Club Soda from Soda-Club

I guess I first read about the Soda-Club seltzer maker on ApartmentTherapy: The Kitchn. I had seen similar products during a recent trip to Switzerland (back in November) and was intrigued. I am a big fan of seltzer, sparkling water, club soda…call it what you will, so I decided it was time to get one of these and write up a review for AM.

The first thing you are going to notice if you head to the Soda-Club website is that it ain’t that pretty. It is relatively basic and straightforward, and they clearly didn’t waste too many dollars on the site, which is fine by me.

That the soda maker is pretty nifty. Basically they created a housing for a large CO2 canister that allows you to attach a bottle and pump carbonation into it. The device is constructed out of plastic, which feels a little flimsy, but probably because a heavier casing, combined with the CO2 cannister would weigh a ton, and only contains a couple of moving parts. It is very easy to operate: screw the bottle (included) in place, pump and enjoy. This sounds like an infomercial, but making seltzer is really just that simple. Read more »

Re-Designing a classic

As product designs seem to age almost instantly, many companies out there are revamping their products, working to gussy them up, draw more attention to the packaging and get people to buy their products based on the flash they are showing, especially in the soda industry. Pepsi is currently rolling out a different can every three weeks with a bunch of different microsites like this one and this one. Mountain Dew had its Green Label Series. Now Sprite, after years with the same green can, has joined the impatient parade, redesigning its cans in the past year with a new “updated” design and logo.

Well, despite all of this redesign and flash, there is one brand that is taking a different track: Coca-Cola. Coke has hopped on the redesign band wagon, but rather then going for a new flashier image they have toned down their can.

Gone are the multiple “waves,” the bubbles, and different shades of red. The new can design plays on the tradition of Coke: a plain and simple a solid red can with the Coke logo (and of course, underneath, the word ‘classic’) with a single wave.

The new design evokes the tradition of Coca-Cola and brings it back to its status of an American Classic. Sometimes simple can say a lot more about a product then can flash.

On the Water Front

Well, it looks like it is a good thing that Coke decided to buy Glaceau, makers of Smart Water. It takes, between 50 and 60 gallons of water to produce a 1 liter bottle of coke. Considering that Coke is one of the most popular beverages around the world, that is a whole lot of water.

According to NPR, Coke is making an attempt to become a greener company and, due to a concern that a world water shortage is an actual possibility, Coke is looking to return all the water they actual use, approximately 76 billion gallons, back to nature.

Their plan is to put $20 million towards conserving seven watersheds around the world and are working towards changing their practices to use less water and recycle the water that they do use.

Also, if you are a big fan of bottled waters, you should check out Fine Waters. This is a site for people who believe that each bottled water has a unique taste and has gone to the effort of cataloging all of the information they can gather on bottled waters. Personally I am a huge fan of Fiji and Smart Water (though Smart Water didn’t make the cut for the site).