Posts Tagged ‘sparkling water’

Origin And Aspects Of The Sodastream Machine

By Brad On June 21, 2009 No Comments

Soda water or club soda has covered a long distance from when it was first used as a relief from indigestion. Flavors, sweeteners and colors have been added to it for enhancing the taste of the drink. Many people love soda because of its sparkling taste. Some prefer it over plain drinking water and spend a lot of money buying these drinks every day. Are you one of those who might like the idea of making your own carbonated drink at home?

Carbonation is the process of dissolving pressurized carbon dioxide (CO2)into water to make sparkling water, club soda or seltzer. This water is clear and has sparkling taste. If you are looking for flavor, you might want to add some exciting fruit flavors sold at all freight free.com. Flavors are of following types. As it do not contain artificial sweeteners and sugar so it is helpful for the one who is trying to lose weight.

Guy Gilbey in 1903 in London invented SodaStream by home carbonation system. Later on it became famous in Australia, New Zealand and Germany. A machine, a carbon dioxide canister and one or more reusable bottles are necessary for the device. The bottle is filled with water and affixed on to the canister, and with a push of the button, pressurized CO2 from inside the canister is forced into the bottle, producing sparkling water.

In the UK, the SodaStream machinewas first sold to the upper classes, including the royal household. Soft drinks are made by the flavored concentrates such as cherry ciderette and sasparilla both introduced in 1920s. Commercial models and also those for the home were made in 1955 and well knowned in the 70s and 80s. However, some people thought that homemade brew was not as bubbly as the commercial variety.

MilkStream is an offshoot of the same company made for preparing milkshakes. To produce a frothy drink milk, ice cream and syrup are blended together in a big glass and put into the machine.

SODASTREAM

SodaStream was later bought out by Soda Club, an Israeli company that was formerly the sole distributor for SodaStreamin Israel. Reestablishment of the brand has been done in lot of countries including the United States and Canada. It still markets its drinks under the SodaStream label and now it address the health needs of the public, by preparing a variety of diet concentrates which can be used for sparkling water as well as for sodas.

A lot of people liked the Soda Club machine because of its beautiful design and its easy to follow instructions. Also, the soda club machine allows you to make the drink as fizzy as you like. The cost of the machine together with reusable bottles and sodamix flavors works out to about 50 cents per liter. Now, how is that for a deal?


Often Plain Old Water Seems Uninteresting And Hard To Drink

By Brad On June 13, 2009 No Comments

It is really shocking that on one hand people are dying in absence of water in many developing countries and on the other hand many of us in developed countries are spoilt. Generally plain old water appears to be boring but to stay healthy we need to drink at least eight 8 ounce glasses every day.  So most people would prefer to make water that taste pleasant enough to make them want to drink enough to stay healthy.

To make it easier, a good number of people add some amount of flavor that can help them drink more. People can buy water with added flavour at the store. Of course, a large number of people believe it is one of the most expensive items in the grocery store.The given ideas for water exclude using lot of sugar or expanding a lot of money.

If you are one of the many who want to stay away from chemicals or additives that are artificial as well as caffeine, here are some natural ways to add flavor to your water:

• A slice of lemon or
• A small portion of a delicious fruit
• Some type of unsweetened cranberry juice concentrate
• A piece of cucumber
• A mint leaf 

If you approve of artificial sweeteners try adding:

• A little light cranberry juice
• A reputed sugar-free mix or Crystal Light
• Lemonade and/or limeade by adding a bit of juice
Among these flavors are added to club soda, seltzer water, or diet tonic water.
• Buy sparkling waters and add flavors. (A large assortment of calorie free flavors to flavor sparkling water to great taste is sold at http://allfreightfree.com)    

You can replace milk and soda with water to drink when you are thirst.Do not pressurise yourself to drink excessive water. Overload of water in the body can cause cramps while exercising.

You have the option to purchase a filter for your tap. You can also buy specific fruit flavors for these type of filters to make your faucet water fruit favored when desired by you.

There is a product called FlavorSplash known to everyone. Water is made fruit-flavored by FlavorSplash.  Recently a number of slightly flavored waters have come on the market – bottled by numerous companies.Some are exceptional and some have mixed flavors that really don’t give a good taste (in fact, some are quite awful).

I discovered one that is capable of making water tasty.A teaspoon of honey is to be mixed with a tablespoon of apple-cider vinegar and enough hot water should be added to melt the honey. Make a gallon by adding water with stirring. First chill then drink. (Apple-cider vinegar improves your overall health.)

There are many recipes for adding some taste to your water on many websites.With the help of Google search you are able to get one or two favorites that make water taste better to you.


