Just before Christmas 2010 I was in Bed Bath and Beyond looking for a new chef's knife for my wife. There was a salesman demonstrating a gizmo that instantly carbonated tap water making it fizzy seltzer water. Then he measured an amount of syrup and slowly poured it into the seltzer. He placed the cap on the bottle and gently turned it over two or three times. I was skeptical, until he handed me a sample of the soda he just made. It tasted almost exactly like diet Coke. As I sipped the soda he began his sales pitch about how healthy it was and how much money we'd save as a family. I thought to my self why haven't I heard of this thing before?
Sodastream isn't a new idea. It's been around since 1903 in England. The home version was introduced in 1955 with 14 flavors according to the Sodastream website. Today there are 34 soda and energy drink flavors with some sparkling water options as well. I was convinced this company wasn't a fly by night get in get out of the market scheme. I still wasn't quite sure how "convenient" it would be. One day I was talking to a good friend and mention the Sodastream, she said it was great and that she'd had one for a year now. She explained that the transition was a little weird, but once you get used to bringing your soda to work with you it was easy. She was able to choose any flavor she liked, it didn't cost much and it had less sugar than regular soda.
I wanted to see the health benefits first so I went to the source at Sodastream's website. Sodastream has 66 less calories per 8oz serving than Coca-Cola. The numbers keep getting better, 17g less carbs, 17g less sugar, 33mg less sodium and 8mg less caffeine. Well I was definitely sold on the lower sugar and sodium numbers so the next thing to look at was the cost.
A Sodastream Genesis costs $99.00 retail at Bed Bath and Beyond. It came with a gas cylinder, the Sodastream soda maker, two 1 liter bottles and an assortment of flavors in sample packs. So my initial investment is $99.00 plus any additional flavors I wanted at $4.99 each. I bought four at $19.96. Now we were up to $118.96. Let's do the math.
I usually bought 1 20oz soda almost every day for $1.69. $1.69 x 30 days = $50.70. So lets say the rest of the family doesn't drink as much soda, say 5 cans a week, since there are 3 others that makes 15per week or approximately 64 cans per month. Our local grocery store has deals on soda all the time so I'll figure the cost of the soda at $3.00 per 12 cans. Now we divide 3.00 by 12 and get .25 cents per can. .25 cents x 64 cans per month =$16.00. the grand total of soda purchases by my family is $66.70 per month. Each Bottle of flavor makes 12 liters (Sodastream does all it's math in liters) and each gas cylinder makes 60 liters. That Means the flavorings cost .41 cents per liter and the gas is .25 cents per liter. Each liter costs .66 cents. Okay, I'm almost there. If one liter is approximately 33 ounces, then each ounce costs .02 cents. and a twelve ounce serving (the same size as a can is .24 cents and a 20 oz serving is .40 cents. What does this tell us?
We save about a penny a can of soda and $1.29 per 20 oz bottle. When we take into consideration that the cost of time and gasoline to get the soda, it's even more savings. If we make about 60 liters per month that's $39.60 for the month. Since we'll have the machine for many years we can add .10 cents per liter and the cost is covered in a bout a year and a half. So the recap is without Sodastream we spend $66.70 per month and with it we spend $39.60 and get about 20% more soda.
I went back to Bed, Bath and Beyond and purchased the Genesis kit. The kids opened it on Christmas morning and ran around with the box screaming. I'm thinking they liked it.
Ultimately I love my Sodastream, not because it's going to make me a millionaire (it's not), but because I am not recycling 94 bottles and cans every month, my family is consuming less sugar and sodium, and it's right there whenever we want it.
You can judge for yourself, here is their website: Sodastream
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