REVIEW: Zuvo Water Purator

When I first heard of the Zuvo I felt like I was missing out on something. The reviews that I had personally read were nothing short of fantastic; so I had to see, or taste, for myself.

I personally contacted them to inquire if I could review the Zuvo as part of my “Home Beverage Machine Reviews” right here on the Unconditional Mom blog and I consider myself one lucky Mom!

When I received it I was amazed at the very sleek design. I studied it a little bit and read up on all of the material that was sent along. I couldn’t wait to get it hooked up!

You see, I live in a small town right outside of St. Louis, Missouri and our water is just - bleh! There is no other word to explain it. So like most ‘locals’ I invest in expensive bottled water and attempt to persuade my conscious mind that I’m not filling up landfill, after landfill, with plastic bottles. I’m not what you call a modern environmentally concerned mom, but I don’t want to be a contributing factor to situations if they are preventable.

So, here was my chance to see if I could lay all of that to rest and have quality drinking water to consume. Within a couple of days (not due to the Zuvo) I had the opportunity to put it to the ultimate test!

Be prepared for what you are about to see… this thing is flat out AMAZING!




It’s fascinating just to watch…

I wanted to take a picture so all of you could see what it looks like with the lights off. This is what it looks like while it’s purifying your tap water. Pretty neat, eh?

Technical issues: None. Hooking it up to the sink took less than a minute! Just read the papers that come with it, ahead of time, so you know how to operate it. When you first hook it up make sure you let it run for 5 minutes so it can purify your water to the fullest extent.

Cost:

The cost of a Zuvo? On Amazon.com: $208.93 (currently)

And no plastic bottles!

As their amazing filters last 6-8 months; dependent upon the use.

Now, on to the taste test: I have to tell you I almost forgot that I needed to take a drink as I was so mesmerized just watching it work. However, after I waited the initial 5 minutes of flushing it out, I grabbed a clear glass and let it fill up - the was crystal clear. Something I have never seen coming from my tap in the 4 1/2 years that I have lived here.

I closed my eyes (hey? I’m always a little leery!), took a deep breath and began to take my first sip. The moment it touched my lips my eyes opened as I was in disbelief; it was tasty! Tasty in the sense that it was free of any chemicals whatsoever and absolutely fresh!

On a personal level this made me really excited. As you know I have kidney disease and drinking water is more so imperative for my health than the ‘Average Joe’; we all need to be drinking water. Thanks to Zuvo water that just became a lot less expensive and enjoyable! My kidney’s no longer have to work extra hard flushing out those impurities that are found in bottled water as the Zuvo does it for them and that means a lot to me. Not to mention, that I know when my daughter drinks the Zuvo water there are no ‘nasties’ going into her system… and that makes my heart happy.

Now if you’ll excuse me… I’m going to go get another drink of my new crystal clear water. Kudo’s to Zuvo’s around the world; finally a water purifying system that I can actually SEE working.

Disclaimer: To keep within the FTC guidelines I have to mention that I received a Zuvo Water Purator in order to complete this review. I received no other form of compensation and my opinion remains honest regardless.

REVIEW: SodaStream Fountain Jet

As part of my Home Beverage System Reviews I really wanted to add one of the SodaStream so I contacted them directly and asked for the opportunity. The world is full of coffee lovers, tea lovers and the like. However, as much as I enjoy those beverages, I have an undeniable love of carbonated drinks. There is something about the fizzing and fuzzing that I can never get enough of.

It is my utmost pleasure to introduce the readers of Unconditional Mom to the SodaStream Fountain Jet. It’s available in white, black/silver and red to match any kitchen decor. Even better is it’s slim in design. It won’t take up more than 6″ counter-top space; very nice!

Now let’s get to the really good stuff!

When I received the SodaStream Fountain Jet I immediately took it out of the box. I looked around for a cord and/or battery compartment and realized it didn’t have one. This not only made me undeniably curious, but thrilled - no electricity needed! It works independently and that, for all of us who don’t like having to figure out where to plug something else in at, was an added to bonus for what else was to come.

