Drinkmate OmniFizz Sparkling Water and Soda Maker - Carbonate Any Beverage with 3oz CO2 Test Cylinder (Matte Black) | Perfect for Home, Office & Parties | Make Healthy Sparkling Drinks, Cocktails & Flavored Sodas

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.