Soda Club (aka Sodastream) in Conflict With Competitors

By Brad On May 11, 2009 No Comments

In 2006, Sodastream (Soda Club) tried to stop a competing enterprise from refilling Soda Club bottles of carbon dioxide (CO2), by claiming that the bottles were their property and did not belong to the customer (per contracts that all customers had to agree to).

This failed in Germany, and now could very well do the same in other countries.

This market niche does need competition, both for the sake of the environ­ment (bottles should be refilled in the store, a mere 20 second operation); and for price, which could easily be cut in half. More info about refilling – and home refilling – of carbon dioxide bottles for home sodamakers here.

Still, one should consider that sparkling water made at home already costs but a fraction of store-purchased carbonated beverages, but things could be a lot better.

Here are the facts from bundeskartellamt in Germany:

http://www.bundeskartellamt.de/wEnglisch/News/Archiv/ArchivNews2006/2006_04_13.php

 

April 13, 2006

Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court confirms immediate enforceability in the Soda-Club case

Soda-Club GmbH, Wiesbaden (“Soda-Club“) may not use its dominant position abusively. Soda-Club had prevented competing suppliers from refilling CO2 cartridges for water carbonating machines by claiming its ownership of the cartridges.

In February 2006 the Bundeskartellamt prohibited this conduct. Soda Club opposed the Bundeskartellamt’s immediately enforceable decision by applying to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court for interim measures. In provisional proceedings the court has now confirmed the Bundeskartellamt’s decision in all material respects. Soda-Club is dominant in the market for refilling CO2 cartridges. Hindering competitors from refilling CO2 cartridges represents an abuse of this dominant position. By this conduct Soda-Club prevents consumers from taking advantage of alternative refilling possibilities. Only the obligation to point out on labels on the company’s own cartridges that it is admissible to have them refilled by competitors was seen by the Higher Regional Court as a disproportionate measure.

Although Soda-Club can still appeal against the Higher Regional Court’s decision to the Federal Supreme Court, the Higher Regional Court’s decision implies that the numerous small and medium-sized bottling plants can now start to compete with Soda-Club and refill all cartridges circulating in the market.


The Best Carbonated Water

By Brad On May 7, 2009 No Comments

You can manage your optimum health by drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. Most of the people prefer to drink flavored water. Carbonation has opened up a whole new arena of drinking liquids to satisfy almost every taste. This process forms carbonic acid which gives a slight burning sensation when we drink a can of soda.

Seltzer and sparkling water are other names for water that has been infused with carbon dioxide to give it its effervescent quality. The gas, or fizz, that is released manifests itself in the bubbles we see when we remove the cork of a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine. It also makes a fizzy sound that excites the senses of champagne and beer drinkers.

An interesting observation discovered while researching articles on carbonation. It is said that all carbonated beveragesare not created equal. Some may contain more carbon dioxide, depending on the required result. CO2 can produce toxicity in higher concentrations: 1% (10,000 ppm) will make some people feel drowsy. Dizziness, headache, visual and hearing dysfunction, and unconsciousness occurs due to concentrations of 7% to 10% within a few minutes to an hour.

Introducing carbon dioxide (CO2) into a beverage increases its weight. To prove this, weigh a bottle of seltzer, then carefully remove the cap so that no liquid escapes. Weigh the bottle again after elimination of the gas. A significant decrease in the weight can be seen. Shaking the closed bottle then opening it discharges carbon dioxide that shows an even bigger loss in its weight. Is this the reason that regular intake of these drinks contributes to obesity?

Club soda is also carbonated water of identical composition or it might have table salt and other minerals. These additives are put in to imitate the taste of homemade soda water. Carbonated water is believed to contain high amounts of sodium, but this is not true. No anything else has been added to this water except carbon dioxide. Carbonated water can be drunk on to satisfy your thirst or mixer for alcoholic beverages.

CARBONATED WATER

You can make your own homemade brand of carbonated waterwith a soda siphon. Fill the bottle with water, put the lid on, then attach it to a small cylinder of CO2, sometimes called a “charger”. Be careful to use only food grade cylinders as other types may have lubricants in them. Screw the cylinder to pierce it, releasing the CO2 into it. Shake the bottle after that. The bubbles will be smaller in size in comparison to those in commercially made brands. If he quality of your homemade carbonated water satisfies you, it is time to add fruit flavors from allfreightfree.com to enhance the flavor of your drink.


To Your Health: Carbonated Water

By Brad On April 24, 2009 No Comments

Some forms of stomach aches, as well as constipation, can be eased by carbonated water. I learned this the hard way; unfortunately, this is usually how my lessons are learned.

