra bottles and free shipping (this is great bang for the buck). I also ordered 2 extra bottle caps because I just know one will get lost. So far we’ve made over 30 bottles of fizzy water.
Tips:
*Refill the empty bottle with fresh water as soon as it’s empty so there’s always some cold and ready to be carbonated (it works best with cold water). We keep all 4 bottles filled with water in the refrigerator, 2 fizzy, 2 flat.
*I put my syrup in a squeeze bottle and keep that in the refrigerator. I just squeeze some into a glass and add some soda when I want it rather than making a full bottle of ginger ale.
*They recommend 3 “buzzes” of the machine to get the water carbonated and we’ve found that 4 work best for us (extra fizzy!)
*Don’t fill the bottles past the fill line. Trust me on this, I learned the hard way!
What I like:
*Convenient and Inexpensive; make your own soda any time at home for about .20 cents a liter.
*It’s environmentally friendly:
It comes with reusable bottles, so no waste, no landfill and the bottles are good for 3 years.
It does not use electricity or batteries (great for RVs and Boats too!).
The carbonator canisters are exchanged and recharged
No pollution caused by shipping and driving to buy cases of soda and water (hello, Pellegrino!)
*You can make your water a fizzy as you want it to be.
*You can make your own flavored soda and if you want to use their syrups (they have over 20 flavors), they don’t contain high fructose corn syrup. This means you can also control how much sugar your kids drink.
Possible issues:
*The SodaStream syrups contain Splenda, even the non-diet ones. We tried their cola syrup and neither of us liked it but I never drink anything with artificial sweeteners because I don’t like the taste. I will be posting more syrup and drink recipes as I develop them and other syrups can be purchased elsewhere.
*The other issue that you should be aware of is that everything is proprietary. This means you must use their bottles and their CO2 canisters.
Disclaimer:
I did not receive anything from SodaStream, nor did they ask me to write this. I bought it myself and just like it so much I wanted to share. I think it’s a great product if you want to be healthy, environmentally conscious, and fiscally responsible.
If you think you’d like to order one, I’d appreciate it if you did so through one of the links to the right on my blog because, like with my Amazon store, I get a very tiny percentage which will help keep this blog otherwise ad-free.
Related post: Recipe for Key Lime Syrup
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
OK, cool…and looks super yummy..what is the spice that is in the upper right hand corner of the photo–palm sugar? and why haven’t you brought some to M-O-M?
My family also bought one of these home soda makers last week.
They are absolutely brilliant! Saving lots of money and helping the environment.
We bought many different flavors – so its just great when we have visitors.
Highly recommended
Wow, what a great idea. As someone that works at a restaurant that “makes” its own soda water (Natura) I sincerely appreciate how much energy is saved by not importing sparkling waters from other countries.
Thank you for the information on making your own soda (both flavored and otherwise) at home. Great breakdown!
Brooke-I wasn’t aware of any restaurants (in LA) which make their own soda water. I’m going to have to investigate Natura. If you know anything else about it, can you email me?
This sounds so good! I don’t drink much soda, but when I do, I really love ginger beer, or really gingery ginger ale. This is such a great idea! Love it!
Jenn-I don’t drink much soda myself either, but I do like my “bubble water.”
If you want it to be really gingery and kinda “hot”, like some of those boutique ginger ales available, I’d add a bit more ginger to my recipe and maybe steep it a little longer. You could also add in a dried red chile too if you like it really spicy.
I love your mis en place shots
just looking at them has me craving this and I can vividly imagine how great it smells. I definitely want a soda stream. I have been contemplating getting one for a couple of months now and I think we will just have fork out the dough and get it. We go through a lot of fizzy water too as well as soda. I have to applaud you for this because I didn’t even consider the fact that I could make the syrups instead of buying them. I made a wonderful boiled cider syrup the other day that would make a lovely soda and definitely would love to try the ginger ale.
Vivian- I did the same, I hesitated before ordering, but now I’m so glad I did. I feel like it’s just one more small step toward doing the right thing for the planet. Plus, it seems to stay fizzy longer too, than the stuff we used to buy. If it ever does go flat, I don’t get mad, I just make more!
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention they also sell lemon, orange, and berry flavors to mix in which are unsweetened and clear, just like the flavored waters TJ’s sells.
Oh, we have to get one! Ross has been going through almost a bottle of the TJ fizzy water a day all summer. I love this idea!
Every time someone talks about their Sodastream, I’m very very tempted. We don’t really drink soda, but I like fizz
I’m thinking this might be a fun tool.
Keep us up on your adventures!
Hi Lo
Go buy this product! Its absolutely brilliant! Save money, help the environment by cutting down on plastic and metals waste. Think of the convenience of not having to always drive down to the store to buy soda.
