Anyone using SodaStream? (1 Viewer)

[bob kaplan]

Hi....Wondering if anyone else uses this. Wondering what is happening to the supply of syrups. I drink quite a bit of soda and was giving the "stream" as a gift. Now the choice and price of the syrups is changing. The variety is down and prices are way up. Does anyone know what is happening?

 

[Malcolm R]

Coca Cola is developing a new cold drink system with Keurig Green Mountain. Maybe they're pulling some of their products from Sodastream to become exclusive with their own system?

I think the new Keurig cold system is supposed to be for sale before the holidays.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

There was a thread going a little while about SodaStream, might be some interesting things to catch up on there:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/309204-anyone-using-sodastream/?hl=sodastream


I'm not happy with the current selection of sodas - I bought the Sodastream originally because of their Sparkling Naturals line which used real cane sugar, and they've discontinued all of those flavors. I don't like any of the "regular" ones because they have a mix of sugar and artificial sweeteners, and I get a weird aftertaste with them. And the new "natural" ones feature fructose and just don't taste like soda to me - at best it's like a carbonated Vitaminwater type drink, which can be okay, but it's not the soda I signed up for. I was able to stock up a bunch of bottles of the syrups I liked when they went on clearance earlier in the year, but if this is the best they have for flavors, when I run out of what I've got, I'm done with the thing.


Such a shame, I guess the sales for the more expensive real sugar syrups weren't what they expected.

 

[bob kaplan]

Thanks for point that threat out Josh.....but most of that was from some time ago.....just wondered what people were thinking about the decreasing value of it now.

 

[schan1269]

Pepsi bought into Sodastream.

Coke pulled product.

Pepsi decided the product sucked.

Pepsi was trialing with Bevyz.

Keurig bought Bevyz.

Snapple/Dr Pepper is going with Keurig.

 

[Dheiner]

I like mine, but I mostly just use it to carbonate water. I seem to always get at least 2 liters this way.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I like mine, but I mostly just use it to carbonate water. I seem to always get at least 2 liters this way.

I ended up getting one for my mother, and she uses it just for freshly carbonated water as well - she likes it extra fizzy for making eggcreams.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Does anyone know what's going on with SodaStream?


I was in the market to buy some syrup (I've just run out of Diet Dr. Pete) and have run into THIS at my local Target:

And THIS at my local Wal-Mart:

And I went on Amazon and found Diet Dr. Pete prices through the roof.


Where has all the syrup gone?!?


I haven't checked yet at Bed, Bath & Beyond...


Has Sodastream gone out of business or something? If so, THAT would be depressing...

 

[Mike Frezon]

Oh. I see.


It's a company in trouble.


So apparently Middle East politics combined with a soft soda market in the US (that's a little hard to believe) are responsible for the trouble to the company.


I hate when I've invested in a technology and have the carbonation devices and the bottles, etc...but might now have difficulty buying the syrup...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

They've discontinued the "Sparking Naturals" line with real cane sugar that was my reason for buying the thing in the first place. I'm really not a happy customer in light of that. Their "Natural Apple" flavor was one of the best things I've ever tasted (at least in the drink department) and I'm super bummed that it's just forever gone.


They had a clearance sale a while ago with and I stocked up on the remaining cane sugar soda syrups - their natural cola, some pineapple-orange, and grapefruit. Unless they come out with a new line with real sugar, which I'm not expecting, I think I'll be retiring the machine after that. Or if I can find a cost-efficient way of getting bag-in-box brand name syrups like Coke or Pepsi, maybe I'll do that. But I think I'm done with their flavors. They just introduced some new "natural" flavors, but they're sweetened with fructose and not cane sugar, and the flavors seem very thin and watery to me - kind of like comparing the amount of flavor in a bottle of Gatorade or Vitaminwater to a full soda - just not the same.


It does look like they've been redesigning the bottles but that Diet Dr. Pete is available online directly through them:

https://www.sodastreamusa.com/fountain-style-diet-dr-pete-p781.aspx

 

[Mike Frezon]

If the major retailers aren't going to be stocking their product, they might as well pull the rope on the guillotine now.


Having to order through sodastream.com (or even Amazon for that matter) just won't do it for most people, myself included. i buy all sorts of things through Amazon...but I food/drink is not something that's part of my mindset right now. I guess it might be in the not-so-distant future.


