Raise your glass and celebrate, because there's both an environmentally and cost-friendly way to quench your thirst on board. The compact, portable Soda-Club home soda-making system includes reusable bottles, and costs you just 16 cents per liter of seltzer and 38 cents per liter of soda pop. Each SodaMix bottle of concentrated flavorings, including cola, root beer, orange-mango and apple-peach, makes 12 one-liter bottles of soda pop or seltzer. At first it may seem intimidating to assemble the bottle and carbonator, but the instruction manual with diagrams walks you through each step thoroughly. Preparing these fizzy drinks requires some experimentation to figure out what level of carbonation is fitting for you. The number of times you press the carbonation button determines how bubbly your drink will be. If you don't press the carbonation button down all the way, you're guaranteed a "flat" drink. For optimum flavor, be sure to tilt the bottle of carbonated water and pour in the syrup very slowly. Also, after shaking up the closed bottle of carbonated water and flavoring, wait a few minutes before drinking. If not, you'll be consuming quite the bland beverage. The cola and root beer flavorings have a decent taste if you don't enjoy extremely sugary drinks - they do contain sugar but have a sugar-free flavor. The orange-mango seltzer has a pleasant fruity flavor but isn't extremely potent either. These seltzer beverages and pops may not taste exactly like the brand-name ones you find in a grocery store, but the fun you'll have in adding the bubbles of your choice is what makes them so enjoyable. Prices start at $89.99.
For more information, contact Soda-Club USA Inc., Dept. BW, 1 Mall Dr., Ste. 905, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002; (856) 755-3400; - Megan Kearns www.sodaclub.com .