The best sparking waters maker to buy
From Sodastream to Sage, our expert shares his choice of the best fizzy water makers to add sparkle to your drinks.
From Sodastream to Sage, our expert shares his choice of the best fizzy water makers to add sparkle to your drinks.
I may be the only person reading this who used empty 1960s Sodastream gas cartridges as bombs for my Airfix Lancaster air raids on the sitting room carpet. Or perhaps there are other bloodthirsty former nine-year-olds amongst you.
Sodastream was popular in aspiring British households when most of us were young and ‘home entertaining’ was on the rise. A fashionable wedding present, the sales of Sodastream – with its little, grey bomb-like carbon dioxide containers – rose even further with the popularity of cordial or whisky and soda combinations.
Decline set in, however, when fizzy drinks became more readily available in supermarkets and off-licences. The almost century-old brand passed from owner to owner without coming back into fashion until the 1990s, when it was bought for a few million pounds by Israeli investors, who radically redesigned the old product and had a brilliant new marketing idea.
Instead of selling it as a sophisticated drinks cabinet accessory, they positioned Sodastream as an eco-product. Why waste all the plastic and transport costs of bottled sparkling water when you could make it at home from tap water?
That was when I became an enthusiastic user, along with millions more around the world. The revamped company was sold on to Pepsi in 2018 for $3.2 billion.
I have the £110 Sodastream Terra model (1, RRP £109.99) – or more accurately its predecessor from a few years ago – and we save a huge amount on fizzy water, as well as doing our bit for the planet by not getting through dozens of one-use plastic bottles.
Since its revival, other home carbonation products have launched. At the high price end, Australian company Sage, whose deluxe items I love, have its £179 InFizz Fusion model (2, RRP £179.95), which is an acclaimed best buy.
Stylish and solidly built, it will carbonate juices and any other suitable liquids (Sodastream doesn’t advise this, unless you buy the Mix model, RRP £139.99). In Australia, the Sage is popular for fizzing up low-cost white and rosé wines into “DIY lady petrol”.
Another high-end product is the stainless steel Aarke Carbonator 3 from Sweden (3, RRP £179). Many consider it the best for style and build quality, but it does cost £200, or £275 for the Pro version with glass bottle.
One talking point to leave you with: my dentist told me he’d read in a medical journal that fizzy water, even without sugary syrups, is not great for your teeth. The theory is that it contains carbonic acid, formed when CO₂ dissolves in water, and that this slight acidity can contribute to enamel erosion.
The evidence, as it turned out when I asked him to look into it, is that the danger is too minimal to worry about. Good news. I didn’t want the sparkle taken out of my love of ice-cold, guilt-free fizzy H₂0.
For an entry-level model the BIBO Sparkling Water Maker is popular and includes a 1L BPA-free bottle and 60L gas cylinder for its RRP: £54.99.
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