Jerking Around #0(d) - SodaStream, Redux
I suspect that the exuberance of the tea in Jerking Around #10 did damage to my SodaStream, because when I next went to use it, I had problems with the gas escaping and not carbonating the water. So, I discarded it, swapped the gas cylinder, and bought the SodaStream Fizzi One-Touch. This offers a little less control over the carbonation level than the original - it only offers three settings for carbonation. The highest setting is a little too heavy for me; the other two settings are both usable. It’s really a “two-touch” system; the first touch wakes it; the second actually does the carbonation.
The SodaStream brand syrups have also changed; they’ no longer thick syrupy stuff, but they seem more concentrated than the syrups did - current bottles are smaller, but carbonate the same number of 1-liter bottles of soda that the older ones did. They’re also much better than the original syrups; the diet cola is, in my opinion, not as good as any of the Coca-Cola colas (Classic, Diet Coke, or Coca-Cola Zero Sugar), but better than the corresponding Pepsico flavors, and similar statements can be made about their diet ginger ale, diet root beer, zero-calorie homestyle lemonade, and diet “Dr. Pete”, their Dr Pepper equivalent. They no longer have “name-brand” (like the Crystal Light or Country Time) flavors, and instead of the Sparkling Naturals, they seem to have a line of “organic” syrups under the Soda Press name - which, like the old Sparkling Naturals, cost about four times the price per liter of soda. They have also added extract-based flavors to the line, which result in the kind of flavor that you get with the beverages sold as flavored seltzer, and aren’t bad. I’ll review some of them here, later on.
I’ve also done some experimentation; reviews/reports will follow - I am definitely “waking up” this long-dormant series of reviews, so watch this space on either Dreamwidth or LiveJournal.