Description
Is it only water you want to carbonate?
If the answer is yes, almost any soda maker will do and this one is more machine than the job needs. If the answer is no, the field narrows to almost nothing, and that is the reason the Drinkmate OmniFizz exists. Ordinary carbonating machines are designed for plain water, and putting juice, wine or anything with sugar into them creates a pressurized mess when the bottle is released, because the dissolved gas comes out of solution all at once and takes the liquid with it.
Drinkmate’s answer is the Fizz Infuser, a detachable head that sits on top of the bottle and releases pressure slowly rather than all at once. That controlled release is what lets the machine carbonate juice, iced tea, cold brew coffee, cocktails, flat soda and even wine or hard seltzer that has lost its fizz. It is a mechanical solution to a specific problem, and it is what distinguishes this from every machine that says water on the box.
The second question is how much you will actually get through. This bundle includes four 60 liter CO2 cylinders, which Drinkmate states covers up to 240 liters of carbonated drink. For a household drinking a liter a day that is most of a year before any cylinder exchange is needed. That is a genuinely useful amount to start with and it removes the usual first year annoyance of hunting for a refill.
The specifications that decide it: manual operation and quick connect bottles
The power source field carries the placeholder token in brackets rather than a value, and the operation mode reads Manual. Both describe the same thing: this machine needs no electricity. Carbonation is driven by the cylinder and a manual action, which means it works during a power outage and can live anywhere on a counter without an outlet nearby.
The bottle is described as a reusable BPA free quick connect carbonating bottle, meaning it snaps into place rather than screwing in. Cross threading a screw in bottle is the standard frustration of older machines and it is what makes people stop using them. Only one bottle is included, which is worth planning for, since carbonating one drink while a second bottle chills is how these machines get used in practice.
Why carbonating other liquids behaves differently
Two things change when the liquid is not plain water. Sugar and other dissolved solids give the gas more nucleation sites, so it foams more readily, which is exactly the problem the slow release head addresses. And anything that leaves residue, meaning juice, cordial or coffee, needs the bottle and the infuser washed promptly rather than rinsed later. Sugar residue in a carbonating head is both unpleasant and a genuine cleaning chore once it has dried. Build the habit from the first use.
Temperature also matters more than people expect. Gas dissolves far better in cold liquid than in warm, so a drink straight from the refrigerator carbonates noticeably better than one at room temperature. That is chemistry rather than a property of this machine, and it applies to every carbonator.
Living with it: cylinder handling, the dimensions problem, and a small review sample
CO2 cylinders are pressurized vessels and deserve the same care as any other. Store them upright, keep them away from heat sources, do not leave them in a hot car, and do not attempt to open or refill one yourself. Exchange is done through the supplier. With four cylinders in this bundle, that also means finding somewhere sensible to keep three spares.
The published data has a real gap. The only dimensions given are package dimensions of 18.9 by 12.2 by 9.06 inches, and the only weight is 15.62 pounds. Both of those describe the shipping carton containing the machine, a bottle, the infuser and four steel cylinders. The machine itself is much smaller and much lighter, and its actual footprint and height are not published anywhere. For a countertop appliance whose main constraint is where it will stand, that is the most important missing figure, and it should be confirmed with Drinkmate before ordering if the space is tight. The machine also needs vertical clearance above it to insert and remove a bottle, which no listing of this type ever states.
One figure to weigh honestly: this listing shows 32 ratings at an average of 4.0. That is a small sample and a moderate average, and the product first became available in November 2023. It ranks 65th in the soda maker category, and the country of origin is given as Taiwan.
The one thing the listing does not mention, and which matters for anyone carbonating alcohol, is that carbonating wine or spirits changes how quickly the gas escapes when opened. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on which liquids the infuser is rated for rather than experimenting with anything thick, hot or syrupy.
When a simpler machine is enough
If the household only ever carbonates water, the specialist head is capability you are paying for and will not use, and a plain water carbonator is cheaper and smaller. The SodaStream Art is the design led version of that and the SodaStream Terra the plainer one, with the rest in the soda maker category.
If the actual want is a better cold drink rather than a fizzy one, cold brew coffee needs no consumables at all and the Takeya cold brew maker covers that, with more in the cold brew category. If precise control over hot drinks is the equivalent interest, the Fellow Corvo EKG Pro kettle is the other end of the same impulse.
Who should buy it and who should not
Buy it if you want to carbonate juice, cold brew, cocktails or flat drinks rather than only water, and you value starting with enough gas to last most of a year. The Fizz Infuser’s slow pressure release is the mechanism that makes carbonating anything other than water practical, and four 60 liter cylinders covering up to 240 liters is a generous starting bundle.
Skip it if plain sparkling water is all you want, where a simpler machine costs less and takes less space, or if there is nowhere to store three spare cylinders safely. Before ordering, get the machine’s own dimensions and the vertical clearance it needs from Drinkmate, because only the shipping carton size is published, and plan on washing the bottle and infuser immediately after anything sugary.
