Recently, I've gotten into using a Sodastream for making my own Soda pop/seltzer. I had an old Xmas Gift card for Bed, Bath & Beyond and thought I should use it for something worthwhile. Having done it, I can say with confidence that it was an excellent call. I love the thing. I can make my own seltzer at my own level of carbination and flavor with my own syrups if I want to make traditional soda. I'm a Diet Dr. Pepper fan, and you can actually get a 1gal. and/or 5 gal, box of syrup of it on Amazon. I haven't done that yet as the shipping costs outweigh just going to the local Wally and buying the bottles of syrup (the Sodatstream version is called "Diet Dr. Pete" and it's even better as it's made with Sucralose and not Aspartame). A bottle of Diet Dr. Pete costs $4.88 (on "rollback" at present) and is advertised as making "up to 9 liters..." Maybe I use too much per batch because the best I can do is about 6L of soda per bottle of syrup. But I digress.
The biggest expense hurdle (if you're looking to use it to save money) is in replacing/refilling the CO2 tanks. A brand new 60L tank from Sodastream is around $30.00 at Wally. Meaning, it should be able to carbonate about 60L of water per tank. I only get about 40L, but that's OK. Again, I probably over-carbonate. You can exchange an empty tank for a filled one for about $15.00. However, there are a great many different ways of getting the tanks refilled, or using alternate methods for carbonating. There are a bunch of different tank adapters that let you hook up a commercial grade CO2 tank (anywhere from 5lb to 20+lb) with a CGA320 valve to the Sodastream unit. You have to make sure that you keep the main tank valve "off" when not in use and clear the adapter line as well. I'm leaning toward this strategy eventually, but I have to ensure that it works without having to regulate the pressure and/or causing damage to the Sodastream unit, and ensuring there's an easy source of refilling the CO2 tank (either a beer craft store or a local Airgas location that I can go to for a fill). Hopefully, if I get a 20lb tank, I won't have to do that so often. Some people go to paint ball shops and use paint ball tanks, etc., but there are concerns about "food grade" CO2. We'll see how that goes.
Until then, what I have tried to use is the "really cheap" way to fill the existing 60CL CO2 tanks... the "Dry Ice" method. The Publix in my neighborhood sells food grade dry ice for $1.68/lb. The basic procedure is to take an empty 60CL tank (and be sure it's empty), unscrew the valve (and the 1st time it may require some effort as they're screwed on tightly), and, using a kitchen scale, fill the tank with solid dry ice chunks/flakes up to the correct weight (~410grams of dry ice). Replace the valve and tighten (and be sure the burst valve is also tightened), and once the tank warms up you'll have a pressurized CO2 tank, per Soda Stream standards. This method works and is cheapest, but it takes a lot of time, and you have to move fast, once you get the Dry Ice chunks from your supplier. In particular, you have to have a good method of crushing the Dry Ice blocks into smaller chunks and/or a powder, and getting them into the tank before it sublimes. The tank says it takes 14.5oz of CO2 (roughly that ~410 grams you weigh out). So you really should by a little more than 1lb of dry ice for one 60CL tank as you'll lose a bit of it trying to get it into the tank. This has been the biggest challenge for me. Figuring out an efficient way of crushing the dry ice blocks into small chunks or a powder and getting down the funnel into the tank. A good thing to do is take a chopstick and be able to shove the dry ice down into the tank from the funnel as it will freeze inside the funnel spout. I've seen some suggestions on how to use a std. blender to get the dry ice blocks into small enough crystals or powder to shove down the funnel. But I have yet to test that theory. I just hope it doesn't freeze up the blender. Anyway, here's a Youtube video on how to do the dry ice method:
[youtube]l-a3pISQLQg[/youtube]
So, has anyone here gotten in to this "Sodastream" thing and what are your experiences with it, if any? If you use the "dry ice" method, what tips & tricks have you developed to be more efficient with the dry ice so that you don't lose a lot of it while trying to fill the tank? Hopefully, I'll be doing the 20lb tank with adapter, soon, but until then...
Discuss... Thanks!
I don't know if the Mexican bottling plant also makes syrup boxes or not. 
