Addicted to fizz

January 8, 2011 11:52 AM

I'm looking for a travel mug or portable water bottle that will keep carbonated soda carbonated. I can't seem to find - or maybe recognize - one.

As part of cutting back on the 700+ bottles and cans I go through in a year, I'm now making my own soda. But I'd don't want to give up being able to carry a smallish amount (12 to 16 ounce) with me. And for some reason I'm not finding any insulated, reusable bottles or mugs that say they work for carbonated drinks.

I found this, which looks perfect, but it's discontinued everywhere.

It may be that any water bottle or travel mug that keeps liquid from spilling will also keep carbonation in, but answers to this question make me think not. And I do know I'm not supposed to put carbonated drinks in anything like a thermos.

Any suggestions? Preferably for a specific bottle that works for you, but what I should look for or avoid (materials, kinds of caps, whatever) would be helpful too.

posted by still_wears_a_hat to food & drink (13 answers total)

Won't a Nalgene work for this?
posted by aubilenon at 12:05 PM on January 8, 2011

The recommendation not to put soda in a thermos is probably because the pressure might fracture the glass, but I don't think it applies to steel vacuum flasks and I think that's what I'd use if I could find one with a pressure-tight cap. (Obviously, if the bottle can't hold pressure, the CO2 will leak out and you'll have flat fizz.)
posted by anadem at 12:18 PM on January 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

I also have a soda machine and I dont think this is possible. When you buy a can or a two liter of soda there's very little space for air and that space is pressurized so that the gas in the liquid doesn't escape into it.

When you use your own container it'll never be that full for long nor will it be pressurized at that level. So gas will simply escape into the non-liquid areas. Any physical agitation of the bottle makes this happen all the faster. If you need travel soda then just buy a case of cans and use them as needed.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:24 PM on January 8, 2011

Also that bottle isn't going to work. Its not about gas escaping its about lack of pressure. You may be able to buy a "Fizz Keeper Pump" and get it to fit on a standard size bottle. As long as you keep pressure in there and keep from jostling the bottle you may be able to keep most of the gas in the liquid.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:27 PM on January 8, 2011

These half liter (~17 oz) bottles are made for use with a carbonating system, and are intended for storing carbonated beverages. However, they're not insulated or anti-spill.
posted by amelioration at 12:27 PM on January 8, 2011

Sodastream sells 1 liter and 1/2 liter bottles that fit their soda-makers and are also supposed to help soda stay fizzy longer than regular bottles. I've actually been surprised at how well they work (unless I forget to screw the cap on tightly). They supposed to be good for two years when you're using them for making soda, so I'd imagine that if you're not making soda in them, they'd last much longer. You can find them at Bed Bath and Beyond.
posted by amarynth at 12:31 PM on January 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

This problem has been solved by home-brewers. Basically, use reusable plastic bottles with twist-on caps. Same as the plastic bottles of Coke you buy at the store. Example
posted by PercussivePaul at 12:53 PM on January 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

amarynth, amelioration, do you find that the Sodastream bottles have a funny taste?
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:06 PM on January 8, 2011

This problem has been solved by home-brewers. Basically, use reusable plastic bottles with twist-on caps. Same as the plastic bottles of Coke you buy at the store. Example

I don't think that's true. With home beer brewing the yeast is producing CO2 when it is in the bottle (the reason you use small bottles is larger ones can explode). I'm assuming the home-made soda here is made by bubbling CO2 into the liquid, rather than it being produced through a chemical reaction (like home-made ginger ale).
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 1:12 PM on January 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

I mostly use mine for plain soda water, and I've never noticed an off taste from them.
posted by amarynth at 1:12 PM on January 8, 2011

Soda stream bottle is your best bet - I've never noticed any weird taste, keeps my soda fizzy for days on end.
posted by tristeza at 2:57 PM on January 8, 2011

Yeah, I've put soda into the kind of travel mug that you have to push the button to drink out of. And there's no steam hole in the lid. Because of the carbonation, the button won't press, and when you take the lid off, it kind of explodes like when you've shaken a soda bottle and open it.
posted by IndigoRain at 11:40 PM on January 8, 2011

I've carried carbonated water in Nissan thermos bottles of this type (including both 20 and 32oz sizes) more than 100 times without leakage or losing sparkle, mainly on bicycle day trips.

At least a handful of times I've run out of sparkling water at home and realized I hadn't gotten around to opening the water from my last bike trip a week or two ago, pulled it out of the pannier and found it perfectly fizzy, though no longer colder than room temperature, of course.

The coffee carafes built on the same basic bottle work equally well, if not better because they need less force to open.
posted by jamjam at 1:07 AM on January 9, 2011