Every so often we review things on our site that don’t seem to easily fall into one our standard categories. The Soda Club Home Soda Maker is one of those products. This is one of those ‘Why didn’t I think of this?’ kinds of products. Everything about it makes sense, it is affordable, fun to use and…..environmentally friendly.
If you are like me, you toss out hundreds of Soda cans a year – even if you recycle – it takes effort to bring those cans or bottles in and it takes energy to convert those cans into something usable again If you drink soda or seltzer, want to save money and want to help the environment – read on for this review.
It seems like a ‘no brainer.’ WE make coffee at home, we can make Ice Cream at home and we make lots of our favorite things to consume right in our kitchen – or even our office. Why not soda? Well, it seems like the good folks at Soda Club asked themselves the same question and then decided to do something about it.
There is a lot to like about this product, it is affordable and easy and fun to use and, as I stated above, it is ‘Green’ – which is all the buzz these days.
Here is a little information about this company from their web site:
Soda-Club is a vertically integrated organization, with practically all of our production and gas cylinder refilling handled in house. This allows us to ensure high quality, regulate production costs and limit dependence on external suppliers, thereby facilitating our ability to deliver our Value Proposition.
Our Main Production Facility
Our main manufacturing facilities are located in Israel, with a number of cylinder-refilling plants strategically located in our markets around the world. Combining world-class production processes with an educated workforce has created an operation that is unrivalled in our market.
With a multi-functional plant, in which plastic, metal, machining, sub-assembly, and assembly work take place, along with our advanced manufacturing equipment, innovative production practices and modern TQM (total quality management) culture, we ensure high-quality products that meet strict international standards and regulations.
Ashkelon Soda-Mix Factory
In late July 2003 Soda Club transferred all of its Soda-Mix production to its new and modern site in Ashkelon, just 30 miles south of Tel Aviv along the Mediterranean coast.
Situated in the city’s southern industrial zone, this center of modern industry is home to some of Israel’s largest industrial concerns as well as being conveniently close to one of Israel’s major ports, Ashdod, thereby making export more efficient. The factory’s planning and construction, spread over more than 3,000 square meters, was carefully done to ensure that the high quality of our products would continue to improve upon the standard of excellence which has made us a leading global producer of in-home carbonation systems.
Quality Assurance and ISO Standards
The Group maintains strict quality assurance in design and production and emphasizes comprehensive after-sales service. Soda-Club have been awarded by Honorable Mention at the 9th National Conference of the Israel Society for Quality (2007).
Soda-Club Home Soda Makers
Our Fountain Jet and Edition 1 home soda makers are sleek and simple to use … and look great on your kitchen counter. Make soda or seltzer at the push of a button.
Fresh tastes better. You control the flavor and fizz of over 25 soda flavors plus enjoy fresh seltzer made as fizzy as your tastebuds desire.
Good for the earth. Soda-Club reduces packaging, saves energy and conserves natural resources. Drink Soda-Club and save the planet!
Faster and easier than coffee. Enjoy fresh soda and seltzer water in less than 60 seconds. No batteries. No electricity. No cleanup!
Flavor variety. Over 25 regular, diet and caffeine-free flavors including classic Cola, Lemon-Lime, Orange and Root Beer as well as fruit combinations such as Apple-Peach and Cranberry-Raspberry. Make flavored seltzers with Soda-Club’s all-natural, unsweetened MyWater flavor essences. 
No more heavy lifting! Concentrated sodamix makes the same as 36 cans of soda! Large CO2 carbonators are easily exchangeable and make the equivalent of 110 liters of soda
Healthier alternative. All diet sodamix flavors are sweetened with Splenda(r) brand sweetener and without aspartame. Regular flavors have 2/3 less sugar and calories – and less sodium – than store-bought.
Smart value. Enjoy seltzer for as low as 18 cents per liter and soda for 50 cents per liter. Avoid wasted, flat soda thanks to reusable carbonating bottles with hermetically sealed caps. Plus, no more can/bottle deposit fees.
Alco2Jet(r) Carbonators
Made from modern, lightweight aluminum to the highest US safety standards (Product Safety Information), carbonators transform water into refreshing seltzer. Enjoy a glass of seltzer … or add your favorite sodamix syrup to make one of over 25 delicious flavors. Each Alco2Jet 110 carbonator makes about 110 one-liter bottles.
