We love our SodaStream. We really do. We love it so much that I knew I had to find a way to save money on SodaStream syrups, so we could use it as much as possible.
My husband was addicted to soda when we first were married. I’d known that he was a fan of sugary drinks, but never realized how much he depended on soda, or pop, as he called it. We’d grab up the store brand 3-liter drinks and he’d run through them in a matter of days. Once we both decided to eat healthier, the soda left the house. He actually ended up losing 20 pounds right off the bat, just by giving up some of his food vices, including soda.
Why We Started Using SodaStream
Recently, we’d decided to give SodaStream a try, since he still misses having a bubbly drink from time to time, and I’m a seltzer lover. After pricing out the cost (with a rebate), and the savings we would have from using it, I saw right away that the syrups were the real money pit. Not only are they not as healthy as you may think (take a look at the ingredients), they are so expensive! Paying 4 to 6 dollars per bottle can really add up, and that’s not something that I’d like to add to our 64 dollar grocery budget. I decided to find a new way to use syrups that wouldn’t break the bank.
The Secret To SodaStream Syrups
I’ve googled SodaStream syrup recipes quite a few times, but have only seen mentions of moving from buying the SodaStream syrups to buying other syrups in their place, like Torani. This doesn’t create a big enough savings for our family. Then it hit me: juice concentrates. You know, those cute tubes located in the freezer section of your supermarket. They are concentrated enough to use with the SodaStream, and they are inexpensive. You can also keep it healthier by choosing to purchase 100% juice concentrates.
Here are tips I’ve learned from using the concentrates, instead of SodaStream syrup recipes:
- The darker the better. We’ve had great luck with grape juice and pomegranate juice concentrates. For some reason, the light the juice, the lighter the taste in the SodaStream bottle. You could add more syrup to intensify the taste, but that would defeat the purpose of using the syrups to save money.
- Lemonade concentrates don’t fair as well. Like I mentioned above, lighter syrups don’t work as well, and this includes the lemonade concentrates.
- Use the SodaStream bottle cap to measure. We use 4 capfuls per bottle, but use however much you would like. At 4 capfuls, you’ll be able to stretch that 2 dollar concentrate.
- Place the concentrate in a glass container once opened. This is key. Not only is it easier to spill all of your concentrate if you leave it in the plastic container, but it may have a chance to attract other odors or flavors from various items in the fridge. Place your concentrate in a mason jar or any other glass container you may have.
- Defrost the concentrate. This should be a given, but I’ll list it anyway. Make sure the concentrate is fully defrosted before you use it. Safely defrost it in the fridge. When we see that one concentrate is almost gone, we grab another one from the freezer, and let it defrost overnight.
Have you tried making your own syrups? I’m intrigued by the soda stream, but I know I wouldn’t want to use their syrup and I don’t want to shell out the $ to buy a machine just for the sake of experimentation.
Yes, I’ve tried to make my own syrups and they just seem to not get thick enough for the soda stream. I’ve used my strawberry syrup recipe, but ended up using a large amount just to flavor the soda stream bottle.
SodaStreams are actually pretty inexpensive now! We’ve been waiting a while to get one due to the previous costs, but when we saw it at Walmart for $60 with a $20 rebate, we jumped on it. It included the machine, 1 tank, 1 bottle, and a free bottle of syrup.
I’m bookmarking this. I’m ashamed to say that I have two Sodastreams. I need to give one away and use the one that I have for me.
Two?! Now I’m jealous lol. We love ours, but not the price of those syrups.
i wouldn’t shell out the $$$ for a soda stream if my life depended on it. My set up is much cheaper. It consists of a 5lb Co2 tank, a regulator, some hose, a carbonator cap, and a couple house clamps. All of this is available on Amazon for around $100 or your local home brew supply store for a little bit more. To refill a 5lb tank costs under $20!
Thanks for that tip, Brandon! Do you have a blog or a blog post detailing how to do this safely? I’d love to see it.
I don’t have a blog. Sometimes I think I should. Lol. I learned everything about it from googling. There are a few youtube videos on the subject. Search “how to carbonate water at home”
Thank you!
Don’t know if this helps but I was so miffed by high price of syrups, I experimented with less costly good quality alternatives – and I found one – Crystal Light. After gassing, I drop about 1/4 of a packet (it’s in crystal or powder form) into the bottle, cap, and shake/mix by inverting 4 times. I get excellent results in the crystal light flavors – less than 1/4 of SS syrup costs.
This is so smart! I actually really love Crystal Light, so this would be a good alternative for us. Thank you!
When we were kids and Italian sodas were getting popular we made our own simple syrups with flavor extracts sugar and water. I personally just go with out added sugars these days and use lime or lemon juice. It just adding juice to the soda water. I gave up regular sugary sodas for lent one year and never went back. Now I take one sip of one and can’t stand how sweet it is!
Sounds great and easy. For clarification are you using 4 capfuls in a 1 liter bottle? As opposed to a small bottle.
Yes, in a liter bottle.