A few years back, when I was a kid, I loved experimenting with the sodastream to see what things would taste like fizzy. I tried lots of drinks and most of them would end up in a huge mess on the counter that I would have to clear up before my dad got home. He only ever found out about my successes.
The worst mess was when I tried to fizz up milk. Trust me, don't try it!
But then as I got older, I tried other drinks. Could it fizz up flat cider? Could it fizz up wine.
So I have to have a go.
On all my trials, I would put the liquid in the bottle, then add the gas. on releasing the bottle, it would go everywhere.
I'd be left with about 1/2 the amount that I had tried to fizz up.
It tasted great, but to loose 50%, it was not worth it.
So a few weeks ago, a customer asked me if they could use a Sodastream to make sparkling wine, so I told them yes, but it's not a good idea as you'll loose lots over the counter.
So I had an idea. Wouldn't it be great to make a video of why you should not use a Sodastream. It would go everywhere and I'd laugh, and you would all have a fun time watching it go wrong.
So out came the camera. Out came the Sodastream. luckily the bottle still had gas, so it was all go to film.
I didn't have a chilled bottle of wine, so in my freezer I keep a tub of brine (heavily salted water) that never freezes. Putting a bottle of wine in it and it's ready to drink in just 5 minutes. Nice and chilled.
I put the bottle of wine in the brine bath, and then started to get ready for the filming.
The wine must have had about 10 mins in the brine bath when I was ready, so it was super chilled. I opened and poured the wine into the Sodastream bottle and proceeded to fizz it up.
Expecting it to go everywhere, I moved everything out of the way and then proceeded to release the pressure so I could unscrew the bottle.
There was the foam I had expected. It was going as planned. Yes, there was going to be a huge mess. So I let some more pressure off, and the foam stopped.
WHAT?
This was not meant to happen!
I was able to take the bottle out of the Sodastream with everything still in it. Beautifully fizzed up too.
I grabbed a champagne flute and poured.
I was shocked on both accounts. The wine was like a prosecco. I had used a sweet wine, so it was just like a sweet prosecco. Delicious! And I had the full bottle too.
So, the key I now think for making wine sparkle with a Sodastream, is to super chill it. It wont freeze at 0°C, because of the +10% alcohol, so you can take it down below 0°C.
I'm going to try it again soon.
I have tried beer before and because of the proteins that make and retain the head, it's not going to work, so perhaps that's the next video I need to make.
I really want to make a mess!
Watch us successfully turn wine into sparkling wine using a Sodastream and subscribe to our YouTube channel to be updated when we post our video of the beer going horribly wrong as planned.