An honest non paid, sponsored or affiliated review of ‘SodaStream Power’ from our crazy household of 3 adults, a toddler and 2 fluffy cats!
JUMP TO THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:
Our very first product review!
Some stuff you probably want to know
Why did we purchase SodaStream Power?
What’s in my ‘SodaStream Power’ box
What we like about SodaStream Power
What we don’t like about SodaStream Power
Helpful tips
Our overall verdict of SodaStream Power
Our very first product review!
So here it is, our first ever product review! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do one as my husband Tomasi, sister Nara and I are massive shopaholics!
To be honest, I am slightly nervous. Most of my posts were recipe related, I feel that reviewing products is a different ball game as it involves products and services owned by people and companies.
We intend to be brutally honest with our experience using the product or service. This means we may unintentionally offend some people, but that’s ok as this is the risk I’m willing to take. I pride myself on being factual and truthful in my reviews. My readers deserve 100% of my honesty based purely on my or my household opinions.
We take the necessary time to get to know a product before we reach our final verdict on it. This is because we may love a new purchase for the first few weeks and then absolutely hate it a month later or vice versa. My goal is to write helpful and informative reviews of the products or services I have purchased or experienced.
Hope you enjoy my SodaStream Power review!
Some stuff you probably want to know
This Sodastream power review is presented to you by the goofy ‘Tre’ family! We are not paid/sponsored/endorsed/affiliated by any companies or any products mentioned in this post.
The product name and model:
SodaStream Power, automatic sparkling water maker.
Where was it purchased and how much did it cost:
We purchased our SodaStream power from David Jones online. It was sold for $249.00 (USD 190) but we paid $169.00 (USD 129) as we had an $80 David Jones gift card from my brother.
When was it purchased and how long we had it for
We purchased our machine at the beginning of November 2020 and have been using it almost daily. We had it for almost 3 months before we decided to do a Sodastream Power review.
Why did we purchase SodaStream Power?
Buying SodaStream has been in the back of my mind for 2 to 3 years. It’s been one of those items where I would pause to look at it and continue to walk off without buying it.
Our recent purchase of a SodaStream machine was influenced by a few factors.
In December 2017 the New South Wales government implemented a recycling scheme to cut down waste on plastic and glass bottles. To do this they enforced beverage suppliers and manufacturers to fund a cashback scheme to the public. If an empty bottle was returned, 10 cents would be provided to the returner.
Of course, the beverage companies were outraged by this action and of course, they passed this cost on to the customers.
Every fortnight when we do our groceries we buy at least 6 x 1.1 litres (37 fl oz) bottles of soda water and 2 slabs of 24 x 600ml bottles of spring water for our household.
We always recycled our bottles at home, but we never returned it for the cashback. The thought of scanning each bottle for an hour was never appealing! So, we donate our empty bottles to my mum, my brothers do the same. My Mum absolutely loves it, she exchanges the bottles for shopping vouchers.
Because we don’t return the bottles for money, we are paying almost double the amount we used to pay for water. The cost and our concern for the environment resulted in us finally getting a SodaStream machine.
We probably didn’t need the top SodaStream model but it was more aesthetically appealing compared to the lower models. Yes, I can be superficial when it comes to my kitchen appliances!
What’s in my ‘SodaStream Power’ box
SodaStream machine
SodaStream power comes in black and white, we got the black one. The machine is sleek and simple and best of all it only takes up a tiny footprint on our kitchen bench.
Electricity cord
As far as I am aware, SodaStream Power is the first model to use electricity to function the machine. Strangely, the power cord head came with several attachments. It looks like it was for different countries, I had to think for a brief moment which head fitted mine (don’t judge!)
Gas bottle
This long cylinder is surprisingly heavy and promises to make 60 litres (13 gallons) of soda water!
Instructions
It comes with a manual and my favourite, the quick start leaflet!
What we like about SodaStream Power
Clear, easy to follow quick start leaflet
Who wants to sit for hours reading an instruction manual when we can play with our new appliane?! The leaflet instructions were clear and set up was a breeze, it took me no longer than 5 minutes to set the machine up ready to be used.
Ease of use
Every time you need soda water, you simply just insert the bottle and press the button. There are 3 levels of carbonation you can choose from and you get frizzy water in seconds! Magical!!!!
