Want to turn normal tap water into sparkling water at the touch of a button? Aarke’s Carbonator Pro does exactly that, so you can enjoy fresh fizz in the comfort of your home without a disposable plastic bottle in sight. And with its sleek, stylish design and Polished Steel finish, it’s bound to look right at home on your kitchen worktop. It was among the quietest models we tested. The DrinkMate OmniFizz comes with a 28-ounce bottle and 14-ounce bottle (nice if you’re looking to make a single serving of sparkling water) that are not dishwasher-safe. If you want to add fizz to lots of different drinks, this soda maker is worth a look. It works with any drink that doesn’t include pulp. And more importantly, trying to infuse whiskey or wine doesn’t violate the two-year warranty. This is a manual machine, nice if you want to use it somewhere where you don’t have a plug handy. You depress the button on top until you hear a hissing noise (after only a second or two). Three pumps created a strong, fizzy drink, even with the user guide suggesting that five pumps was “strong fizz.” The soda machine can only be used to carbonate water. Aarke soda makers are designed to be easy to use. Just insert a CO2 cylinder into the tower, add tap water up to the fill line of your carbonation bottle and screw it into the machine. Push the stainless steel lever down until you hear a buzz, then release the lever, unscrew the bottle and seal it. Canisters of CO2 are available separately and Aarke carbonators are compatible with the 60-litre SodaStream gas cylinders we sell online, and the recycled canisters we sell in store. Built to last

The DrinkMate OmniFizz produced drinks with gentle, rolling bubbles. It was a bit like drinking white noise. You depress the button on top multiple times in short bursts to carbonate water (there’s a max amount of carbonation that is still relatively mild) before releasing the built-up pressure via the attached infuser. The Carbonator Pro is a triumph of design, so the cons are minimal, but there are a few minor inconveniences to contend with. Chiefly, I was surprised at how large it turned out to be. At 51 centimeters tall and 17 centimeters wide, the Carbonator Pro is a significant presence on most countertops, and while it may not be wildly larger than many other carbonators on the market, its size can feel imposing nonetheless. After unboxing the Carbonator Pro and accompanying manual, it wasn't long before the gas cylinder was installed, the machine was buzzing, and I was drinking pleasantly sparkling seltzer—without opening a can or single-use bottle. The most time-consuming part of the process was probably filling the glass bottle with fresh water (which, as you might guess, didn't take long). The innovative designCleaning the machine is a snap too. It comes with a cleaning cloth to keep the metal fingerprint-free, and the glass bottle is dishwasher-safe. But you will need a good amount of counter space for the Carbonator. It’s cord-free (which I love, love, love), but it’s tall, measuring 20 inches high, 6.7 inches wide and 11.4 inches deep — and it won’t fit under standard kitchen cabinets. If you have a wet bar, though, this will become the star of your countertop. Thankfully, it’s not too heavy to move around if you’re short on space, weighing just over 8 pounds, and it looks great sitting on my kitchen island with no messy cords getting in the way.

Please note: Recycled SodaStream Cylinders are only available when you return a used SodaStream cylinder. Used cylinders can be returned to any of our stores. Another slightly irksome detail was the residual water often found in the machine after carbonating. Aarke’s user guide suggests that this is a result of overfilling the bottle, but trust me when I tell you, dear reader, that is that not the deal. All in all it wasn’t a huge inconvenience by any means, but the tablespoon or so of water that would often be left in the machine took a few minutes to clean up, and happened nearly every time I used the carbonator. Is the Aarke Carbonator Pro worth it? With a press of the top button, the Aarke Carbonator Pro produced slightly smaller bubbles than the Aarke Carbonator 3 and the water had a slight minerality (likely the glass bottle allowing us to taste the mineral content of the tap water). The machine also had a tendency to drip slightly on the base tray when removing a bottle.After all of the tests, we compared the performance of each model and factored in the price and warranty to determine which soda makers we would recommend. Ideal for garden parties, mobile home owners and off-grid holidays, because the carbonation is created solely by the gas cylinder, you don’t need to plug your Aarke Carbonator in to create fizzy drinks, so you can make them anywhere you’re happy to take the carbonator. Although sparkling water is undoubtedly an incredible beverage, it’s not always simple to procure; lugging those liter-sized bottles or a case of full cans from the grocery store is a pain, and delivery can be expensive. The environmental impact, too, can make it difficult to justify buying bottles of sparkling water. It’s hard to enjoy some nice bubbly water when you’re drinking it out of a single use plastic, or an aluminum can or glass bottle that may or may not get recycled.

We chilled the water using a pitcher and ice (the juice and wine were chilled in the fridge) before adding carbonation. We consulted the manufacturer’s instructions and tested various carbonation levels. We also put full bottles in the refrigerator overnight to see if the water remained bubbly or became flat. I found pressing the button twice was optimal for immediate drinking, and three times was best when I wanted to save some of the water for later. With three presses, the water was still somewhat fizzy even after leaving it in the refrigerator overnight. Over the course of several months, we made sparkling water, sparkling juice and sparkling wine. We repeatedly attached and detached bottles to know if it was frustrating or simple to begin using a soda maker. The versatile soda maker will carbonate any chilled liquid. It produced lively sparkling juice similar to bottles in the grocery store, but sparkling wine tasted a bit flat. The infuser does need to be hand-washed after every use. I admit that I haven’t always been a fan of seltzer (I thought it tasted like boring soda), but at some point in my mid-20s everything changed. The LaCroix boom happened, and sparkling water suddenly burst onto the scene as a new, young, cutting-edge beverage. Now, in the age of spiked seltzer and CBD soda waters it’s hard to overstate the culture impact seltzer water has had, and I have to confess, I’ve started to love it, too. What could be a better pairing with any meal? A more invigorating drink on a swelteringly hot summer day?

The best soda maker: The Drinkmate Omnifizz

The MySoda Woody produces the closest cousin to canned seltzer — assertive, rolling bubbles that hit the front of your tongue and you almost feel in your nose. For the home seltzer enthusiast, bubble structure — essentially, the type of fizziness the water holds — is undoubtedly a top priority. A loose bubble structure can feel like slightly larger bubbles, and give a less aggressive sensation of fizz, while a tight bubble structure features tiny bubbles, and a more prominent burn from the carbonation (think McDonald's Sprite). While there are merits to both, I prefer a tighter bubble structure (go big or go home, you know?) which I find more bracing, and also helps to better cleanse your palate between bites at mealtimes. The Aqua Fizz comes with a threaded 60-liter carbonation tank and a pair of dishwasher-safe glass bottles, which means it’s not compatible with any of the plastic bottles from SodaStream.