The main symptom of stomach problems that I have is feeling bloated or fullness in the upper abdominal region after overeating; admittedly, overeating is something I do a lot. Suffering was my typical experience; then I started working for a man who would always take water and baking soda whenever he had these symptoms. One day, really miserable, I tried his remedy; after a short while, I felt noticeably better.

As a result, I did some studying to learn why this works so well. This was long before antacid medications were sold over the counter (OTC) and also long before people could run to the doctor with every stomach problem, ache, or pain. Basically adding baking soda with water produces carbon dioxide gas with bubbles and somehow the bubbles and the ingredients form a solution that aids the movement of the digestive tract, relieving some of the problems from overeating – that bloated feeling goes away.

This adding baking soda and water actually forms which has been used for years to treat digestive complaints, yet no research exists if it is effective or how it works. I did find some information about studies showing that both the bubbles of carbon dioxide and the presence of high minerals can make a positive difference to the digestive process. This, essentially , is what I was making with water and baking soda. There was no other information on which component — the mineral-rich carbonated water or the bubbles — is more effective.

I found some suggestions for stopping these problems before they develop, such as: eating smaller meals; reduce eating a lot of fat; avoiding foods that cause your stomach problems; and if you smoke, stopping as soon as possible. Also everyone should drink a healthy amount of fluids to maintain movement of your GI tract and reduce the chance of constipation.

I read about some devices to make homemade carbonated water, which you can use for drinking. Add a number of flavors to carbonated water to create options to regular soda pop; this is especially great if you want to avoid the calories. If you make this homemade drink with water rich in minerals, you have made a very healthy and low calorie drink, called sparkling water, which is good for your whole family. A large assortment of calorie free flavors to flavor sparkling water to great taste is sold at allfreight.com.

Here is what I do know from personal experience: when you have overeaten but must work for the rest of the day, and feel absolutely miserable, carbonated water does help.


The Home Carbonation System from SodaStream

By Brad On April 9, 2009 No Comments

In 1903 the first SodaStream carbonation maker was invented.

When different concentrated syrups became available in the 1970s and 1980s, drink machines were made that could add concentrates to create carbonated drinks in popular flavors. This company then merged with Soda-Club and was relaunched as a way to make healthy drinks for kids.

SodaStream’s drink maker is a small device that forces carbon dioxide into water, making it have a taste like soda pop. The system consists of: a) a machine; b) a canister of carbon dioxide; and c) reusable beverage bottles suitable for pressurizing. The bottle, when filled with water, is screwed on to the machine, and with a push of the button ejects compressed CO2 from a canister into the bottle, making sparkling water (also called seltzer). There are a number of flavors which can be used to create regular soft drinks by adding a tiny amount to the carbonated bottle of water. When the canister is out of CO2, you return it to the market and purchase a carbon dioxide (CO2) refill.

With so many types of concentrate, unique and different flavors of soft drinks can be made. During the years that the systems were at the height of their popularity, many well-known brands were available for SodaStream in the concentrates – such as Fanta, and Sunkist.

MilkStream, is a variation of the SodaStream, and was invented for creating milkshakes. Ice cream, milk and Crusha syrup can be combined in a glass, and utilizing an extended wand into the glass, a frothy, delicious milkshake is made.

The first machines made were rather large, and were sold to the upper classes of London, including, notably, the royal household. There were flavors with odd names, one being the famous sarsaparilla introduced in the 1920s, as well as commercial carbonation machines. In 1955 the first home carbonation machine was produced.

In the UK SodaStream enjoyed great popularity during the 1970s and 1980s; presently it’s associated with nostalgia for those periods of time. The advertising jingle in 1970s was, “Get busy with the fizzy”; the slogan was so popular that the company added it to its logo. In 1996 it was retired after 17 years of use.

Although commercially successful, the soft drinks made by these machines were perceived by some to be an inferior version of their commercial counterparts. One of the differences noticed was that in addition to slightly different flavors of the produced drink, the bubbles made by SodaStream machines are larger and shorter-lived. Today this has changed, partly because of Aromhuset flavors for carbonated water, and Sodastream now is the leader in sparkling water.

Today, SodaStream is part of Soda-Club and there are several websites where they can be purchased and all the supplies can be ordered and reordered when needed.


In Homebrewing, Overcarbonation Can Be Dangerous

By Brad On March 24, 2009 No Comments

Carbonation occurs when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water or an aqueous solution. This process yields the “fizz” to carbonated water and sparkling mineral water, the head to beer, and the cork pop and bubbles to champagne and sparkling wine.

The quality of carbonated beverages including soft drinks, seltzer and beer is affected by the amount of dissolved CO2 (the gas that causes carbonation) and the amount of carbonic acid in the drink.