Small footprint
The LWH measurements are 12x22x42cm. This machine only takes up a small amount of my kitchen bench space. I love this as my kitchen is swamped with other appliances!
The taste
Sodastream sodawater taste just like storebought ones if not better! I love that we can choose the level of frizziness we want in our drinks at any time! It even makes tap water taste good!
Exchangeable gas cylinders at a lower price
When your gas cylinder is empty you can take it to a participating retailer to swap it for a full one at a much lower cost. Officeworks sells their new 60L gas cylinders for $35 (USD 27) and their ‘swap and refills’ for $19 (USD 14.50), that’s a huge saving of $16 (USD 12.20)
Selection of mixers and flavours
SodaStream has teamed up with Pepsi and Soda Press to make syrups to mix with SodaStream Soda water. There are plenty of flavours to choose from! And if you know me well you’ll know variety is my weakness as shown above I’ve purchased ‘just a few’ to try!
No more heavy bottles and less waste produced
Anything that helps the environment and makes this world a better place is a positive for me!
As we no longer need to buy soda water in bulk means, this means no more lifting heavy bottles up the stairs and finding storage spaces for it!
What we don’t like about SodaStream Power
Water sprayed everywhere whilst using the machine for the first few times!
This happened to me a few times when I first tried to make soda water from the machine. I was miffed, I kept checking to make sure it wasn’t me! I attached the bottle to the unit correctly and that I didn’t overfill the water in the bottle provided.
Annoyed by this, I skimmed through the manual and nothing helped. I thought I had a dodgy machine and was planning to call up SodaStream for assistance but before doing so I went to their website.
By doing this, I realised that when a gas bottle has been fitted into the machine, only the first two levels could be used not the third. The pressure on the third would be too powerful causing water to splash from the bottle. Since learning of this, we never had any splashing! It would have been good if this advice was written in the manual.
60 litres gas cylinder
We like our water very carbonated, so we either use the 3rd or 2nd level twice. What this means is, it doesn’t make 60 litres of soda water for us! I am guessing it would make 60 litres if the lowest setting was used at all times.
It doesn’t tell us that the gas is low!
When you pay for one of their top models, you’ll expect an installed feature where it tells you when you’re low in gas. The only way we could tell it was low is when our water started tasting flat!
It only comes with one SodaStream bottle
You must only use SodaStream bottles in their machine. Their bottles come in 1-litre size and have a 3-year lifespan. We feel that 2 bottles should have been provided with the machine as we had to inconveniently purchase an extra bottle immediately.
Helpful tips
Instant ice-cold soda water any time
For easy instant cold soda water, we fill our bottles and leave them to cool in the fridge. This means we can have chilled soda water at any time.
Keep a spare gas cylinder
If you’re an avid soda water drinker, always keep a spare gas cylinder at home as you’ll never know when it’ll run out!
Do not use the 3rd level of carbonation with a new gas cylinder
We learned the hard way as mentioned above. New gas cylinders insert to much pressure in the bottle which will cause water to splurt out everywhere! Only use the first two levels until for the first 5 or 6 litres of water.
Get creative
Whilst the syrup mixes we have tried have been a hit and miss, we are surprised how good some of the flavours are. We’ll review the flavours we purchased in an upcoming post and will link it to this SodaStream Power review.
Also now that you’ve got soda water at your fingertips don’t forget to use it for your cheeky cocktail mixes as I did for my How To Make Aperol Spritz post.
SodaStream Australia website
You can read more about SodaStream by visiting their website: https://www.sodastream.com.au/
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Our overall verdict of SodaStream Power
Value for money
Unfortunately, we can’t compare this model against the previous models as this is the first SodaStream machine we ever owned.
We use our SodaStream machine almost daily since we’ve purchased it. so our answer is a big yes! The cylinder and refills are affordable too.
Would we repurchase?
Yes, as long as the machine has a lifespan of 5 years or over we would look at getting a similar model.
Our rating
***9/10*** WOOHOO!!!!
We love it! so far it’s been reliable, simple to function and tastes wonderful. I truly love that we can have soda water at any time and if we want to change it up we can mix in flavours!
I would love to hear your thoughts or feedback on this SodaStream Power Review. You can leave your comment by scrolling down or by clicking the green circle on the left. To prevent spambots you’ll need to provide an email but it won’t be published.
Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
