Long seen as the most boring of beverages, water was front and center at the “What’s New, What’s Hot!” showcase during the Summer Fancy Food Show, a major specialty food event in New York City.
Although seltzer brands such as Polar and LaCroix Sparkling Water looked humdrum amidst a sea of portable gazpacho and coconut yogurt, fizzy water has become the most exciting drink on the market. Annual U.S. sales of seltzer now reportedly amount to $1.5 billion—and that’s not including the people who make it at home using SodaStream machines and other carbonation appliances.
Mounting popularity aside, seltzer is the ideal drink. It’s fun water—a soda without all the damaging health effects of soda, a non-alcoholic drink that doesn’t feel silly to order at the bar. If the Fancy Food Show is any indication, the seltzer explosion is kicking into high gear. Soon, we’ll have seltzer branded for tough guys, seltzer branded for dieters, and a hundred other niche marketing ploys.
Soon, we’ll have seltzer branded for tough guys, seltzer branded for dieters, and a hundred other niche marketing ploys.
So with more varieties inevitably coming, what’s the best way to drink it?
If you want to go retro, and happen to live near a seltzer delivery service, get cases of glass bottles brought to your door, just like Grandma used to. Seltzer fans in New York can call the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys, while those in the Bay Area can get their fix from the Seltzer Sisters.
But the most common way to buy seltzer is at a local store, where it's available in bottles and cans; if you prefer flavored versions, the store is pretty much your only option. (Please don’t order water online or use gross flavor packets.)
That said, the pricing structure of in-store seltzer defies rational economic logic. At a supermarket or bodega in New York City, you can buy a 20-ounce, 1-liter, or 2-liter seltzer bottle all for about the same price, between $1 and $2 (the ingredientsare so cheap that size doesn’t matter). But at more than $1 each, in-store seltzer is unnecessarily expensive if you drink a lot. For two bottles a day, you’re potentially looking at a nearly $1,000 annual habit. Besides, hauling around boxes of seltzer cans is a pain, and 2-liter bottles always go flat before they’re finished.
Unlike other new-fangled food products, such as blood orange olive oil brownie kits or gluten-free ravioli, unflavored seltzer is made out of air and water—both of which are abundantly available.
People have been carbonating water at home for decades now, and Israel-based SodaStream is so successful that, like Kleenex and tissue, the brand has become synonymous with “carbonation appliance.” But the company has alsoattracted the ire of human rights activists by operating a factory in a West Bank settlement; Israel has been widelycondemned by the international community for building settlements on disputed land. Indeed, a SodaStream that’s no longer being used is considered a political statement in certain circles.
Another concern for users is that SodaStream machines only work with the company’s own carbonation tanks. After the 60 liters’ worth in your tank is gone, you have to visit an authorized retailer and pay $15 to get a refill (or 25 cents per liter)—that’s once a month for heavy users. But if you’re like most people, you won’t refill the tank immediately, so be prepared to be stuck with a useless hunk of plastic sitting on the kitchen counter.
Fortunately, SodaStream and its imitators are not your only options for making seltzer at home. Soda siphons (or “gazogenes”) first emerged in the 19th century, and although they’ve evolved over the years, they’re still your best bet.
Siphons are liter-sized bottles that don’t come with a carbonation machine. Instead, a small CO2 cartridge (or “charger”) screws into the cap, and carbonates one bottle at a time. You can order chargers online from a variety of sellers for about 40 cents each if you buy many at once. Unlike SodaStream, the chargers are generic rather than proprietary, and while it’s a little more expensive per liter (40 cents versus 25 cents) to use siphons, you don’t have to obsess over a tank-refill schedule.
What’s more, unlike a SodaStream-style machine, siphons can carbonate juice, cocktails, or iced coffee (not as good as you would hope, but also not terrible) without mucking up the machinery or voiding your warranty, as with a SodaStream. They combine the low cost of in-home seltzer-making and the convenience of old-timey delivery. (I use an aluminum Mastrad Purefizz which is no longer in production, but you can also purchase handsome vintage glass siphons on eBay.)
With today’s seltzer renaissance, there are a ton of options for fizzy-water fans to stay hydrated on the cheap, but the superior option, in terms of cost and convenience, is a siphon.
