Disclaimer: I was sent this SodaStream Spirit to review free of charge, but words and pictures are mine. This post contains affiliate links, see more information here.
I often struggle with drinking enough water.
During the day, I had fallen into a bad habit of having caffeinated drinks – tea, coffee, diet coke – on tap, and then in the evening I’d often switch to wine if I was sat in front of the TV, or sometimes nothing at all for the entire evening.
I’m just not a big fan of drinking plain tap water.
During the holidays I started to buy bottled sparkling water, and found that I could hit the recommended two-litres a day no problem. It also meant in the evening I wasn’t automatically reaching for alcohol, which is a bad habit to fall into, even though it may be the summer holidays!
However, good for my health this may be, but the amount of plastic recycling that this caused was not insignificant with us finishing a 2l bottle each day.
SodaStream are a brand I am familiar with from my youth.
We had a SodaStream sparkling water maker at home when I was a kid – however I wasn’t aware that they were still around until I went to BlogOn, where every attendee was given a SodaStream bottle and able to access SodaStream machines to make sparkling water and flavoured drinks all day.
The bottles we were given held half a litre and I found myself re-filling several times during the day. When the conference was over, I contacted SodaStream and they agreed to send me my own SodaStream Spirit to test out at home.
How to use the SodaStream Spirit
The SodaStream Spirit comes in lots of colours including black, white, red, blue, pink and dark purple to fit in with most kitchen decors. I chose white to go with mine.
The SodaStream Spirit comes with a 1-litre plastic bottle and a single gas canister which can make up to 60l of sparkling water; so around a months worth. You can purchase additional gas canisters via the website, or from Argos, where you can take your old spent canister in and exchange it to save yourself £8 on the cost of a new one.
To set the SodaStream Spirit up, unwrap the plastic from the top of the gas canister, remove the back of the SodaStream, twist the canister in and replace the back. Then you’re good to go!
Fill your special SodaStream bottle up past the wavy line, place it up into the machine, and push it back. It should stay up so you don’t have to hold it.
Press down on the button at the top for a ten seconds or so until it becomes harder to press, then pull the bottle forward to release.
If the bottle bubbles up then you can then add a flavouring – I like elderflower cordial if I’m feeling fancy, but there are many flavours to purchase from SodaStream online – pour it, put the cap on to keep it fizzy or drink it straight from the bottle.
If it’s not quite as fizzy as you’d like, replace it in the machine and press the button again.
…And that’s it!
What we think of the SodaStream Spirit
Since having the SodaStream I’ve been happily drinking my way through two litres or more of plain carbonated water a day. For some reason it is just so much nicer to me than plain water!
It makes me less inclined to reach for sugary drinks or alcohol, so is having a positive impact on my health and has saved me a lot of plastic recycling so it’s helping the planet, too!
The children have enjoyed having their squash made fizzy, as they generally only get fizzy drinks at parties – but as there is no evidence that carbonated water is bad for you – it’s a little treat that I’m happy to allow.
You can buy the SodaStream Spirit via the SodaStream Website, or through third party online shops such as Amazon.
You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
WIN a SodaStream Spirit!
You can win a SodaStream Spirit right here – good luck!
These look fantastic! Perfect for me and my son who drink way too much caffeinated drinks, I love the fact that you can take your old canister back too & save yourself £8!