spoonlemon SHANG Soda Maker: Full Review

In recent years, soda makers have surged in popularity as more people seek out alternatives to sugary, store-bought sodas. With a soda maker, you can easily carbonate water and create fizzy beverages from the comfort of home. Not only are the drinks tasty, but they're also more affordable, eco-friendly, and customizable than traditional sodas. Soda makers use carbon dioxide canisters to infuse tap water with bubbles, allowing you to make sparkling water, flavored sodas, and cocktails. The carbonation process is simple, doesn't require electricity, and gives you complete control over ingredients. While the market offers an array of soda making machines, the SHANG Soda Maker is one of the more compact and user-friendly options. This review will provide an overview of the SHANG Soda Maker, its key features, pros and cons, and how it compares to other popular soda makers.

Overview of the SHANG Soda Maker

The SHANG Soda Maker is manufactured by spoonlemon, a company known for kitchen gadgets and equipment.

This soda maker model allows you to make sparkling water and soda at home. It typically retails for around $99 USD and can be purchased on Amazon or directly from the spoonlemon website.

The SHANG comes in a few different color options like black, white, and red. It has a compact and sleek cylindrical design that won't take up much space on your kitchen counter. The soda maker contains a CO2 carbonator and uses carbon dioxide canisters to carbonate water.

It's compatible with 1L reusable BPA-free plastic bottles. The SHANG provides a healthier and more economical way to enjoy carbonated drinks at home.

Design and Appearance

The SHANG soda maker has an elegant and minimalist design. The base is made of durable plastic with a matte finish available in black, white or rose gold colors. Weighing only 2.2 pounds, the soda maker has a petite footprint of 4.3 x 4.3 x 12.6 inches, making it easy to store in most kitchen cabinets or even bring along while traveling.

Despite its compact size, the SHANG holds up to 60 ounces of water in its BPA-free Tritan plastic carbonating bottle. The bottle itself has a slim yet sturdy profile and is transparent so you can monitor the carbonation process. The metal cap lining ensures a good seal during carbonation.

Overall, the SHANG soda maker was designed with convenience and portability in mind. The sleek aesthetics and range of color options allow it to seamlessly blend into any kitchen decor. Considering its durable construction, the SHANG packs impressive carbonating power into a petite, lightweight body.

Ease of Use

The SHANG Soda Maker is designed to be very easy to use right out of the box. Initial setup only takes a few minutes - simply wash the bottles, connect the CO2 cylinder, and you're ready to start making sparkling water and soda.

Operating the soda maker is straightforward. To make sparkling water, you fill the BPA-free bottle with cold water, attach to the machine, and press the button. Carbonation takes about 60-90 seconds. Adding the flavored syrups is similarly easy - just pour in the syrup, attach the bottle, and press the button again.

Cleaning the SHANG Soda Maker is quick and simple. The bottles are dishwasher safe, and the parts that come in contact with soda are easy to hand wash with just soap and water. Users note that there is very little messed created while using this soda maker, especially compared to the syrupy results of some competitors.

Overall, the SHANG Soda Maker delivers on being an easy to use appliance that allows you to create refreshing fizzy drinks at home with minimal effort. The quick carbonation, mess-free syrups, and easy cleanup make this a convenient soda maker for daily use.

Carbonation

The SHANG Soda Maker carbonates water by injecting CO2 from a small compressed cartridge into a BPA-free plastic bottle. The carbonation process is fast and effective, taking only about 2 minutes to fully carbonate a 16 oz bottle.

The high pressure carbonation produces excellent fizz quality, with small and even bubbles that will keep your drink carbonated for hours. The level of carbonation is adjustable via a dial on the top of the device, allowing users to control the amount of fizz to their taste. Most users report the maximum carbonation level produces a soda with fizz comparable to store-bought brands.

The CO2 cartridges are easy to change and inexpensive to replace, providing 60L of carbonated water per cartridge. Each plastic bottle can be re-carbonated up to 15 times before needing to be replaced, keeping ongoing costs low. The carbonation system is simple to operate and maintain, with no electric components. Overall the SHANG creates highly carbonated homemade soda water with great bubble quality.