I briefly read the instructions, but came to the conclusion that it wasn’t really necessary - it was easy to set-up! Thus far, my experience with it, was nothing short of, “Hmm, this is definitely impressive!”

Along with the SodaStream Fountain Jet came the CO2 needed to make the best part of anything that fizzes. I simply took the wrapping off from around the top of the CO2 tank, removed the casing of the Fountain Jet, and screwed the tank into place. All you have to do is snap the casing back into place and you’re ready to make your first, made-at-home, soda.

SodaStream also comes with 2 (two) plastic bottles that have a specially made cap designed to keep your homemade soda’s fresh; losing less carbonation. I filled the bottle up, to the specified line on the bottle, with water and twisted the bottle onto SodaStream Fountain Jet.

I pushed the button, that is on top of the Fountain Jet, 3 (three) times which released 3 (three) shots of CO2 into the water. It was fun watching the bubbles form in the bottle and confirming that everything was working properly. I then unscrewed the bottle from the Fountain Jet and realized I now had to chose which flavor I wanted to make for my first-ever homemade soda. It was a sincerely difficult decision for me to make as there are a lot of options…

Did I want Diet Cola? Cranberry Raspberry? Orange? Lemon? Lemon Lime? Diet Root Beer? Ginger Ale? Fountain Mist? Diet Pink Grapefruit, or one of the other 13 flavors? Or…

Did I just want fruit-flavored sparkling water? They have orange, berry and lemon-line. Oh the decisions! This wasn’t easy just for the record. Had I had enough bottles I would have made one of every kind.

I settled on the Diet Cola as that’s what I drink at home, on a regular basis, and wanted to compare taste as well for this review. Following directions I poured the flavoring up to the line on the cap and added it to my carbonated water.

That was it… I had made my homemade soda and it looked great! For a moment, I felt as if I was some unknown soda-making professional that was keeping a huge secret from the outside world. But would it taste equally as good as it looked?

*pause for dramatic effect*…

It was definitely tasty! I was thoroughly impressed as I truly thought it would taste more like a generic version of some of the major brand soda’s on the market, but it didn’t. The taste was surprisingly refreshing to say the very least and that made it a pleasant surprise.

So what’s my overall opinion on the SodaStream Fountain Jet?

It’s easy to use and oh-so-cool! Those I have shown have been really impressed with how fast I can make up a bottle of soda for them in a matter of minutes. And it costs less than if I had gone to the store to buy a soda from the grocery store. Let me not forget to mention that I also didn’t have to lug a heavy bottle or case home; or add yet another plastic bottle into a landfill somewhere nearby. Who can complain about that?

After a few uses I have now cleverly dubbed myself the soda-making guru, but I’m just witty like that.

Value:

It’s just 25 cents per can of soda and 25 cents per liter of sparking water. A 20 ounce bottle of soda cost me $1.39 the other day at a grocery store. You can do the math from here.

Environmental:

One SodaStream carbonator makes 60 or 110 liters, equivalent to 170 or 310 aluminum cans! When empty, the carbonator is refilled and reused, ready to make more fizzy and tasty soda whenever you want it. And again - no more plastic bottles as you continue to reuse the plastic bottles that come with the SodaStream.

Nutrition:

	Calories	Carbs	Sugar	Sodium	Caffeine
Pepsi®	100	27g	27g	25mg	25mg
Coca-Cola®	100	27g	27g	35mg	23mg
SodaStream Cola	34	9g	9g	2mg	15mg
7-UP®	100	26g	26g	50mg	0mg
Sprite®	100	26g	26g	45mg	0mg
SodaStream Lemon Lime	36	9g	9g	25mg	0mg

All SodaStream regular sodamix uses a mixture of Splenda® and sugar. Diet flavors are sugar-free, sweetened with Splenda® brand sweetener. Comparison is based on 8 fl. oz. serving size (0.34 fl. oz. of SodaStream sodamix per 8 fl. oz. of water).


Disclaimer: Due to the FTC regulations it is my duty to disclose that I received one SodaStream Fountain Jet along with several soda flavors to test for review purposes.

