SodaStream Genesis Home Soda Maker Starter Kit, Black and Silver

Wanted to wait on the review until we went thru a full soda keg carbonator tank. We bought the CO2 Doctor kit ($100) for hooking a soda keg carbonation tank (typically used by home brewers) and hooked it up to the Soda Stream.What I like about the Soda Stream is it is stream lined and takes up little room and fits on our pantry shelf along with the carbonation tank. I haven't tried the proprietary tanks. The 4oz sample tank lasted all of 4 liters I think so I figured the larger tanks wouldn't be cost effective. The soda keg carbonation tank lasted almost exactly 2 months and that is fizzing the water with 6-10 beeps instead of the Soda Stream recommended 3 beeps. We do like our water fizzy. I didn't keep track of how many liters we did but it was a lot because of the holidays. If the kids are visiting we can easily go thru 4 or more liters in a day. Two of us can easily do 1-3 liters a day. The thing about the keg tank is that our local supplier (Praxair) swaps it out and you have to pay for that privilege with $100 deposit which you get back when you return the tank for good. On top of that, each time you get a new filled one it costs $6.50 for the inspection and cleaning. Total cost is about $24 for each fill/replacement. When we were purchasing carbonated water at $4 a 12 pack in cans, we limited ourselves to 1-2 cans a day unless we were camping. Now we drink as much fizzy water as we want. I would rather drink it than beer now and that's saying something. We also use the NOW food citrus oils to flavor the water. I can tell the little one oz bottles will last over a year as a few drops will do you. I figure at the rate we drink the water it's as least as cheap as 26cents/liter (assuming 90 litres over 2 months worst case ($24/90)) and the equivalent cost would've been 94cents a liter buying 12 pack cans. If we spent an average of $24/month before on canned water (limiting how much we drank) and now we spend $12/month for air and unlimited water then the equipment costs should be paid off in 15 months and then it's just gravy. I'm just happy to be able to drink as much as I want without worrying about the cost.I can't speak to the flavors sent with the Genesis. I looked at the ingredients and figured all those chemicals can't be good. Saving those for somebody who doesn't care.NOTE: the free 60 liter CO2 exchange coupon is BOGUS! It expired in SEPTEMBER 2014. That really ticked me off because the seller should be on top of the product description. It was a selling point for buying this particular version.Update 06/11/15 -- I tracked our second soda keg air canister and that one lasted exactly 3 months (first lasted 2 months) and we got 175 litres out of it for approx $25 or 14.3 cents per litre. So either my estimate on the first canister was way off and we drank more water than I thought or we got jipped on the swap out by Praxair. I'm going to track our third canister to verify. Payback on the equipment is down to a year though.

This is a truly outstanding product. I was a bit skeptical at first, but after trying it at a friends house I was hooked. I used to be an avid (read: addicted) soda drinker. I then stopped drinking it all together as I knew despite the soda being diet, it probably wasn't the greatest thing for you. What I found after not drinking anything carbonated for about 4 months, is what I missed was the carbonation, not the taste of the soda (which I cannot even tolerate now). I then bought this product, and drink strictly carbonated water from it. The level of carbonation you get of course depends on the amount of CO2 you blast into the bottle, but 3 "buzzes" (which is the recommended amount for average fizz) is just right. It makes drinking water a little less boring, and gives you the carbonation of a freshly popped can.There are many different flavors you can add, I honestly prefer just squirting some fresh lemon or lime juice for a refreshing drink with lunch. I use this product at least twice a day for the last 2 years, and it has not failed yet. Canister replacements will run you about $16 at Target, and last me approximately 4-6 weeks, so there is potentially some cost saving compared to buying canned soda at least.

I'm giving this product 4 Stars based on the fact that it broke after about 2 months of usage - possibly from over-carbonating a single drink. I reported this to Amazon and they refunded my money and did not require me to send back the broken SodaStream. That said, I plan on purchasing a new SodaStream. I think the product is great and look forward to the new item. I'd been using it exclusively for seltzer water and had not been mixing concentrated soda. If this is your intention as well, please read the rest of this review.If you want to use this product to really take the place of having to buy cans / sleeves of seltzer water, I would recommend purchasing 4 of the SodaStream bottles. The bottles are very, very durable. What I do is fill up the 4 bottles with water and keep them in the fridge. When I want to carbonate, I take one out and carbonate. But I always have very cold water at my disposal. So it's important to have several bottles. You cannot use just any bottle to carbonate because the mouth of the bottle is designed specifically for the SodaStream. I also purchased a few extra bottle caps since they can get easily lost.Prior to SodaStream, when I was drinking from seltzer water cans, I would often leave "squirrels" (half empty cans) around the house. Obviously, the squirrels go flat and get warm. But with the SodaStream bottles, I cap them when I'm done drinking and they keep their fizz. A small downside to the bottles is that they are 1 liter in size which isn't ideal for traditional cup holders, like what you would find in a car. But I find the quantity that the bottle holds is perfect for me given I tend to drink a lot of water. I think the overall benefit is that I drink more water every day, which is great.Regarding the CO2 canisters - the concept is very similar to purchasing propane for a grill. The initial SodaStream canister is expensive (about $25-$30), but once you have the canister, you own it and just need to refill which only costs about $12 or $13 for 60 liters of carbonated water. This is where the product begins to pay off and make more sense than buying individual cans or sleeves of cans. However, a slight drawback is that these canisters can only be traded in for new, full canisters at Staples or office supply stores. I'm sure there are other stores that will take it empty canisters for full ones, but I know most grocery stores don't offer this service. I also don't believe the exchange can happen online, possibly because of the possible hazardous nature of the product under extreme conditions.Overall, I am very please with SodaStream and am hoping the next one I purchase does not break.