Flavor Syrups

The SHANG Soda Maker comes with 8 syrup flavors to get you started making a variety of homemade fizzy drinks. The included syrups are cola, lemon-lime, orange, root beer, strawberry, cherry, grape, and coffee flavors. This covers many popular soda flavors. The syrups are concentrated, so just a small amount mixes with sparkling water to produce the drink.

While the included syrups offer a good variety, you can also add your own custom syrups. The device is compatible with Torani, Monin, Davinci, and other common soda syrup brands. This allows you to get creative and make unique flavor combinations. You can find recipes online for homemade syrups using fresh fruit, juices, herbs, spices, and other natural ingredients. The possibilities are endless! With the right syrups and some experimentation, you can craft custom fizzy drinks to suit any taste.

Fizz Quality and Taste

The SHANG Soda Maker produces a smooth, fine bubble texture that is comparable or superior to many store-bought brands. The carbonation level is easy to control, allowing users to make lightly fizzy or highly carbonated beverages according to taste.

The flavors produced using the included syrups or other additives taste natural, balanced, and appealing. The soda water itself has a clean taste that doesn't interfere with flavors added. Users report enjoying the flavor comparability with favorite commercial brands, but with the ability to customize and experiment with their own syrups and combinations.

Many users find they can create a variety of sodas, sparkling waters, tonics, and other fizzy drinks that rival or surpass store-bought versions. The SHANG Soda Maker provides flexibility to adjust carbonation level and flavors to match or improve on favorite branded beverages.

Value

When considering the value of the SHANG Soda Maker, it's important to look at the price compared to competitors and the cost per liter of soda produced.

The SHANG Soda Maker currently retails for around $60 USD. This places it in the mid-range for soda makers, below higher end brands like SodaStream which can cost $100+ but above the cheapest $20 manual soda makers. Compared to other electric soda makers in the $50-70 range, the SHANG provides a competitive value.

It's also useful to consider the cost per liter of soda. The SHANG uses 60L CO2 cylinders which make around 60 liters of soda when filled. This works out to around $1 per liter of soda produced. Compared to buying pre-made soda at $2-3 per liter, the SHANG provides significant savings. Even when factoring in the upfront cost of the device amortized over time, the SHANG produces soda at a lower cost than buying pre-made.

So in terms of price and cost efficiency, the SHANG Soda Maker delivers good value, especially for households that drink a lot of sparkling water and soda. The mid-range price is reasonable and the soda output keeps costs low. This makes it a financially attractive option compared to competitors and to buying soda at the store.

Pros and Cons

The SHANG Soda Maker has several positives as well as some potential downsides to consider:

Pros

• Compact, lightweight, and portable design makes it easy to use anywhere
• Simple to operate with just the push of a button
• Carbonates water in under 30 seconds for fast fizzy drinks
• Includes 6 reusable BPA-free bottles and 3 flavor syrups
• Produces good carbonation and fizz
• Affordable price point compared to similar brands
• Fun way to make homemade carbonated beverages

Cons

• Carbonation may not be as strong as some higher-end soda makers
• Limited to only 6 bottles so cannot make large batches
• Flavor syrups may not appeal to all tastes
• Need to frequently replace CO2 cylinders
• Occasional leaking or clogging reported in some customer reviews
• Smaller carbonation tank means having to refill CO2 more often

Overall, the SHANG Soda Maker provides a solid entry-level soda making option with great portability and ease of use, but higher demands users may want a more heavy-duty model. For making small batches of homemade sodas and sparkling waters affordably, it's a great choice.

Conclusion

Overall, the SHANG Soda Maker is a solid choice for consumers looking for an easy-to-use and affordable soda maker. Its simple and sleek design makes it easy for anyone to make sparkling water and sodas at home. The carbonation is strong and it produces a nice fizzy quality in the final drinks.

The flavor syrups add a nice touch for customizing drinks, though the flavor options are limited compared to some competitors. The SHANG seems to make slightly less carbonated drinks compared to the highest end soda makers, but for the price it offers very good value.

This soda maker is best suited for consumers who want an inexpensive option for making seltzer or flavored sodas at home. It doesn't offer as many features as more expensive models, but makes up for it with its simple operation, sleek design, and budget-friendly price point. Overall the SHANG Soda Maker is recommended for beginner to intermediate home soda makers looking for quality carbonation without breaking the bank.