We have had our old sodastream for over 10 years, and I really like making my own carbonated water, and also the flavored ones. The one Robin gave us was the kind that has the glass bottles and looks like a penguin. It was getting hard for me to get everything fitted together right to make the carbonated water, so I have barely used it this year. Amazon had some on sale for Prime Day, so I bought one of the basic models, and it came with the plastic containers, some flavoring, and two of the carbonation cartridges. It arrived yesterday, and we set it up, and it is much easier to use than the old one was, and I really like it. I am glad that I got it. I know that I do not drink as much water as we are supposed to drink, and being carbonated tastes a lot better to me, so I am sure that I will be using this new Sodastream Terra a lot ! This is the penguin one, they do not make it any more, so I suppose that is why it has such a crazy price on Amazon. I looked on eBay just to see and they are selling for under $50 on there, so it is not worth advertising it. The one on Amazon is probably new, which makes a difference also. The carbonation goes in the black/back of the penguin, and the grey part opens up to hold the glass bottle. It has to be locked in just right, and is hard to open and shut the trap door for the glass. Then, you push down on the “beak” and that activates the carbonator. My new one, you just push the plastic bottle up under the top and it locks in, and you push the little button 3 times, and you have soda. Much easier.
I've never liked carbonated drinks (although I used to drink beer to excess.) When I was a kid I drank lots of water (straight from the tap like a water fountain) and sometimes Kool Aid made with sugar. The only sodas I drank at all were Mountain Dew when we would camp at the beach and Fresca...I always liked grapefruit. If I have fast food, I get it a la carte without a drink, bring it home, and have water with it. If I'm not near home, I'll get a fast food meal with a soda and only drink half of it...but that only happens once or twice a year. When I go out to sit-down eat, I most often get an unsweet tea.
I have drunk diet sodas pretty much my whole life. I was doing it a bit too much till two years ago. If I could not get a 12 pack of cans for $2.50 I was not going to drink anymore! Talk about withdrawal. Aldis raised their prices on their soda. Walmart is at the rescue and I will stock up a bit. A 24 pack is $6 something. It is a taste to get used to. I thought with soda stream you had to buy the carbonation canisters and that would get expensive.
Back in the day, my mother-in-law had a terrible Tab addiction. Trying to quit would give her massive headaches. She blamed it on the cyclamates.
Vernors was sold in pretty much every store I went into while I was in the UP of Michigan and Northern Wisconsin, but I haven't seen it anywhere in Maine yet. As for Sodastream, I have thought about getting something like that, or maybe trying to make homemade root beer, as my father did, but then, I am also trying not to drink so much soda, so that might not be the best thing to do.
Summer seems to be arriving, and I am using the Sodastream for the first time this summer. It always gets a lot of use in the hot weather, and put away for the winter when I am drinking hot coffee or tea. This is the one that I have now, and I can get the replacement cartridges from Walmart, so it is easy to use.
I used to live right around the corner from the Vernors bottling plant. When I'd take my daughter for her daily walk, I'd stick my head in the front door and they'd hand me a Vernors. I got quite attached to it. When we moved to Florida and couldn't buy it here, I'd always bring a case home whenever I went back to Michigan. Then they started selling it here. It's a little strong for me now; I prefer Canada Dry. Store-brand ginger ale is usually awful, in my opinion. There's a North Carolina brand called Blenheim that comes in two strengths. The "regular" strength will take the tartar off your teeth, I swear. The "extra-spicy" will dissolve your tonsils. The locals swear by it, but it's just too strong for me....either kind.
I'd never heard of Vernors before. They claim to have it in stock at Kroger here. Even a zero-calorie version. Curiosity has landed it on my bucket list. Next trip, if I don't forget. I need to make an appointment for teeth-cleaning anyway. Maybe kill two birds.
I misread the post about removing the tartar from your teeth. That was a different brand. Back to Vernors. If they had the option of 1 bottle or 1 can I would have gotten the regular, but I didn't want to have to drink 12 cans of sugared soda. I got 12 cans of the sugar free version last night at Kroger, so take this review with a grain of aspartame. ... To me, it tasted like someone took 6 oz of mild beer (Miller comes to mind) and mixed it with 6 oz of carbonated water with just a little sugar in it. There was a very weak taste I couldn't put my finger on. Maybe it was the ginger. Btw, it's called ginger soda. I thought I got the wrong thing when I got home.
Update: changing my mind about Vernors They had only three 12 packs of cans of Vernors sugar free at Kroger. It was probably old. Sometimes the sweetness of artificial sweetener goes away with time. I tried it again and the second 12 pack was pretty good. So I got the third 12 pack. Now I'm hooked. Kroger has never ordered any more. I found it at another store. It makes a very good mixed drink with Vodka. It was my one and only New Year's Eve drink this year.
I guess not. I thought Vernors was gingerbeer. ( Please be patient. I don't get around much. ) Just looked up Bavarian Mule. Horseradish? You like it? Or are you pulling my leg?