While in NYC, I was lucky to dine at WD-50 and enjoy the chef's tasting menu. Dining on my own, I opted to sit at the bar. Observing the bartender, I noticed that he was filling soda bottles, with some sort of gas from a large steel tank. Enquiring, I learned that it was a CO2 carbonation setup. When I returned home, the possibilities of a simple setup to carbonate any liquid conveniently and cost effectively sparked my curiosity and ultimately opened up the doors. One problem of soda siphons including the isi and soda stream are that they require special CO2 cartridges that are expensive and produce a lot of waste. The solution which became apparent to me at dinner was the carbonator cap. Originally used to carbonate kegs and home-brewers, the same principles follow for carbonating any liquid. For about the same price as the sodastream, this setup was built: 5# CO2 tank, regulator, ball lock gas in valve, tubing, and carbonator cap.
Sparkly...
The funny thing was the idea came to light when we had a keg that went flat in the walk-in. Although the beer was delicious and one of my favorite, flat beer is never good even when cold...
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