I’ve wanted a soda stream for a while, but I really hated the idea of having to buy and dispose of canisters all the time.
Fortunately, there is now a competitor on the market that doesn’t use canisters! Instead, they use a mix of baking soda and citric acid.
Introducing Spärkel! You can find them on their website, here.
Ignoring the cost of the actual machine, which is hopefully a one time cost, each sparkling water or soda costs ~$0.44 to make based on the cost of the carbonators, which come in a pack of 90 for $39.99.
No, this is not an affiliate link or an item I’ve been paid to review. I just love this machine SO MUCH! And we waited a long time to get something like this.
We’ve been carbonating ALL THE THINGS.
I originally ordered it from Amazon but got a ‘cannot ship to you’ almost a week later, which was aggravating. There’s a refund on the way though, so I’m not too annoyed.
So I went directly to the Spärkel site and ordered one.
It works FANTASTICALLY.
First you fill the water in the back. This will mix with the citric acid and baking soda you pour in to make your gas.

You pour the mix in the top.

The baking soda and citric acid come in two packets, taped together.

Then you seat your bottle, with liquid up to the fill line and both caps tightly on into the machine. You pull the handle down until it locks, pick a setting, and hit start. It can take up to five minutes depending on the setting.

Then, when it beeps, you release the handle by pulling it back up into its original position. It will make a racket and water will pour down into the storage container that you then empty.

Very easy to use!
And it carbonates ALL THE THINGS.
Of course, it takes soda stream syrups too, so those are easy to get locally.
All in all, I LOVE IT! *smile*