The carbonation renaissance is upon us. Whether it’s the obsession with hard seltzers like White Claw and its endless copycats or “better-for-you” sodas like Poppi and Olipop, people are craving that crisp, bubbly feeling in every corner of their palates. I’m one of them—simply addicted to bubbles. I try to keep it as healthy as possible by minimizing sugary sodas. I mainly just like simple seltzers or sparkling water.
But “healthy,” for me at least, is more than just watching sugar in my drinks. Lots of these sparkling beverages contain “forever” chemicals known as PFAS. As seen in a Consumer Reports study from 2020, the amount of carbonated water products with high amounts of PFAS is much greater than still water products. Some of these are very popular brands with an ingredients list displaying nothing but carbonated water—so you’d never know unless you were otherwise aware of PFAS. Making bubbles in your own home is a good way to remedy this.
Is It Cheaper to Make Your Own Soda?
Bubbling up your own water is obviously the more sustainable route than buying countless bottles of the stuff, even if it’s in glass—it still creates avoidable waste. The primary drawback with carbonators is that you need to continue to replenish your CO2 canisters. Generally, they run about $17 to $30 each (depending on brand) for a 60-liter canister, which adds up, so you’re not necessarily saving money. Some brands also have recycling programs where you send in your empty canister and get it replaced with a full one so that you don’t just toss out the metal canisters. These recycling programs were included in my testing.
Carbonators are a relatively simple technology. Generally, the gadgets just need a CO2 source and a means of pumping the gas into some water. I tested these first by using filtered water through a Zero Water filter. I was mainly looking for simplicity and something easy to use that makes a crispy, bubbly product. For the most part, all of these gave me a nice fizzy water. But some of them were a bit more complicated to use than others, mainly in terms of inserting the canister of CO2 as well as inputting the bottle. Others were as simple and smooth as could possibly be.
Check out some of our other beverage-related guides, including Best Nonalcoholic Wines, Best Energy Drinks, Best Juicers, and Best Nut Milk Makers.
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