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Seltzer wars

January 10th, 2006 Diane Leave a comment Go to comments

seltzer.jpg I bought myself a seltzer bottle for Christmas. Isn’t it pretty?

At first, I couldn’t make it work. Then I noticed the cartridges not only said “Cream” but also said NO2 instead of CO2. (I had those cartridges because that’s what the chick at Williams-Sonoma sold me, okay?) I took the cartridges back, got the ones labeled “Soda,” and discovered they work much, much better.

Normally I drink carbonated water mixed with a slug or two of Torani syrups, available in nearly every flavor you can think of (and even more, if you buy the full-sugar ones — currently i use the sugar free ones flavored with Splenda). I hope adulterating perfectly good water with syrup removes it from my “glasses of water per day” total, but I can’t say that with certainty.

The best thing about making the bottle of soda is, of course, adding the CO2 to the water. You add the cartridge to the cartridge holder, carefully screw it in… and when the seal on the cartridge is pierced, WHOOMP! The water bubbles up. Then you shake the bottle a few times (to distributed the CO2?) and you’re good to go.

Now that I have used the seltzer bottle (successfully), I can give you a side-by-side comparison of how the bottle stacks up against a bottle of carbonated water (say, Crystal Geyser) bought at the store:

Seltzer bottle Bottle of water
Attractiveness High None
Start-up cost $50 inc. in price of bottle
Price per liter .50 (assuming box of cartridges at $5.00) .88 (assuming 1.25 liter bottle at $1.10)
Sodium As much as your drinking water Low, but definitely there
Fizziness On par with beer On par with soda
Trash left over One small cartridge per liter(recyclable) One plastic bottle per 1.25 liters (recyclable)
Liberal guilt assuaged Much None

Clearly in the short run it’s much more cost-effective to keep buying the carbonated water at the store, but I much, much prefer using the seltzer bottle. It tastes better, there’s no sodium, and best of all, I’m not filling up our recyclables container every week with four or five bottles.

So if you’re like me and a)like carbonated water and b)like to make your own Italian sodas with Torani syrup, I highly recommend picking up a seltzer bottle. There are both cheaper ones and bigger ones out there, depending on your needs.

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  1. hanna
    hanna
    January 16th, 2006 at 21:46 | #1

    Hah! We (well, I) had a major brain fart over the holidays. We have both the cream-whipper and a seltzer bottle and I (chemistry-challenged dork that I am) didn’t know they took different cartridges (they look exactly the same). So, I whipped up a batch of cream. Tasted AWFUL. Ew! We thought maybe the mechanism hadn’t been cleaned well enough from the last time. Cleaned. Whipped up another batch. Ew! Bitter and just awful. The hubby thought maybe they’d gone bad, but then noticed where I went when I went for another….

    Problem solved. Oy.

  2. November 30th, 2006 at 17:34 | #2

    (1) you shake it up to cause the CO2 to be absorbed into the water. It seems to me that it works better (more carbonated) if you then leave the cartidge attached a minute or two after shaking and maybe until you fill your first glass. My directions also said to use cold water (if you want cold soda).
    (2) the soda cartidge is truly recyclable can be melted down into whatever metal is used for, and even saves much energy expended to refine raw ore into metal whereas the plastic bottle is not made into new plastic bottles, but into bulk plastics like 2×4s for park benches, which when done with go into landfill (unless something has changed lately), increasing the amount of liberal guilt assuaged. I first got a seltzer bottle about 1980, but got out of the practice till recently.

    I make my own sodas, especially for my daughter who is alergic to artificial colors and other additives.

  3. Rick W
    Rick W
    February 19th, 2007 at 18:19 | #3

    Are any brands of seltzer bottles better than others?

  4. jean
    jean
    June 10th, 2007 at 09:37 | #4

    can you use the seltzer bottle to make egg cream fountain drinks such as the ones sold in the old days in Brooklyn? The kind where you put in some chocolate syrup, a little milk, then fizz in the soda and it gets all foamy. It doesn’t work when you just add club soda. You need some pressurized umph to it and I am wondering whether the seltzer bottle will do the trick. jean

  5. June 11th, 2007 at 09:01 | #5

    Yup, absolutely — the seltzer bottle is what was originally used for making those egg creams.

  6. Kirstin
    Kirstin
    March 3rd, 2008 at 21:12 | #6

    Where did you buy your seltzer bottle? I’ve been looking but all I can find are vintage pieces or modern stainless steel (” “) ones.
    Thanks
    e

  7. March 4th, 2008 at 11:19 | #7

    I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma, which has some very nice glass ones.

