PParking in front of the front door, car, cargo bike, everything is really nice. If you have it. Anyone who doesn’t have all of this and, to make matters worse, still lives on the fourth floor without an elevator, has probably given up lugging water crates a long time ago. There are reasons of your own against single-use plastic bottles. So tap water remains. It is cheap anyway, a meticulously controlled food too, and anyone who wants to feel water bubbling in their throat can do it well by hand. With bubblers that add carbon dioxide to the water under pressure, which forms carbonic acid.
Brands such as Brita, Philips and SodaStream offer their devices for well under 100 euros. Visually, the manufacturer Aarke excels, which also dresses its reduced housing in copper, gold or a powder-coated sand tone. At around 170 euros, however, they are the spearhead in terms of price. Market leader SodaStream ventures into the midfield with its latest model. The duo that we tested for a few weeks costs 140 euros. In contrast to the competition, it promises a decisive advantage: flexibility in bottles.
Usually, customers have to decide whether they want to gush in glass or plastic bottles before buying. Some look better and are free from suspected plasticizers, others lighter and practical in everyday life that is becoming more mobile again. But wherever overpressure is used, the material and design of the bottles must be coordinated with the construction of the bubbly. The Duo now offers both, a simple, attractive glass bottle and one made of BPA-free plastic. The container in which the cylinders get their gas dose is closed and, what pleases, no longer completely clad in plastic, but in brushed stainless steel. Both bottles hold a good liter, but for sparkling the marked filling line at 840 milliliters must not be exceeded, otherwise it will overflow. This means that more fits into a bottle than the previous model, while the device dimensions are more compact. But that also means: Anyone who already has SodaStream bottles at home cannot continue to use them in a duo. The fact that compatibility between devices from the same company is not set here may make sense for the manufacturer’s business model, but it is annoying for customers.
Sparkling water march: insert the bottle, remove the lid, lock, sparkle, done.
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Image: SodaStream
The duo has positive improvements in other areas. When the container is unlocked, the lid, which also contains the nozzle for bubbling, slides upwards, while the lower half tilts forward so that the bottles can be inserted. It was the same with the predecessor. But he needed eleven centimeters more headroom. The Duo is 44 centimeters high – and remains so when it is filled. Anyone who has low kitchen cabinets should thank the manufacturer. The mechanics of the locking mechanism and that of the push button also appear to be significantly improved because they move more easily.
Everything to do with the gas cylinder also works more easily. Taking it off and on was never rocket science, but it was sometimes cumbersome because it had to be screwed in from below. SodaStream is now promoting its duo with a new locking system that they call “Quick Connect”. The corresponding cartridges – the old ones no longer fit here – are inserted on the back and a pink lever is pulled from above over the newly designed cylinder head. That’s it. If the gas bottle is empty, it should be enough for around 60 liters, you can get a full one in exchange for around ten euros in the drugstore or supermarket.
In the “classic” mineral water you buy, there are at least seven grams of carbonic acid in every liter of water. Those who bubble up themselves can of course dose the content themselves by pressing the button above briefly, long, three or seven times. In direct comparison, however, the water that you bubble yourself is never quite as sparkling as what you buy, even if it bubbles and bubbles louder on the surface. Still, it’s anything but slack. Who does not like to drag, will be able to live with it.
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