Former Chef – First time commenting on your wonderful blog – I will be back for more visits. Here in France, drink syrups which you mix with water (or sparkling water) are just as popular, if not more, then sodas. They come in every flavor imaginable (well that I could imagine). I realize that your whole motivation for going with the machine is to save the world a bit of transportation insanity, so you’re probably not too interested in shipping a bottle of syrup either. But within the hexagon, these are arguably environmentally ok, because instead of lugging about 20 bottles of soda, just one bottle of syrup is needed (assuming you mix it with tap water). I am surprised that there is not a company making these syrups in the US. Thanks for the heads up on the soda maker – I’ll be having a look!
Is there somewhere in France that I could order syrups online, Soda stream seem to have a monopoly on them in the UK!
If so pleeeease post a link.
Good work with the ginger ale recipie, I’m going to make some on boxing day!
Hi Andy-I really don’t know. Here in the US there is a company called “Torani” which makes “Italian Style” syrups in dozens of flavors. If you can find an Italian deli, you might look there for something like that. Also try Middle Eastern markets which often have flavored syrups like pomegranite and rose.
Otherwise, experiment with making your own! There is also a recipe for Key Lime Syrup here on my blog and I will continue to post syrup recipes as I make them.
Wow, that is awesome! I’m such a researcher and analyst that everything I pick up, the entire process from plant to table goes through my mind, and each extra piece of packaging becomes another little stamp against it.
It’s the reason we stopped buying bottled water and bought reusable jugs instead.
Please post more syrups!!! This may end up on my Christmas wish list.
I was just looking on line and found these on sale JCPenney’s website http://tinyurl.com/nvvep3
They are slightly less expensive for the base model, but they don’t have the same choices available as on the SodaStearm website, either in models or colors. I still think the value package through sodastream is a better deal because of the extra bottles, extra carbonator, and free shipping. JC Penny’s shipping is $14.95.
They don’t say anything about the carbonator cartridges. Is one included or do you have to buy it separately? How much is it? How is it replaced? With sodastream, they replace and refill cartridges so they are not wasted.
The flavors in your syrup sound delicious! I made a ginger syrup for drinks the other day and mixed with the sparkling mineral water, I enjoyed it more than soda.
Wow, ive tried this myself.
Yummny!
I purchased a converter that allows me to use a 20-oz paintball CO2 canister with my Sodastream Classic/Jet unit.
Refills cost $4 at my local sporting goods store. (vs $25 + shipping for the official Sodastream cannisters). The 20 oz cannister just barely fits into the Sodastream housing. Bigger paintball cannisters are available, but would have to sit outside of the sodastream.
The adapter does cost more than the sodastream unit itself ($120) but has already paid for itself after about 6 refills. Works like a charm.
Rich-Interesting option.
Personally I would not do it as it most likely voids the warranty of the machine. Plus, for me, it would take too long to pay for itself. I’ve had it almost 3 months and haven’t had to change the cannister yet.
Another huge fan here, and I also purchased an adapter – although mine allows me to use large, standard CO2 tanks. I have a #20 tank and a #5 tank. I typically go through 3 liter bottles of soda water a day, so the proprietary little CO2 tanks weren’t economical. A local home brewing store refills them for about a tenth of what SodaSteam charges and they last much longer.
I’ve been experimenting with syrups too. A real artisan cola is my goal, but I’m also toying with peach flavors.
I have been looking into purchasing a soda stream and wondered for the few who commented about having their tanks filled elsewhere, where exactly do you have this done? & How did you find you could get refills at that place? – I have only hesitated on the purchase due to the refills of the CO2 and the cost and time to get them from the company online. Thx for any info on this. I’d really like to get it soon. Oh! & Also have looked into making my own syrups… or purchase. Wondering if Davinci syrups would be strong enough to flavor and still taste good or just making a simple syrup and adding Lorann’s flavorings in any taste imaginable. I am not an artificial sweetener gal so this would also be key for me in getting the sodastream. Thx again!
Hi-I don’t have any info on having the cartridges refilled elsewhere. I’m sure you could find it if you googled it. Personally, I don’t want to do it as it seems like more of a hassle and I’d be too worried about something going wrong. I have the sodasteam with the older, larger cartridges and only just this past weekend changed out the first one which we started using in August!
I recently was given the Penguin model as a present. I am in love with this gadget! I wanted to mention that you can take your empty sodastream carbonators to Williams Sonoma and they will exchange them for 15 dollars each. No shipping etc. We have one 15 minutes away, so I can exchange them whenever I please!
Sorry, I feel like I’ve come to this “parade” a bit late. What was it that happened in 2009 that seems to have had so many people first discovering SodaStream, a product that appears to have been around for a few years? There are a number of “Six Month Review of the SodaStream” blogposts all posted in the second half of last year.
