Drinkmate OmniFizz Sparkling Water and Soda Maker, Carbonates Any Drink, with 3oz CO2 Test Cylinder (Arctic Blue)

Got this for a gift at Christmas, so it's about six months in. We still use it regularly. In my mind three key things to know:1) The best part is being able to fizz any liquid, not just water.I wondered how this worked but it's pretty simple. The attachment that carbonates it dismounts with the bottle rather than being stuck with the sodamaker. This means you can vent it and rinse/clean the attachment it if there's any mess, then put it back with the machine. Soda Streams don't have the removable attachment, so you risk the liquid going all over the place during venting. That's why the limit it to water. So, you can carbonate lemonade, OJ, already-mixed soda, whatever. It's awesome for that, and here's another reason why it's extra awesome - you can recarbonate that flat soda or sparking water in the fridge. We would always have a 2-liter that got flat before we drank it all. Now it doesn't go to waste. That's a money saver right there.2) You gotta do the paintball gun tanks with the nozzle attachmentThese things have a proprietary nozzle - works with Soda stream bottles - which is how they get you hooked into their bottle system for big bucks. Just get one of the nozzle adapters so you can use paintball cannisters, and then fill them up at your local sporting store / paintball store, wherever. You gotta look around but there's probably someone near you. I found one that fills 'em up for $4 a piece, and I got two cannisters. We use it roughly 5-10x per week and a cannister easily lasts a month, if not more. It's pretty easy, although there is always the risk of leaky or broken cannisters. Don't get discouraged if you get a dud at first, get a new cannister and it'll work out. If you don't do this, you are NOT saving money with this thing. And don't freak out about food-grade CO2 or some other such thing. Just buy a paintball cannister that is specifically advertised for this use, i.e., cleaned inside before you buy it. The CO2 you put in it will be clean in and of itself as long as the tank is. Oh, and there's a ton of nozzle adapters out there. I bought a stainless , non-adjustable version for around $20. Not saying you'll go wrong with the brass ones, but if it's $5, the thing is made in China and it may or may not be good quality. Caveat emptor.3) Be patient finding flavor mixesI did so much research trying to find cheap flavor mixes that would end up saving lots of money over store-bought soda. There is no magic bullet on this one. There are some that are cheaper than others, and it's all preference, so plan to experiment. Again, the way we saved the most money was by reducing the amount of waste on soda and sparkling water we already bought by recarbonating it, and there are a few mixes we prefer.If you just like having control over your drink flavors, you'll enjoy this thing. If you want to save money, this can do it too. We went from spending >$15 a week on soda and sparking water (half my family won't drink just tap water, go figure) to <$5, what we re-carbonating and making a few mixes of our own. And if you like the environmental and storage aspect, this is also for you. We have so many fewer bottles to recycle.Either way, it takes a little effort to find your groove with it, but once you do, it's a great thing to have. Highly recommended.

My first response after my first drink was, "Wow!".Amazon will lose a bit of money over this; here's why: A few months ago, I discovered Lipton Sparkling Tea and was instantly hooked. Problem was it was two bucks per (12 oz) can where I bought it. I found it on Amazon for what comes out to a buck and a quarter a can (fifteen bucks for a twelve pack). But it's so delicious that I was buying a 12 pack a week (my son loves it too and keeps scarfing it!). So when the price suddenly jumped to twenty two bucks a 12 pack, I was like uh-uh. Not happening (it's back down to fifteen now, by the way).So I wondered if there was a machine that I could use to carbonate my own drinks, and was surprised to find out there are quite a few. So I researched and was on the verge of going with something from SodaStream, but their products, like ALL others I'd found, can only carbonate water, then you have to add some kind of flavor syrup to get what you want, which it just more cost, more work measuring stuff and who knows if I'd actually like any of the flavors, right? So I was taking my time and happened to run across this, the DrinkMate carbonator, which claims to be the only one that can carbonate ANYTHING. After a bit more looking and finding none others that would carbonate more than water, I purchased this item (in red).It came today, and I decided my first experiment would be with something I used to drink before I started with the Lipton Sparkling Tea, and that is a 50/50 mix of Lipton Citrus Flavored Green Tea, and Lipton Mixed Berry Flavored Diet Green Tea. I like that combination because I get a good, rich enough flavor (citrus), but it's only 50 calories per 16.9 oz bottle because the Mixed Berry is zero calories (this compared to 70 calories per 12 oz can of the Sparkling Tea).The very first sip just flat out blew me away! I was kind of expecting the carbonation to somehow 'feel' different from commercially carbonated products, but it absolutely does not. It tastes exactly like it's 'supposed' to taste. I couldn't be happier, and couldn't recommend DrinkMate's Carbonated Soda Maker any higher. While it's a bit more expensive than most of the SodaStreams and others, it's well worth it, if for no other reason than that you can carbonate ANYTHING, as long as it doesn't have pulp in it. You can even 'revive' flat soft drinks, sparkle wine or just...use your imagination (I'm thinking of trying carbonated milk!--just kidding...I think).So, you might wonder, how is this going to cause Amazon to lose money? Well, I was paying fifteen bucks for twelve 12 oz cans of Sparkling Tea. Now that I can make my own, I pay only six bucks for twelve 16.9 oz bottles of green tea, mix it and carbonate it myself! That's a pretty significant savings and I get something I really like. Plus it's fewer calories in 16.9 oz than in 12 of the Sparkling Tea. Sorry, Amazon, but thanks!The unit itself is made mostly of plastic, which isn't an issue because, it's not like I plan to play football with it or anything! But it's sturdy and feels well made. It's simple to operate (will take some experimentation to determine how much carbonation you like in whatever you use it for) and does what it does in not too much time. Obviously, I can't yet comment on its durability yet, but if it fails any time within the generous 2-year warranty period, I'll be sure to update this review. If you're looking for a carbonator, this is definitely the one to get.