I’m getting sick of all the plastic bottles and metal cans that pass through my life. But I like my flavoured fizzy water. Is it possible to get a home carbonation unit so that I can take tap water and make my own pop/soda and flavour it to be cola or whatever?
Yes you can make your own fizzy water.
http://www.sodaclubusa.com/Splash07.asp?redirectPage=seltzer_lovers.asp&random=79911171
A previous thread that had some other less expensive ideas in it.
Cool! And it seems to be available in Canada as well.
I started thinking about this after I had mint-flavoured Italian soda at a Second Cup in Toronto… wonderful. Makes me wonder why Coke or Pepsi never came out with a mint flavour.
Dry ice. This recipe calls for 1-2 pounds per gallon, or 100-250g per liter.
What about an old-fashioned soda siphon with those CO2 cartridges?
I was raised in Denver, frequently used as a test market. One of them (can’t recall which) came out with an apple/mint soda called “Aspen” in the late 70’s. I liked it, but apparently not enough others agreed with me.
If you don’t mind some sweet, you can boil, add sugar, cool down, add yeast and bottle. That’s how I make ginger beer. Plain old Flieschmanns bread yeast works.
This will work, but if you add too much fermentable sugar, the bottles could explode. IIRC from my brewing days, only a quarter cup of dextrose per 5 galon batch is required. Dextrose is available at any brewing supply shop.
Those are great. I have a not quite old fashion one that I use all the time. They are a little expensive because the CO2 cartridge is only good for a liter or 2 of water. I also don’t think they would work that great for flavored soda, because the siphon would get a little sticky. They are probably great with a shot of syrup in the glass that you squirt the water into, but I don’t think I would fill the siphon with flavored water.
When I was a kid, Sodastreams were the must-have trend - unlimited fizzy pop on tap! (Well, until the syrup ran out.) The fad seemed to die out pretty quickly, and my parents never bought one. 
Apparently they have been relaunched recently.
I generally use 3/4 cup of dextrose per 5 gallons when I brew, but I’m not sure how the sugar would react to the bread yeast. Probably a good idea to start small and work your way up. Also keep in mind (with brewing yeast, at least) that it will take between 2 and 3 weeks in the bottle (stored at around 70F) for the yeast to do their thing.
I want a machine so I can carbonate grapes like they were talking about in that other carbonation thread. Also, I want to experiment with carbonating all my fruit.
If you’re playing with dry ice, try making carbonated fruit! Just put a bunch of fresh fruit (apple, cherries and peaches are awesome, but watermelon was…interesting) in a cooler with some dry ice. Put the lid on and come back in a few hours. The CO2 will work its way entirely through the fruit, making it carbonated! The really crazy part is that it doesn’t change the texture or appearance of the fruit, so you can sneak people fizzy cherries unawares! 
My goddaughter discovered this when she put the fruit in the meat (that is, dry ice) cooler while camping! Oops! Yum!
Restaurants buy their CO2 in 5-10 pound gas tanks. You can probably get one for $50, and refill it for something like $10. Then you need a regulator, and a hose attached to the regulator. The tank & regulator might cost you $100, initially.
We do the same thing in the aquarium fresh water plant hobby, so I know a bit about it, besides having worked in restaurants before.
Doesn’t the fruit freeze?
Make your own:
They claim it is $0.04 per 2-liters after construction cost of around $100.
No, oddly enough. At least, it wasn’t frozen when we opened the cooler (about 8 hours after packing) and it didn’t have the texture of frozen and thawed fruit.
Thanks, lightingtool. I’m a little rusty on my brewing technique, and a little lazy in not looking it up! 