Well, read it here first: “Shepherd Jim’s SodaStream Sixteen Hour Review.” For health reasons I drink a LOT of water! Luckily for me, our well water tastes fantastic –much better than any store-bought bottled water, flat or fizzy. We’re REALLY enjoying the SodaStream Jet we purchased just last night at our local supermarket at a nicely discounted price. On the way home we stopped at our food coop and secured enough Ginger root to make up several batches of FC’s syrup!
The only surprise to this point is that my DW Pam likes her bubbly water a bit on the less-carbonated side while I like mine to have some BITE. I’ve ordered an extra two plastic liter bottles so it will be easier for each of us to have our own supply in the fridge.
Tip! In my “googles” I came across a discount promo code that provides a 10% discount off an order through SodaStream — enter “FACE10″ (without the double quotes) at checkout.
Today is a federal holiday AND we’re having a big snowstorm — result: we’re pretty much housebound ….LOTS of time to brew up some Ginger Syrup!
If you have a BJ’s Wholesale Club membership, they carry the basic model in-store and online. I bought one last night for $80 at a BJ’s (they were $90 online). Came with two 1-liter bottles and one 1/2 liter bottle, and a sample pack of soda syrups and water flavors, plus the larger-sized CO2 bottle. They had additional bottles of soda syrup (but not water flavorings), but I didn’t see any CO2 refills.
I bought it because a friend has one and he highly recommended it, although it feels kinda like a joined a cult.
I work on a game show and we had Soda Stream as a prize. Recently I got to take the demo model home. The only sodas we drink in my house is ginger ale and tonic, so your recipe is soon to go into serious rotation! Every other ginger syrup recipe I have found has been too simple for my tastes, just ginger and sugar. Can’t wait to dig into yours!
THe only place i have found to refill the co2 bottles is in canada, Soda Stream gives NO help except to sell aditional co2 bottles.
Does any one have a refill location?? i live in So California but can ship anywhere Any Ideas aND WHY IS SODA STREAM SO USLESS TO HELP GET THIS BOTTLE REFILLED????????
Carl-If you live in So Cal, why not just call for a pick up and have them bring you another bottle? They refill them. I have had no problem with the process.
Why ship bottles to be refilled? Why not just have soda stream do it? The could would probably be the same.
I’ve had my SodaStream since January…it’s already paid for itself! We were spending $10-$20 a week on cans of plain seltzer water (and that was the cheap grocery store brand stuff, I shudder to think what it would have been if I went for the Pelligrino or Perrier!)
I purchased mine at our local Sur La Table store, which not only sells the machines and accessories, but also handles the proprietary CO2 refills…so I just stop in the store and exchange my empties for $14 per canister. There are locations all over the country, so see if there is one near you. They also have extra bottles, syrups and “essence” flavours (which I haven’t tried, I’m just a bubble girl, myself).
I’m thrilled that you are posting these syrups! I can’t wait to try them. You know, the only flavoured soda I’ve really enjoyed is the Pelligrino Limonata…you’ve inspired me to experiment and see if I can make some myself!
Thanks for the information, I’ve been reading reviews because I’m not yet sold because my husband will ONLY drink regular pepsie but I like flavored waters and natural drinks. Do you know if there’s a link or a place online that will give me “natural” recepies or just ideas on making my own drink flavors or even syrups?
You mean besides here?
I have two syrup recipes so far and will probably add more this summer. Unfortunately, no, I don’t really know of any other sites.
Oh I’ll surely be checking back for any more you come up with. Thanks!!!!
Like the above poster (Andrea), we have a Soda Stream and were only interested in Tonic water and Ginger Ale flavors (besides sparkling water). I’m going to pick up some All Spice and Palm Sugar (Jaggery) tomorrow and try your recipe. I can’t stand the artificial sweeteners in SodaStream’s syrups. Any chance you know how to make a tonic water mix? Not sure I can buy powdered quinine off the shelf…
Sorry, I don’t know how to make a tonic water flavor. That’s an interesting question though.
We go through so much ginger ale, I make the syrup in large batches.
My recipe:
1 kg of ginger, peeled.
500 g of dark brown sugar
A cup of maple syrup (I’m Canadian, gotta have maple syrup)
The peel of one lemon, ideally organic
The juice of six to eight lemons lemons; depending on size.
Shred the ginger in a food processor. I usually use the balde for this, process until quite small but not mushy.
Put the ginger, the lemon peel and the lemon juice into a large pot. Add three litres of water and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and skim off any foam that forms on the surface. Simmer for 20 minutes and then pour off through a fine meshed sieve. Bottle into sterilized containers (I use glass bottles I buy at IKEA for $3.00 a pop, they come with a wire stopper) and refrigerate.
We dilute this about 1:5.
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