All soda maker starter packages include a machine and at least one carbonator (under license) filled with CO2 gas. Once empty, carbonators are easily exchanged for full ones at an authorized dealer, by calling customer service at 1-800-SODACLUB or ordering on-line at SodaClub.com.
Order a gas refill online whenever you run out of gas. We’ll collect your empty carbonator and send you a full one for just $19.99, plus applicable shipping. That works out to as little as 18 cents per liter! If you have a Soda-Club Penguin, please note that your machine is compatible only with Alco2Jet Penguin carbonators, and your average price per liter of sparkling water is slightly higher.
Reusable 1-liter Carbonating Bottles
Made by a special process that withstands carbonation, these clear plastic (PET) reusable bottles will last several years. With Soda-Club you’ll be helping the environment by saving on waste or recycling aluminum cans and plastic bottles.
Each bottle also comes with Soda-Club’s special cap with a hermetic seal that keeps your soda carbonated long after you first open it. No more throwing away flat soda!
Our carbonating bottles are available in stainless steel, white, black, blue checker and soccer designs
OK, that’s the ‘official company line‘ – let’s move on to the review…
Design:
My Sample unit was the ‘Edition 1’ model. It is very sleek and futuristic looking with a brushed silver design with black accents. The machine is very lightweight and has few moving parts – which is a good thing
The Soda maker gets its ‘juice’ from an included co2 cartridge. Just pop off the back and slide the CO2 cartridge into the holder. The cartridge screws in securely and then the back is replaced.
There is a button on the front which pushes the ’tilt level’ to allow the user to attach one of the included wide-mouth plastic bottles. Also on the front is a plastic nozzle that goes inside the bottle (I’ll explain that below.) On the very top is a large ‘carbonating button’ that you push when you are ready to make soda. All in all, there are very few moving parts, everything is sturdy and there is no electricity needed.
The Soda Maker itself is designed to be simple to use, easy to operate and portable and it seems to meet all those criteria quite well.
Using the Soda Maker:
Well, this really couldn’t be much easier. Once the CO2 canister is installed, you are really ready to make your own soda. Take one of the included bottles and fill it with water ( I used filtered water) from the tap and put it in the refrigerator to cool. One the water is cool, just take off the top of the
bottle and push the ’tilt lever’ on the Soda Maker which allows you to gently screw the bottle securely into the housing. 
The small nozzle (or carbonating tube) goes into the water. Push down on the Carbonating Button a couple of times to ‘prime’ it – and then you hear a fairly loud burst of CO2 into the bottle. Do this four times (less if you like less fizz) and then push the release button and gently unscrew the bottle. You now have carbonated water – it is that easy.
Pick your flavor (they have lots of great flavors of soda, flavored waters, diet, regular) and pour in the designated amount into the bottle. Put on the top, turn it over twice to mix and there you go. You now have homemade soda.
Things to like about this product:
There is a lot to like about the Soda Club Home Soda Maker. It is affordable, economical, environmental, easy to use and fun. My kids had a blast making their own soda. We completely stopped producing bottle and can garbage (even though we recycle.) The Soda tasted fresh and we could always have just what we wanted.
The product really is easy to use. It is also portable and does not require electricity. Each bottle of Soda mix makes about 12 liters of soda – so it goes a long way. The CO2 cartridges are exchangeable through the company or you can get them refilled. Each canister makes from 60 – 110 bottles of soda depending on the size.
Overall Conclusions:
This is a great product. It makes a ton of sense, I love the fact that it is environmentally friendly and it is economical and fun. I really don’t see me going and buying soda anymore. The idea is brilliant and simple and I can definitely recommend this product to our readers
Final Grade: A
Pros: Economical, Environmentally friendly, Easy to Use, Fun
Cons: you will have to either refill or replace the CO2 cartridge
A Startup Kit with the Machine, bottles and various Soda Mix Bottles of your choice is $89.99 and the Value Kit with lots more SodaMix bottles is $149.99 at http://www.sodaclubusa.com/order_i_e1_soda.asp
Written by Gary