I ordered some things through their clearance sale a couple months ago myself...several bottles of their diet orange syrup, for example, and some half-liter bottles. But I would prefer not to have to do that and just shop for the syrup like it's soda (groceries).


As it is, I've already developed a "routine" with getting new CO2 tanks. I keep one on reserve and as soon as the old one's empty it goes in the car so that the next time I'm near a place, I do the exchange. Pretty much the same system I've got with the propane tanks for my grill.

 

[Everett S.]

If the major retailers aren't going to be stocking their product, they might as well pull the rope on the guillotine now.


Having to order through sodastream.com (or even Amazon for that matter) just won't do it for most people, myself included. i buy all sorts of things through Amazon...but I food/drink is not something that's part of my mindset right now. I guess it might be in the not-so-distant future.


I ordered some things through their clearance sale a couple months ago myself...several bottles of their diet orange syrup, for example, and some half-liter bottles. But I would prefer not to have to do that and just shop for the syrup like it's soda (groceries).


As it is, I've already developed a "routine" with getting new CO2 tanks. I keep one on reserve and as soon as the old one's empty it goes in the car so that the next time I'm near a place, I do the exchange. Pretty much the same system I've got with the propane tanks for my grill.

One of the shopping channels carry this,

u might try them. Also they are making a deal with Pepsi that might help them!

 

[Alf S]

FYI.


Already a thread about Sodastream here: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/309204-anyone-using-sodastream/

 

[DaveF]

FYI.


Already a thread about Sodastream here: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/309204-anyone-using-sodastream/

Merged

 

[Alf S]

Unless politics overseas kills them off, the company still seems to be alive as of today since Pepsi just teamed up with them to make homeade Pepsi.


http://www.wsj.com/articles/pepsico-expands-soda-partnership-with-home-carbonation-maker-sodastream-1441976400

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Unless politics overseas kills them off, the company still seems to be alive as of today since Pepsi just teamed up with them to make homeade Pepsi.


http://www.wsj.com/articles/pepsico-expands-soda-partnership-with-home-carbonation-maker-sodastream-1441976400

I can't read more than the first couple sentences of the article (locked behind a paywall), but at least for me. Pepsi syrups aren't available for shipping. When I go to the Sodastream website, it shows that there is a Pepsi section, but then it asks for my zip code, and tells me the product isn't available in my area.


It does let me see details for the Pepsi - right now it looks like it's just available in pre-measured bottle caps. Since part of the point of the Sodastream was for you to be able to customize your beverage to your liking, the idea of having it available only in a pre-measured quantity doesn't really appeal much. It also appears that the Pepsi isn't sweetened solely with sugar but with a blend of sugar and stevia - I can't drink stevia because rather than tasting sweet, it just tastes like metal to me.


But if Sodastream ever produced an actual Pepsi flavor sweetened only with sugar, and in a bottle of syrup and not as a pre-measured cap, I'd be very into it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

THAT could be a good develop for me. As long as they do a Diet Pepsi...


HERE'S a link to a different article, Josh.

 

[Mike Frezon]

My wife is having issues with the new artificial sweetener (sucralose) that Diet Pepsi has used to replace aspartame. It seems to be upsetting her stomach. She has had to switch to Diet Coke only now.


I've been wondering if there have been any other complaints about that.

 

[Alf S]

I've been using Splenda for years without any issues.


I MUCH MUCH prefer it to the nasty aspertame stuff.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

THAT could be a good develop for me. As long as they do a Diet Pepsi...


HERE'S a link to a different article, Josh.

Thanks Mike!


Unfortunately the stevia that they have mixed into those caps (even in the "regular"/non-diet versions) makes that a no-go for me. That's been probably my biggest complaint about SodaStream, that pretty much all of their "regular" flavors are made with combinations of real sugar and artificial sweeteners, and I just don't want any of that Splenda and Stevia stuff. It's not any sort of moral or nutritious crusade on my part, those sweeteners just taste horrible to me, whether they're on their own or blended with sugar.


The price also seems a little high, from the article -- $3.49 for a pack of four caps, each of which makes only one of the small half liter bottles? So it's almost a dollar for less than a 20 oz, or basically the same price as buying pre-made Pepsi in the store? And I know I'm repeating myself, but the caps aren't ideal in my opinion - the idea behind SodaStream is to be able to make your own custom soda, and being locked into their preset syrup size instead of being able to customize the amount of syrup I want isn't an exciting proposition for me. But really, all of that is a moot point -- as long as it's made with artificial sweeteners, I can't drink it.