I bought myself a cheap sodastream for fathers day recently. I did some research and lots of DIYers recommended getting your own CO2 tank and adapter hose to hook up to the sodastream directly instead of refilling the small canisters that sit inside.
I waited to make sure the sodastream was going to be something I liked before committing to the big tank. I’m a big dr pepper fan and the dr pete syrup wan’t very good. It was metalic and tasted like a cross between dr pepper and pepsi. I’m not a huge cola flavor fan. But I love carbonated waters and got the bubly natural flavors and those have been good.
Nobody in the family really liked their first drinks. A lot got poured out. But, I decided to pull the trigger and got a big 20lbs tank for no other reason than to save money on all the carbonated water I buy. I go through 1-2 cans per day. That shit’s only getting more and more expensive too. I took it to the local gas store and filled it with beverage grade CO2, ($40) hooked it up, and was pleasantly surprised.
Not just that it worked, but by how GOOD it tasted. Even plain with no flavors. Had others in the family taste to confirm and they all agree the new CO2 tank tastes WAY better. I wonder if the small canister that came with the sodastream was just sitting in a warehouse for so long it started to pick up a lot of taste from the metal or something.
Very happy, gonna need to retry the dr pete syrup, and see if that was the problem.
Check out One On One Flavors. They sell water soluble and oil soluble flavors.
A few years ago I bought a variety of the water soluble flavors for making flavored sparkling water at home. I’ve enjoyed most of my choices and the few I don’t care for are still interesting (and useful for cocktail experiments).
Some of the cola flavorings are fine as-is. Some of them rely on a bit of sweetness to taste like they should.
I haven’t tried that site yet, but I have it bookmarked now. I made a small order from simplyflavor they have PG based flavors. Got dragonfruit + pomegranate, pear, and kiwi.
Have you tried any of the alcohol based flavors? Essences and estracts. They’re supposedly water soluble too. If those are good, that could expand the options. It’s not easy finding water soluble flavors.
I’ve tried a few extracts. Blending with other flavors they’re pretty good. Solo is hit or miss. Real vanilla bean extract is excellent (if one likes vanilla) but ones found on the same store shelf which use vanillin are… Unpleasant.
I’ve had some success using bitters as well. Angostura makes an orange bitters that mixes well with the oooflavors cream soda flavoring. It’s like a creamsicle’s older brother turned into a fizzy water. That one gets a nice lift from a bit of honey or agave but doesn’t require it.