water carbonator?

[Alphaville]

this isn’t so much for “money savings” as it is for convenience during the pandemic:

1. the lady likes her bubbly water in the summer, and i don’t need to be hauling heavy bottles from the supermarket.

2. i can’t spend a lot of time in juryrigged experimental setups with hard to find materials because i have work to do and it pays well

3. i also don’t have a car or workshop space so i can’t drive around looking for massive tanks to haul home

with this in mind—convenience and speedy setup—is there any system you’d recommend for water carbonation? is sodastream still the #1 market player?

i’m aware this isn’t a “gourmet” message board, but i figured i’d ask anyway

[horsewoman]

If you buy a used one take good care what kind of ventil the pressure cylinders have.
I've bought an older sodastream with two pressure bottles on ebay recently and now I'm puzzling over how to exchange the bottles for filled ones. In the shop they wouldn't take mine because the top looks different.

[Alphaville]

@horsewoman

that was a quick response, thanks! i’ll read up on bottle types.

[Seppia]

If you’re looking for convenience, soda stream works well I’m told.
Here where I live, a door delivery of water is cheaper. Plus the glass is to be returned (similar to what restaurants do) so in case I ever started drinking bubbled water I’d go that route.

[jacob]

Famously, https://www.frugalwoods.com/2014/08/11/ ... odastream/

CO2 tanks are not that heavy (come in all sizes) and are available at brew stores. If you want a nicer hole in your sodastream, follow up with a reamer.

[Alphaville]

Here where I live, a door delivery of water is cheaper. Plus the glass is to be returned (similar to what restaurants do) so in case I ever started drinking bubbled water I’d go that route.

ah, civilization! see, this is why i'd pay to live in italy.

here we get italian water bottles shipped by container but the glass is not returnable and ends up trashed.

Famously, https://www.frugalwoods.com/2014/08/11/ ... odastream/

CO2 tanks are not that heavy (come in all sizes) and are available at brew stores. If you want a nicer hole in your sodastream, follow up with a reamer.

ah! nice... that's big for a studio apartment kitchen that already holds many other projects & appliances, but i can see the possibilities for future expansion if/when needed.

looks like the sodastream is the starting point regardless, then? more hacks built around it than any other brand? no waste of sunk cost?

eta: looks like welding co2 is not the best to ingest
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/quest ... -grade-co2

while researching bottle types i found this video that talks about cylinders also mentions food grade
https://www.co2masters.com/post/2017/01 ... s-and-uses

(and 10lb *might* fit in my apartment...)

[Scott 2]

How much sparkling water is being consumed per week? Are there flavor requirements? Carbonation requirements? There's a good chance you are screwing with your wife's zero calorie treat and need to tread carefully.

As someone who drinks 1-2 cans of sparkling water a day, it's not all the same. Perrier is more heavily carbonated than san pellegrino. La Croix is in the middle. I prefer the heavier carbonation of Perrier, but Tangerine and Mango La Croix flavors are nearly unmatched. The lone exception might be spindrift grapefruit, which stands out to me, despite being over priced and only lightly carbonated. Despite having a house brand sparkling water, Aldi usually carries one or two of the name brands, because I'm not alone in having very specific preferences.

[Alphaville]

@Scott2

she'll drink whatever i buy, lololol.

i'm the one who got her into it really, and now that we're not buying any i got used to not drinking any--but she misses it.

today at lunch she wanted to water down her wine a bit, and a splash of bubbly is way better than a pour from the lukewarm brita pitcher. we also use mineral water instead of club soda for highball drinks. also with any meal. also supertasty after a good workout. i mean we can drink it all day if it's there. right now it's not.

favorites are san pellegrino for general use and gerolsteiner for drinking by itself and *very cold* (but no ice). my budget purchase however is the italian 365 brand which comes in a plastic bottle (ufff, plastic). i'll buy also what they have at trader joe's, i forget the name-- crystal geyser? etc. in desperate times i've even bought cheapo house brand club sodas but meh.

for the right flavor profile i will mess with the minerals till i find a favorable blend i can replicate consistently. carbonation level i guess is "a happy medium".

since current consumption is zero and i do not plan to go anywhere to buy any, because i only get into the supermarket for important stuff, this is a case of "beggars can't be choosers" and so whatever the result will be better than nothing at all.

[Frita]

Leap frogging off of Scott 2’s post, would having a DIY setup unnecessarily increase consumption and/or reduce enjoyment? My spouse just sold our large batch brew supplies. We enjoy trying new microbrews and prefer to get mix packs. A couple cases of the same is repetitive and prompts drinking just for the effects.

