Streaming to a Sparkling Conclusion – A Review in Two Parts

Mom Central received The SodaStream Source in order to facilitate this review. The views expressed here are entirely our own.

Sparkling water proves big these days at Mom Central – so big that the review of SodaStream couldn’t be contained in just one installment. Mom Central CEO Stacy DeBroff offers her family’s experience with SodaStream, while her colleague Stephanie Kaufman weighs in with her perspective. Read on to see what bubbles up!

Stacy’s Review

As a sparkling water enthusiast, I’ve fallen completely in love with The SodaStream – yet it almost didn’t happen. For a long while, I resisted because the “soda” portion of the name completely distracted me. My college-aged kids certainly drink enough soda – both with and without Mom-approval. And for me, my own soda vice leans in a very specific direction, so if I do want a quick soda fix, I find myself craving the secret formula brewed by the folks at Diet Dr. Pepper.

But sparkling water remains an entirely different matter. I serve it constantly a dinner parties, keep a can by my side at work, and go to bed with a glass of it on my nightstand. I’ve also noticed that my family has developed very specific tastes in their sparkling water consumption. I love plain water, my son gravitates toward lime, and my daughter craves raspberry. And recently, my husband discovered pomegranate!

To satisfy all these tastes, our pantry housed four different cases of specific seltzer flavors – not to mention our pocketbook felt the squeeze and our recycling bin overflowed with a host of seltzer cans each week. Moreover, I recently saw how this environmental impact plays out on a larger scale at the International Housewares Show in Chicago. SodaStream featured a “Cage of Global Shame” display that dramatically demonstrated how much waste one bottle of SodaStream water can eliminate.

Now, with our new SodaStream, I’ve designated a bottle for each family member, and everyone can create a specific brew with the small flavorings that come with the machine. They also can adjust the level of carbonation to their preference and easily change it up with the machine’s intuitive controls. And for my parties, I pour my favorite plain sparkling water into a clear pitcher, so I can keep guests’ glasses filled.

Finally, I love how the machine takes me back and reminds me of my Grandmother’s homemade seltzer water machine – a borderline dangerous contraption that resembled an elaborate fire extinguisher but allowed her to serve up Papa Gil’s favorite, soothing seltzer drink.

Today, while it may be called SodaStream, I think, “Hello, sparkling water!”

Over the past year or so, I’ve developed a passion for sparkling water – a refreshing drink in the morning, a can with lunch, and a glass with dinner – and quickly my husband began to pay attention to the cost, not to mention the stack of water bottles in the recycling. After a colleague told him about “a machine that turned tap water into sparkling water,” he did some online research and soon, The SodaStream showed up at our doorstep.

Thrilled at the prospect of sparkling water on demand, I became less thrilled with the name and the collection of soda flavorings that accompanied the machine. Until recently, I never allowed my 11-year-old daughter even a sip of soda, so I hesitated at the idea of keeping a soda-making kit on the kitchen counter.

My solution? I tossed the soda flavorings and focused on the sparkling water. The SodaStream – which I would dearly love to rename to SeltzerStream or SparkleStream – comes with two clear bottles that you simply fill up with water and then insert into the front of the machine. A small carbon canister fits into the back of the machine and gives the water its fizz. When these carbonators become empty, they can be easily exchanged at a number of retail stores.

The machine also allows you to control the amount of carbonation in the sparkling water, providing you with the option to create both mild and more zesty versions. I also love the ability to add my own natural flavoring – with lemon, lime, or fresh mint. And when I have dinner guests, I always know I can keep filling up everyone’s glass – without stockpiling cases of bottles or cans.

Now that I’ve settled the soda vs. water issue, I only have one other challenge – the sound! The SodaStream makes as it carbonates water drives Jake, our Cairn Terrier, batty. Sometimes, he starts barking if I even touch the machine. But now, as the weather grows warmer, Jake can spend a lot more time outside, meaning I can keep an endless stream of SodaStream bottles filled!

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.