Aarke Carbonator Pro, Sparkling Water Maker with Glass Bottle, Steel Finish

Product Information

The SodaStream Terra is the right blend of price and performance with an intuitive design and small profile that fits on a bar top or in a cabinet. It produced medium-sized, assertive bubbles — the kind of sparkling water that should suit people who are daily sparkling water drinkers. First, I wouldn't feel comfortable taking this bottle out into the world, at least not without some kind of silicone sleeve for protection (which Aarke doesn't offer). It might be ideal for filling up and placing on the table during dinner, but it's less convenient for travel. Of course, you could always empty the sparkling water into a travel bottle of your choice, but that just adds one more item to the dirty dishes pile at the end of the day. 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.

The carbonation tank (you’ll need to buy a threaded 60-liter tank separately) is screwed into the tower after you lay the machine on its side, while the 27-ounce plastic bottle (that needs to be hand-washed) is likewise twisted onto the top. It was one of the easiest models to set up. The Aarke Carbonator Pro is a luxurious take on the soda maker concept. It’s a more effective version of the design featured in the SodaStream Aqua Fizz, and carries the price to match, which — while it’s a good performer — makes it harder to recommend.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. Cleaning 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. The Terra is affordable too, all the more so because the price tag includes a dishwasher-safe, 1-liter bottle and a 60-liter carbonation tank. While this machine works with other .5- and 1-liter SodaStream bottles, it requires a proprietary carbonation tank sold only by SodaStream (that works with the Terra and Art models). That’s something to keep in mind, if you’re the kind of seltzer drinker who is using this machine a few times a day. 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. 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.

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. 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 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.Whether you're concerned about the environment or your health (or, in most cases, both), reducing plastic in any capacity is always a plus. Soda makers are either electric or manual. The electric models have preprogrammed carbonation levels and automate the carbonation process. With manual machines, you’re depressing a button on the top or pulling a lever to force bubbles into your drink. 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. 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.

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 ease of use—and high-quality glass bottle—featured in this model comes at a cost: a much heavier machine. I was unable to lift this machine with one arm, and I sometimes struggled to push the cover down without using both hands. The Aarke Carbonator 3 is a sleek soda maker with a solid handle that is why soda jerks must have gotten into the business in the first place. The soda maker produced gentle rolling bubbles for rounded bubbly water with a few short pulls of the handle. That’s where Aarke’s Carbonator Pro comes in. The at-home water carbonator features a simple interface, a reusable glass bottle, recyclable and renewable CO2, and, most importantly, produces top-notch soda water. How’s the seltzer? 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.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. Bubble structure pretension aside, I’m happy to report that the Carbonator Pro produces sparkling water with a tight but delicate bubble structure every time. By repeating the carbonation process, users can add more bubbles to the sparkling water, but generally the result doesn’t vary greatly. 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. 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.

Next, you’re ready to carbonate by pressing a button until you hear a buzz. One buzz gives a little fizz, two delivers moderate fizz and three makes your water super fizzy. Finally, press the release handle down halfway to release pressure (you’ll hear it release) and then all the way to lift the cover. Remove the bottle and you’ve got perfectly sparkling water, comparable to, if not better than, any store-brand water I’ve tried. You press the button to carbonate, and you can fine tune with a few extra squirts of CO 2 at the end. Honk honk and you're done. Aarke's carbonators even use the same CO 2 canisters as SodaStream, which makes swapping them out much easier. And like SodaStream, the company even has a convenient canister mail-in exchange program called the Cylinder Loop. It's also worth noting that the carbonated water it produced felt and tasted identical to what we've been making at home for years. The glass bottle is dishwasher safe, so users can easily keep it clean, and the machine itself requires little to no cleaning.The best place to start is to consider what you’re looking to carbonate, how often you’ll be using your soda maker and whether or not you’re pouring drinks for a crowd. Most soda makers only work with water, but there are a handful (Spärkel, Drinkmate OmniFizz, Sensei Soda Maker) that can add bubbles to your cider or chardonnay. 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. The electric Spärkel was on the loud side, similar to a coffee grinder, but not obnoxious. The plug is short, so you’ll need an outlet nearby. Once you’re finished, you have to empty the water cycled through the machine from a front tank.