Discover The Best Soda Maker to Spare You From Buying Sparkling Water Ever Again
As recently as 2020, no one was really asking about the best soda maker; they just didn’t have that many choices. But you might be surprised to learn that when SodaStream—the longtime alpha of home soda making—made its 2009 global debut, it wasn’t actually a debut. It was a relaunch for a now 117-year-old company. SodaStream had been largely inactive for decades, but at certain points in the ’70s and ’80s you could have purchased the groovy, tangerine ancestor of today’s modern machine.
But we live in the future now and SodaStream is no longer the only name in the game—not even close. On our mission to find the best soda maker on the market we tested 15 machines from six different companies. Read below for our top picks. For more about how soda and seltzer makers work, and our testing criteria, scroll to the bottom of the page.
The best soda maker: The Drinkmate Omnifizz
The Drinkmate Omnifizz is easy to use and makes sharp and zingy sparkling water in a matter of seconds. But what stands out most is the increased control it offers as well as the greater range in utility.
The Drinkmate is built a little differently than almost all other soda makers. The infuser—the thing you attach the bottle to—has slow and fast pressure release tabs, making it easy to avoid any messes from an over-carbonated beverage. The slow release of pressure is also important for the Omnifizz’s best feature: its ability to carbonate things other than water.
Drinkmate is one of only two soda maker manufacturers we’ve come across that allows you to carbonate non-water liquids. Try making bubbly wine with a SodaStream and you could void your warranty and possibly end up damaging the machine. We tested Drinkmate’s all-beverages-welcome policy using white wine and a batched Boulevardier recipe and were pleased with the results. In fact, it carbonated the wine so well that it deceived one of my colleagues into thinking they were drinking a glass of Crémant. This means you could carbonate things like apple juice, or even milk (if you’re feeling like a real sicko). The slow pressure release is the key to success here, because liquids that have any sugar (like juice or wine) or fat (like milk) foam more when hit with CO2, and so a quick release of pressure can result in a blowup.
The best budget soda maker: Mysoda Woody Sparkling Water Maker
What makes the Mysoda Woody unique is that it’s made from renewable biocomposite, a biodegradable material consisting of resin and natural fibers. This is likely why the Woody earned both a Red Dot and iF Gold design awards. It has a beautiful natural texture and sturdy weight compared to its plastic brethren and comes in five muted colors. Ultimately, it’s that design that pushed it over the top for us.
In terms of function, the Woody has just one button and was intuitive to use. We found that it produced carbonated water on par with leading SodaStream models. Mysoda also makes the Toby and Ruby, two higher-priced models that look a little sleeker, but we liked the Woody just fine and appreciated the concerted move toward using plastic alternatives.
What we didn’t like about the Mysoda Woody
The Woody uses the same, easy to find screw-in canisters employed by a wide range of machines. But the price point does have a bit of a caveat: This model doesn’t come with a CO2 canister, unlike other soda makers on the market that almost always include one with purchase. Factoring in the combined cost, the Mysoda Woody clocks in around the same as SodaStream’s basic Terra machine. However, keep in mind that the latter uses a newer proprietary CO2 cartridge called Quick Connect that’s only compatible with SodaStream models. For this reason, we still prefer the Mysoda Woody.
A handsome, versatile upgrade: The Breville Infizz Fusion
Breville is pretty new to the soda maker game, and as is the case with the majority of their appliances, the Infizz Fusion does not disappoint. It performs just as well as the Drinkmate Omnifizz, and is capable of carbonating fruit juices, mixed drinks, tea, and just about any other potable liquid you’d like to carbonate (for better or worse). The downside is that the Infizz Fusion has a significantly higher price tag: $150 higher than the Omnifizz at the time of writing. However, that money buys you a sturdy stainless-steel build and a more considered design that quite literally outshines the Drinkmate Omnifizz. If looks matter and you want the versatility of carbonating cocktails and juice, the Breville is absolutely what we’d recommend.