Carbonation can occur as a result of natural processes: when yeast ferments dissolved sugars sealed in a pressure-tolerant bottle or keg; when underground volcanic carbon dioxide carbonates well water; or when rainwater passes through limestone into a cave and forms a stalactite. Or it can be done artificially by dissolving carbon dioxide under pressure into the liquid. while the term carbonation is often used for the artificial procedures, natural carbonation implies conditioning.

In many consumer beverages such as soft drinks (well known examples include Coca-Cola, 7 Up, Fanta and Pepsi), carbonation is used to give “bite”. Contrary to popular belief, the fizzy taste is caused by dilute carbonic acid inducing a slight burning sensation, and is not caused by the presence of bubbles.   This can be shown by drinking a fizzy drink in a hyperbaric chamber at the same pressure as the beverage. This gives much the same taste, but the bubbles are completely absent.

Carbonation is sometimes used for reasons other than consumption for example: to lower the pH (raise the hydrogen ion concentration) of a water solution, and in the cleaning industry (Chem-Dry and Carbonated Solutions both use carbonated cleaning solutions for carpet cleaning)

In homebrewing, overcarbonation can be dangerous; it can result in bottles gushing or even exploding. Adding priming sugar or malt extract at bottling time to beer that has had its fermentable sugar content totally consumed is the safest approach to carbonation. Exceeding recommended levels of priming sugar for a given recipe is dangerous, as is using inappropriate bottles or improper capping methods. Beer may also be force-carbonated using a keg and special bottling equipment so that the carbonation level can be carefully controlled.

Carbonated water, also known as sparkling water, and seltzer, is plain water into which carbon dioxide gas has been dissolved, and is the major and defining component of most “soft drinks”. The process of dissolving carbon dioxide gas is called carbonation. It results in the formation of carbonic acid (which has the chemical formula H2CO3). A large assortment of calorie free flavors to flavor sparkling water to great taste is sold at
http://allfreightfree.com

In earliear days, soda water, was also called as club soda and it was produced in home by “charging” a refillable seltzer bottle and filling it with water and then mixing carbon dioxide. Club soda may be identical to plain carbonated water or it may contain a small amount of table salt, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium sulfate, or disodium phosphate, depending on the bottler. These additives are included to emulate the slightly salty taste of homemade soda water. The process can also occur naturally to produce carbonated mineral water, such as in Mihalkovo in the Bulgarian Rhodopes.


Soda Water: How Much Do You Know?

By Brad On March 24, 2009 No Comments

Soda Water is carbonate water, sometimes referred to as sparkling water, and is plain ole’ water which has been sparkled with carbon dioxide. It is the principal ingredient of most “soft drinks” and “pop.”. Carbonation produces carbonic acid, which produces soda pop.

Soda water, sometimes called club soda, was produced in the past in the home by using a seltzer bottle filled with water and then “charged” with carbon dioxide. Although it is possible for small amounts of table salts and sodium trace minerals to be present, club soda is often virtually the same as plain carbonated water. These additives could possibly make the taste of home made soda water a bit salty. There are many areas in which this process occurs naturally, resulting in carbonated mineral water.

Some believe that sparkling mineral water may sometimes cause a little dental decay. Normal water poses less potential dental problems than sparkling water, but the difference does not present a major problem. A much higher rate of tooth decay is caused by regular soft drinks than by sparkling water. The rate is so low it suggests that carbonated drinks may not be little or no factor in causing dental decay.

Ground water, usually from artesian wells, is often filtered among layers of minerals; these layers contain various carbonates; the water absorbs carbon dioxide gas released by the carbonates. This produces natural sparkling water. Sparkling mineral water is created if the filtered water picks up enough different minerals to add a flavor.

Basically, water + carbon dioxide = soda water. Sparkling mineral water is a naturally-occuring product of carbonation. In the year 1794, a jeweler invented a different kind of device — one to produce artificial carbonated mineral water.

A taste test of several carbonated drinks was conducted; it was deemed that Perrier, a sparkling natural mineral water, kept its fizz the longest.

Consumers feeling seltzer to be a bit harsh may prefer the more gentle fizz of club soda. During the taste test, compared to standard carbonated water, club soda seemed to be milder, as well as a little sweeter.

Club soda, sparkling mineral water, seltzer and carbonate water have no calories, which make them a dieter’s choice over soda pop and tonic water.

If one mixes water, sugar, carbon dioxide and quinine, the carbonated result is called tonic water. Originally, quinine was added to tonic water to help cure or prevent malaria. Today it is often used in combination with gin and lemon or lime to make an alcoholic drink.

These are some of the basic facts about soda water.