SodaStream Fizzi Sparkling Water Maker Bundle (Icy Blue), with CO2, BPA free Bottles, and 0 Calorie Fruit Drops Flavors

I've only ever bothered to write one other review, but there are such polarized opinions on this product that I thought it worth sharing my discovery. First some background. I spotted this on a Black Friday deal and decided to chance it, the very polarized reviews notwithstanding. Upon studying the reviews very carefully, it seemed to me to likely primarily come down to technique. Two frequently given suggestions were ensuring that the bottle is very firmly put in place and using very cold water for the CO2 to best dissolve. Other suggestions included watching a YouTube video about listening for the "puff sound," using fewer longer presses of the button, using more shorter presses of the button, and moving some black plastic piece out of the way before latching the bottle in place. Common complaints were a poor seal leading to weak carbonation / flat soda, regardless of how much CO2 is pumped into the bottle, and water spurting out and making a mess. So this was our experience: First time, perfection. Perfect level of carbonation, very simply achieved: we placed the bottle in place, pressed the button a couple times, done. We marveled that anyone could think anything was wrong with it. Then subsequent times: experienced what others described, that is flat, weak carbonation, despite carefully placing the bottle and trying different levels and degrees of CO2. We have never experienced water spurting or spraying, but that is because we simply wait 30 seconds or so before releasing the bottle, just as you wouldn't immediately open a regular soda bottle that had just been agitated. Watched the aforementioned YouTube video, made sure the water was iced, tried fewer longer button presses vs. more shorter button presses, placed the bottle firmly, all to no avail. I was stumped, as I couldn't think of anything magical we had done that very first time we got perfect results, and couldn't think of anything we were doing drastically differently with subsequent attempts. I'm no physicist, but here's the one little light bulb moment I had that seems to have made all the difference, i.e. perfect soda every single time since then: the same way a car hydroplanes when the tires can't grip adequately on a wet road, I wondered if the poor seal might simply be due to moisture around the rim of the bottle. So I just started wiping off the bottle thoroughly to make sure it was completely dry after pouring water into it. Voila. I don't know if that's it, or if it's just weird luck, but literally have never had a problem whatsoever since then. Perfect carbonation every time (in fact, I'm sipping some perfectly carbonated water right now), regardless of the other stuff -- long button pushes, short button pushes, cold water vs. not as cold water, placing bottle in firmly or gently, etc. None of that stuff made much difference, in our experience, but the clean, dry bottle rim did. Seems to seal just fine now, and I literally just set the bottle in place without much thought -- I don't have to focus on placing it firmly or any other sort of special maneuvering. Pretty simple and straightforward. I really do love it -- my plain old tap water seriously tastes just as amazing and delicious as fancy San Pellegrino. For all of us watching our waistlines and involved in keto/intermittent fasting, it's a dream come true. Wonderful, satisfying bubbles with no worry about blood sugar or insulin spikes. No lugging bottles from the store. No piles of plastic waste in the bin. Give this a shot and just make sure the rim is dry so there's no "hydroplane" effect between where the two surfaces meet.

Don't listen to those who say it doesn't work, or that it produces very flat soda - the soda I get can be so fizzy that it sometimes looks like the water is boiling in the glass! I have to assume that people experiencing issues haven't hooked up the gas properly (though that's not at all difficult), or either overfilled the liter bottles (some folks seem to think the infuser needs to be submerged? not the case), or tried to pressurize juice or with flavoring pre-added.Note that the bottle doesn't lock properly unless you pull the clear plastic tab forward before inserting the bottle (pushing the tab back in). I had to watch SodaStream's simple youtube instructions to understand how to do it properly, not sure the picture instructions would've sufficiently conveyed this to me (though I didn't find the instructions until I'd already watched the vid anyway). If you neglect this you'll wind up just spraying water everywhere when you try to use the device.I'm still puzzled by the instructions to hold the button for two seconds and do it five times for lots of fizz - more pushes for more fizz. If I hold for genuinely two seconds, then the pressure maxes out sometime during the third press and you can hear gas escaping the safety valve. Instead, I push for a single second (one thousand one, lifting on one), and do that around 4 times. I wait a count of 10 (~5 seconds?) in between each gas burst, as I figure that gives more time for the gas pressure to have an effect on the water (dunno if that's how it works, heh).We're in the process of playing around with all sorts of methods to flavor the results. My favorite so far is to use a heaping spoonful or two per glass of frozen juice concentrate (especially pineapple or guava nectar), followed by sugar free Torani syrups for Italian or Italian Creme sodas. You can also make great Egg Creams with chocolate syrup and a splash of milk (no "egg", if you're not familiar with the drink). We've also bought some powdered flavors from the juice aisle of the grocery store - 7up, Canada Dry, Welch's and Sunkist are good choices. A&W and Dad's Root Beer are disgustingly oversweetened. The spice aisle had a root beer extract, so I hope to try that soon.We've switched over to Soda Stream almost completely - we used to drink cans upon cans of Coke Zero and La Croix (and similar flavored soda waters). I still buy some Coke Zero but we drink it much more moderately now. If we find a source of Coke Zero syrup or something, then we could eschew that too.

UPDATE 28 NOV 2018: After contacting Soda Stream's customer service about 10 to 14 days ago, I got the replacement unit they promised last night via FedEx ground and the new unit works like the proverbial charm. Yowzers, we are talking blow your socks off carbonation here if you do 5 pushes of the button! I love really effervescent water but that was a little much, even for me, so I think I'll try 3 next time. So long as this unit holds up I will be one very happy customer. :)Note on the 'essences': avoid them unless you're a fan of artificial tasting flavorings that make you think you didn't rinse your glass sufficiently after washing it.Previously: Seriously? I paid $124.99 for a setup that makes flat soda water with no bubbles? Yes, I installed the cylinder correctly and it is not leaking. Yes, I put the carbonation bottle filled with 43 degree water (I used a thermometer to check it) into the machine at roughly a 40 degree angle and there was a slight gap between the bottom of the carbonation bottle and the base of the machine. Yes, I pressed the button all the way down and held it for 2 seconds. 5 times. Then 7 times. Then 10 times. All I got was slightly sharp tasting flat water and a puddle around the machine. I have used an entire cylinder of CO2 to make about 7 bottles of flat soda water and I'm on the second cylinder. I contacted Soda stream and they are sending me a return label to return this machine and will supposedly send a machine that actually works. We'll see. I'll update this review when I receive the second machine.Note: The "instructions" on the card that came with the machine are in pictures, no text. I had to look online to find actual operating instructions for this freaking piece of trash machine, not that they helped.

I found the flavours lacking .. no so good. The machine works well enough but I wouldn’t buy another one. You have to use their bottles… which annoys me.

We really like the machine