Unsolicited product review: SodaStream.

ccmccoy09

*This is NOT a paid review.*

Husband bought me a SodaStream Fizz for Christmas. I don't drink regular soda but I love my Pellegrino and husband is practically addicted to diet soda, and we end up stacking cases of soda and bottles of bubbly water under the breakfast bar between our living room and kitchen. So tacky. Also, we were spending about $45 a month on just soda & sparkling water.

I used it for the first time today and it is AWESOME. Let me tell ya. It works by carbonating a single bottle of the cold beverage of your choice (water, iced tea, Crystal Light, juice...). It runs on a clock battery so I didn't have to find a spot to plug it in my tiny kitchen and it's not draining energy all day when it's not in use like some of the fancier machines. It's basically an old-fashioned seltzer bottle with an auto-stop timer so you don't over-carbonate. I made myself a bottle of water with fresh lemon juice and it's delicious. I made Husband some diet cola and it tastes like a fountain Diet Coke. I will probably order more bottles so we can have a bottle each of bubbly water and soda on hand. There is very little waste and the bottles are BPA-free.

Particularly relevant to MPF: the company's drink concentrates are 1/3 of the calories and sugar than commercial soda -- Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Red Bull, etc -- and are sweetened with sugar and sucralose. That's not ideal, but better than HFCS. The natural sodas are sweetened with cane sugar. Diet drinks are sweetened with Splenda instead of Aspartame. I'd rather it be stevia, but Splenda is ok I guess. I like bubbly water with a tiny bit of juice as an alternative to soda, and I'm looking forward to experimenting.

Bottom line, drinking soda isn't the best for any of us anyway, but the fact is a lot of us do and it's nice to see a healthier option for us and our families.