  8. Bruce
    Bruce
    March 21st, 2008 at 00:59 | #8

    I bought the same wire mesh bottle at Goodwill for $3.99! I was wondering, do you need a housing around the chargers, or stick it right in?

  9. May 21st, 2008 at 11:54 | #9

    You definitely need the housing. Check with the mrfizz.com website and call them; their accessories will possibly fit. Otherwise try the Williams Sonoma folk.

  10. jobo
    jobo
    August 11th, 2008 at 20:57 | #10

    Best place for parts:
    Types of seltzers
    http://prairiemoon.biz/fuliofsosise.html

    Links to parts pages
    http://prairiemoon.biz/sosisebopa.html

    Mr. Fizz wasn’t much help when I contacted them. Luckily, Liss parts fit my vintage BOC and Sparklets seltzer. Prarie Moon has a great return policy so you could try the cartridge holders for different brands and see what fits.

    There is also the Nitrokit http://www.nitrokit.com – I haven’t been able to get answer from them about what siphon brands their charger holder works with but it looks very interesting. (I have an old seltzer missing the piercing pin).

  11. jobo
    jobo
    August 11th, 2008 at 21:33 | #11

    More info:
    Kovocas also made a steel mesh glass seltzer (along with Liss, and Sparklets). Most were made in Czechoslovakia or Hungary:

    Kovocas/Kovočas Parts:
    http://www.fantes.com/seltzer.html

    Kayser Parts (don’t know that they did a mesh version but their parts might fit other brands):
    http://www.trulythefinest.com/prodList.cfm/5251,M,Soda_Siphon_Spare_Parts,1,1,F,MX0

  12. Duncan
    Duncan
    December 26th, 2008 at 00:52 | #12

    Just was given a seltzer bottle of this type… no charger, lost I guess…but put selzer bottle in my browser and up comes Fantes.com…a kitchen supply house and the selter bottle was the same one so I bought a charger and a key just in case… The manual which you can download is Liss… Kovocas bottle stainless steel mesh covered, Model M-90 and they have a diagram of all the parts too… Handsome addition to any bar…

  13. kathy
    kathy
    February 17th, 2009 at 11:53 | #13

    Can you make fuzzy water glass by glass or do you have to make a liter or so at a time?

  14. February 22nd, 2009 at 13:38 | #14

    You put a liter of water into the bottle, then spray out seltzer water in whatever amounts you want.

  15. Bekki
    Bekki
    February 28th, 2009 at 11:24 | #15

    I was just given a Kovocas mesh/glass bottle, never used, all parts, and not sure if I want to keep it (was also given a smaller red one…might keep)but can’t seem to find out how much it is worth. I’m sure it is old, like everything I get from this friend, but like I said, it’s in brand new-never used condition. can anyone help? Fantes.com says the bottles aren’t being made currently, so there’s no prices.

  16. clyde
    clyde
    March 7th, 2009 at 14:43 | #16

    Check e-bay. Search “syphon” and “seltzer”.

  17. Nancy Boyles
    Nancy Boyles
    May 31st, 2009 at 20:10 | #17

    I am bidding on 3 Sparklets Seltzer bottles. If I need parts, are they available? If so, where?

  18. Seth
    Seth
    September 23rd, 2009 at 09:58 | #18

    for anyone really serious about carbonating, you got to move up to a CO2 tank. Startup cost is about $120, but you’re looking at pennies a liter.

    check out this guy’s site, he describes what you need in detail:
    http://www.truetex.com/carbonation.htm

    I did it. Now all I drink is carbonated water.

  19. Willard Swenson
    Willard Swenson
    December 28th, 2009 at 20:55 | #19

    I would like to know what different thing a seltzer bottle will do, cream [chocolate coke,etc. ] thanks

  20. Emily
    Emily
    January 23rd, 2010 at 14:44 | #20

    I have come across an old seltzer dispenser, and was wondering if you might know who I might contact about repair/cleaning. I am unsure of the exact age, but it is metal and says “isi (in italics) Austria 85_05 ” on the bottom. When I unscrewed the top portion and withdrew the stem, there was a little bit of clear goo at the bottom of it. Undeterred, I tried my best to clean it out, and out came little white, pebbly crystals (I am guessing this is from the carbon?) and the water would not drain all the way out of it. Trying to put on a cartridge is very difficult as well. I would love to hold on to it for sentimental reasons, but am unsure about how to even begin this quest of repair.

  21. January 23rd, 2010 at 15:46 | #21

    Nope, sorry, I have no clue as to what to do about this!