Review: Tassimo

I have been given a wonderful opportunity to review the Tassimo. What is a Tassimo? It’s a coffee lovers dream. Allow me to elaborate further so be sure to pay attention:

Tassimo is not just your run of the mill coffee maker. In fact, it’s not just a coffee maker. The Tassimo also makes espresso’s, tea, latte’s, cappuccino’s, hot chocolate’s, etc. I would go as far to dub it as the “Hot drink maker for everyone in the family“.

The best part? You don’t have to measure a thing, there are no filters and there is no mess. It’s so easy to use.

Welcome to the Tassimo! On the left you will see a picture of the machine set-up to make me a cappuccino. I’m using a travel coffee mug as what I made was a larger drink. You can use an accessory (that comes with the Tassimo) that will allow you to make smaller cups; it’s so easy to pick the size drink that you want. You simply adjust the stand to where you can make your hot drink without making a mess.

You’ll note that there is a small cup (called a T-Disc; sold seperately) above the spout (where the coffee comes from). The T-Discs come in several options (coffee, cappuccino milk, latte creamer, tea, hot chocolate, etc.); you can see a full section by clicking here.


I selected the Caffe Verona from Starbucks to make my cappuccino as seen above.


You simply take the T-Disc and place it upside-down into the holder with the tab sticking out as shown above and close the lid. Then the Tassimo actually reads the bar code on the T-Disc so it can automatically adjust to making you the perfect drink; in 60 seconds or less. Better than your coffee maker at home; isn’t it? I can contest to the fact that it is better than mine!

Even better? Yes, it does get better! The Tassimo even has it’s own special filters to purify the water (from your tap) that brews your coffee making it that much more delicious. Again…better than my previous coffee maker.

Imagine those trying to rush out of the house on a Monday morning and realizing you just can’t function without a steamy fresh cup of coffee, but you know it will take a few minutes to set-up your coffee pot, and then you have to wait for it to brew. Who has time for that? And who needs an entire pot of coffee? It’s a bunch of waste - of coffee and money! Now you realize that you will have to stop at the local convenience store, pour yourself a cup of coffee (that is never made the way we like it nor do we have any idea on just how ‘fresh’ it really is!) and drive off to work, school, etc. Tassimo is the solution; here’s why…

It makes one cup of coffee (or tea, or hot chocolate, or cappuccino, or a latte, or… you get the idea) in 60 seconds or less! I couldn’t believe how fast it began to work. Let me show you:

Within a few seconds the steam came out and the coffee brewing began - seconds! Then it began to brew the coffee fast. I was amazed and honestly wondered how it was going to taste with it working so quickly. Truth be told, I really second guessed myself as to whether or not I had set it up correctly or not. Considering it was such an easy set-up I didn’t know how that was possible.

Fortunately, I didn’t set it up wrong and it really was just that fast. I then added another T-Disc of the Cappuccino Milk Creamer and made myself a really nice, frothy, cappuccino.

You can see where it pierced the T-Disc’s and all I had to do was toss them in the trash. No messy clean-up! In fact, it took me 3 seconds to wipe off the spout, 2 seconds to dump the remaining water out of the tank and 3 seconds to dry it out.

I couldn’t do this with my old coffee maker if I wanted to and believe me… I’ve wanted to.

The Tassimo, in my humble opinion, is truly an innovative and wonderful product to have for any person who enjoys a hot drink; especially during these cold winter months.

Now, to keep within the honesty policy I have with the readers of Unconditional Mom, I do want to mention the one con that I have discovered with this particular product… the T-Disc’s are only available on-line at this time; you can not buy them in stores.

However, with that being said, they are inexpensive and if you’re organized and order ahead of time you will be highly pleased with your purchase.

This Tassimo retails for $169.00. They do come in some color options for those who are into having everything match much like myself.

Unconditional Mom highly recommends the Tassimo. With as fast paced and complicated life can be now a days, the one thing you truly deserve is a really nice cup of coffee, espresso, tea, hot chocolate…

DISCLAIMER:

To keep within the FTC regulations it is my duty to disclose that I received one Tassimo and four (4) packages of T-Discs (as pictured above) in order to complete this review. However, it does not reflect upon my opinion nor honesty in regard to what I have posted here for the readers of Unconditional Mom.