I like fizzy waters too. Pre-COVID I enjoyed the soda bar at McDonalds where I could sample multiple fizzy water flavors for a buck plus tax.

[Alphaville]

@Frita

yeah it would increase consumption from 0 to [something]. and it would definitely restore some summer enjoyment to our situation.

i mean without the pandemic i'd just take my bike to the supermarket and haul a few bottles home every week. more in summer than in winter.

but now there's a cost to the supermarket trips that wasn't there before-- namely, a risk of contagion, maskhole neighbors pissing me off, etc.

what was before a fun cycling expedition is now an angry chore in an unpleasant world.

so i don't want to haul any superfluous/heavy cargo from the store. i want as few trips as possible, and only for the most necessary things.

right now i don't care so much about "beverage money saved" but "haulage saved", if that makes sense? and since there's already water coming through the pipes, well...

and after the pandemic passes then we can just keep pocketing the difference.

[Frita]

It makes total sense. Not to be a PITA...what about a bike trailer? (People around here use the ones for kid haulers as grocery getters. Sometimes they’re on Freecycle.)

[Alphaville]

oh, bike trailer is coming eventually, but right now im still trying to just not go anywhere, and i try to keep in shape on a stationary bicycle. not the same, but it helps some...

when the trailer finally comes then i might be able to go get a 10lb co2 cylinder at the homebrew place. i think the 20lb would be too big for my place. 10 just might work though...

[Alphaville]

insomnia just led me to this:

https://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2012 ... on-system/

it’s a good explanation of everything...

eta: it’s nice that he works with a very manageable 5lb cylinder and goes into pressures etc. i’m sold hahaha. no proprietary machines/cylinders for me. and the system is debugged and the price is right.

[Alphaville]

this morning i found a local gas supplier within bicycle distance who carries 2.5lb, 5lb, 10lb, and 20lb cylinders... it’s food grade co2, and they swap cylinders.

thanks to everyone for the comments!

and now i have to find a regulator & the other parts...

[Scott 2]

Well now I want to try gerolsteiner.

Interested to see how the end product works out.

My stomach starts to feel bad if I drink more than a can or two of sparkling per day.

[Alphaville]

oh, gerolsteiner is delicious! but pricey. it’s high in calcium i think? very intense bubbles and lively taste. try the glass bottle.

and i’m now trying to investigate how to pressurize in glass bottles, which apparently is a big no-no.

i’m not crazy about the plastic bottles of diy setups to be honest but seems to be the safest method.

i might do a tiny keg instead, i’m not sure... brainstorming it at the moment.

-

eta: https://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbe ... k-keg.html

eta, a: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/ ... ides-beer/

[horsewoman]

I can't get over the fact that they cart Gerolsteiner water over to the States. This is run-of-the-mill mineral water in Germany, nothing special about it at all.

[Alphaville]

I can't get over the fact that they cart Gerolsteiner water over to the States. This is run-of-the-mill mineral water in Germany, nothing special about it at all.

what’s your take on apollinaris? i like gerolsteiner better than apollinaris*. am i a heathen?

*except with whiskey

[horsewoman]

I don't have an option at all, I just think it's crazy to transport water overseas. I don't understand it, even with a fancy schmanzy brand like San Pellegrino, but Gerolsteiner is just so commonplace here that it boggles the mind somewhat.
My drug of choice is "Staatlich Fachingen", which helps with reflux.

[Alphaville]

oh for heartburn we just take baking soda (yuck). i’ve never seen the one you mention.

gerolsteiner is so tasty cold!! it used to be cheap and then with marketing the price tripled. now they sponsor f1 cars i think. i no longer buy it except in rare occasions. costs more than san pellegrino now.

san pellegrino or gerolsteiner or volvic (volvic nice and chalky i like it even without bubbles...) ... is one really “fancier” than another except in public perception? or taste?

i think transporting water is crazy too in energy terms, but if you think about it, transporting wine is also transporting water. it’s really about the taste. humans are weird like that.

and i haven’t found a proper american mineral water that i love. i tried ouachita... mountain valley? which is famous, but it was... odd. i think i had the spring water not the sparkling. and topo chico which is a mexican import is *expensive*.

this is the reason why i’d like to find a mineral blend for my sparkling water: it would be a way of recreating flavor remotely without the h2o transpo. calcium, magnesium, other minerals... each has their own mix and flavor profile and once i figure out what i like it should be “tap springs royale”

ps- i already buy powdered minerals as supplements, like magnesium citrate.