Some flavors to make for Soda Stream?
...I got this for Christmas and while I am grateful for the thought and love soda and all, I am finding it is pretty expensive to maintain. Plus I am a diabetic and most of their syrups are sweet so I am not sure how to make some of my own. Their flavors are expensive and besides they can suck, the diet coke tastes like something out of the 1970s version of diet soda, but their peach tea version of Chrystal Light is ok.
Does anyone have recipes or suggestions about some flavors for a diabetic like me? I have looked on line and either the recipes I am finding are too complicated, too expensive (they have exotic things I do not have), or they are not something I would like. Fruit is always good, and and so are some teas but "fizzing" tea is kind of alien to my taste, though I kinda like it. I have considered contacting a restaurant supply place that has those flavors for their machines, but those would be giant and I do not need that much (nor can I afford it).
Also their CO2 tanks are expensive to replace. It costs around $30.00 WITH an empty tank as an exchange. It has a proprietary top that makes it impossible to go to someplace like a sports store and have it recharged for less than $5.00. Then I found a place that I have now lost where this guy makes a replacement top that makes it possible to have them recharged, but even that was expensive ($60.00, which I will never have since I barely make the bills now).
I would even consider the sweet stuff if I made it myself because at least I would know how much and what kind of sugar I was using and maybe could adjust this.
Anybody have some good recipes or suggestions? Thanks so much for just being there to ask this question!
Love, Cat in Seattle
= new reply since forum marked as read
The Co2 bottle exchange is what I looked online to price and I am not sure which size bottle I have, it came with the Soda Stream.
The ideas you all have given are very helpful. I did not think about using frozen concentrated juice. One of my favorite drinks is mixing diet Mt Dew or 7 Up with orange juice and using concentrated juices like grape juice sounds divine. I had tried to mix some Chrystal Lite I had with water, but I did not know how much was enough and it was a mess to mix but tasted all right mixed with the soda (I used some fruit punch I had laying around).
And yeah you are right about it not saving that much money, if any. I love my pop, I say I am addicted to the fizz. I usually buy Safeway's brand when it goes on sale for $2.00 for 12 cans. I did find out that the Safeway in my neck of the woods in WA State) uses the same bottling company as Coke. Since the Safeway brand is sometimes half the price, you cannot beat that, even with Soda Stream. You can drink their diet cola side by side with regular coke and it tastes the same, even to picky people who HAD to have their "real" coke. I learned to seek this info out because one day while at the store real early in the morning, I saw the coffee guy filling those coffee bean dispensers and he went from the expensive stuff to fill the store brand. I asked him if it was the same stuff and he said it most certainly was. Guess what I buy, now? LOL
Just as an aside since I am an old lady and like to tell stories ...when I was a kid we used to make our own root beer and it was delicious. I still have the bottle capper my mom used ~ but no beer bottles or caps and even if I did I would not know where to find the extract. We used to store them on their side and depending on how hot it was, it would ferment in a little over a wee before it was readsy to drink. My mom did not drink alcohol (Dad did but not the beer so much, he liked scotch). She got her bottles from neighbors and friends and then washed them real good in some hot soapy water and then let them dry outside upside down. Sometimes while fermenting, the bottles would explode so Mom kept them out on the back porch "just in case", lol.
Thanks so much for all your input it was greatly appreciated and thanks for listening to my story. 
Cat
