Soda Siphons vs. Club Soda
One of my favorite summer drinks is any kind of fruit puree with tall glass of ice and club soda. As you can imagine, I go through a lot of club soda this way.
I'm wondering, would I save money or increase quality by getting a soda siphon? It's tempting, and it would be easier to keep some cartridges around than to lug home heavy cans of club soda every week (I bus and walk to the grocery store).
What are people's opinions about the ease of use, cost, and taste of siphon vs. canned?
Pei
Jun 23, 2008 10:32AM
I have a SodaClub maker for exactly the same reason. We like fruit juice with club soda and we got tired of buying the case of plastic bottles each week (and, yes, we walk to the store too). Plus the whole environmental thing ...
Anyway, we love it! The SodaClub maker allows you to vary the fizz level so it's perfect when using different mixing ingredients. (We use a brita filter for our tap water and go from there.) We've had it since December. So far, we think we've made up the cost and then some of the machine and co2 cartridges.
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Yep, we love Soda Club, too. There's a thread bouncing about it here on the Cookware board, if you want to search for it.
Ah here it is: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/381990
~TDQ
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I've had a couple of soda siphons over the years.
The good: It is certainly easier to carry some C02 cylinders than bottles of carbonated water home from the store.
The bad: siphons are fairly small (1-2 quarts/liters) and they take a fair amount of time to chill and carbonate. They are fine for a spritz of water in a cocktail but not so hot for a tall glass of home-made fruit soda. They are also fairly expensive to use because the Co2 cylinders cost $0.40 each when bought in bulk. That's $.40 per liter of water.
A friend of mine who really likes club soda went to a homebrew supply store and bought some red caps that fit on standard 1 and 2-liter soda bottles and have a ball-valve/connector built in. They then got a 5lb CO2 bottle, regulator, and a hose with the connector for the cap (which is also used by some beer or soda kegs). The whole thing goes in the back of their fridge though it's a bit bulky. They say they spent "about as much as a good siphon" (I have no idea how true that is) and they can have 1 bottle charging as they use the other. They claim it costs them $0.04 per liter in CO2. They were quite pleased with themselves.
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You may or may not save money, depending on what you pay for the club soda. I find the cost of siphon cartridges and the cost per litre of 2 litre club soda bottles to be similar. Canned cost depends on the grocery flyer specials each week.
As to taste:
- Most (not all) club soda contains either sodium or potassium salt. I taste it - many don't
- Canned club soda tastes of the can
- Bottled club soda loses pressure over time
- Yes, its heavy to carry home
Advantage: siphon
However:
- Most siphons do not provide an adequate charge and give you quite flat sparkling water
- Metal (as opposed to glass) siphon bottles taste of the bottle
- Cartridges are not always easy to find
- Many siphon bottles are quite tricky to assemble, resulting in wasted cartridges
A home system will be cheaper and will taste better. You will find instructions for assembling one on the net. The cost per litre is negligible. However, you're looking at some DIY plumbing and you need to find a convenient source of gas.
Soda Club is a good compromise. The system is compact. Used with filtered water and adequately charged (you control this), it will taste good. It is much more expensive than a homemade beverage system (the proprietary gas cartridges are pricey vs bulk CO2) but cheaper than any bottles, cans, or siphon cartridges.
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