Breville InFizz Fusion – carbonated drinks on command (kitchen review)

13/05/2024
By Ray Shaw
In Reviews

The Breville InFizz Fusion is a carbonated drink maker supporting the trend of making more homemade foods and having control over what you drink.

Carbonated water is not new. Swiss man Jacob Schweppes commercialised it in 1786. The process is the same – injecting carbon dioxide (C02) into water. The earliest products were soda siphons, particularly useful for adding soda to spirits.

Another brand popularised its use. In the 1980s, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes.

Breville (Wiki) was founded in 1932 in Sydney. This Australian ASX-listed icon has become a global brand selling in over 70 countries. In the past few years, it has acquired several international brands and partnered with Nespresso for capsule coffee makers.

CyberShack loves Australian success stories.

Note: There is a Breville Infizz Aqua at $249 that just makes soda water. The Fusion Cap is different, and you cannot add flavour before you fizz.

Australian Review: Breville InFizz Fusion carbonated drink maker

Website	Product page
Price	$249
From	Breville Online, Harvey Norman (and sub-brands), JB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Bing Lee, David Jones, Myer, Retravision, Betta, and Breville stockist
Warranty	2-years ACL
Made in	China
Company	See above
More	CyberShack kitchen appliance news and reviews

New Ratings Methodology 2024

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

We are also tightening up on grading. From now on, Pass, for example, means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark to be 70+/100 with extra points added for class-leading and excellence. Pre-2024 reviews tended to use 8+ as a pass.

First Impression – where is the tech?

We review kitchen appliances with some tech – you know – an app or electronic smarts to make life easier. I could not find a power plug, LCD readout or app. And that, it turns out, is a very good thing.

Why? This is a virtually idiot-proof device that can quickly fizz water (with all manner of additives) and juices with no fuss or mess.

That is the key difference between its competitor, which fizzes water, and then you add flavour. This can fizz anything in the bottle, allowing for broader creative use.

Setup – Pass+

It uses the same 60L, 425g, screw-in CO2 cylinder as the competition. In fact, you will likely buy the ‘blue box’ (not the pink box) from Coles or Woolworths for an initial outlay of $36. When empty, you can swap it for another at about half price.

Screw it into the base and fill the reusable 1L bottle with cold water (not mandatory, but it helps absorb the CO2) or juice. Now you have two choices.

You can add the flavour (typically 50-100ml) to the bottle and fizz it or add it later. The real issue here is if the flavouring creates too much foam!

Next, fit the Fusion cap and press the lever to add fizz. Three one-second presses gave the best result.

If you add flavourings post-fizz, you re-cap the bottle either with the Fusion cap or the standard screw cap that comes with each bottle.

The secret sauce – the Fusion cap

The Fusion cap allows you to carbonate almost any liquid. It securely attaches to the bottle and has a red release valve that allows controlled release (depressurisation) of the C02 so as not to create too much foam. It is also removable and washable, unlike other brands that have CO2 nozzles built into the device.

More bottles and Fusion caps – sure – Pass

You can buy a 2-pack of .6L or 1L InFizz BPA-free bottles with a standard cap for $39.95/49.95. As far as we are aware, you cannot use third-party bottles, as there are three unique index knobs to fit the Fusion cap securely. A spare Fusion cap is $44.95.

Hint: While the 1L bottles hold just that, the minimum and maximum fill lines are at 700/800ml to allow for foam and gas. When calculating how much flavour to use, work on 700ml.

How long does the bottle stay fizzy? Pass+

We could not test that as we usually drank the contents within 24 hours, and there was no degradation. You can also add more fizz via a one-second lever press. As a guess, I think it is OK to make five or more bottles and refrigerate them for use in a week or so.

Mouthfeel – Pass+

It is purely subjective, but the Breville InFizz fusion seems to create smaller, more delicate bubbles, adding a nice, crisp mouthfeel that store-bought soft drinks seem to lack. You can also find your level of mouthfeel by experimenting with the number of lever presses.

What flavourings can you use? – Pass+

The competitor’s brand dominates Woolworths and Coles shelves. You can buy flavours like

Pepsi Max /Standard, Mountain Dew, Sunkist, and other Schweppes flavours
Creaming soda
Tonic
Ginger beer/ale
Lemon, Lime, and Bitters
Various Lipton Ice Teas
Zero No Sugar flavours

These make from seven to nine litres.

You can also use any cordial —these range in strength from 4 to 1 to 10 to 1 dilution. My favourite is Buderim Ginger Cordial, which is the perfect mixer with Bundaberg Rum.

You can fizz wine, juices and coconut water—any reasonably inert liquid. However, you should not fizz hot liquid, dairy or dairy substitutes.

The economics of making your own fizz – Pass+

The Breville InFizz Fusion costs $299, although we have seen it as low as $219 from Amazon and $249 from some retailers.

The original gas bottle is $36. It is supposed to make 60 litres, but some user reports put that at 40+.

Water is virtually free.

A typical Cottee’s cordial costs $5.90 per litre at 10 to 1 (it makes about 14 litres of drink). Other brands may have lower costs, and there are often half-price specials.

We assume you make 5 x 700ml (using 1L bottles) a week (182L per year), hence the need for four extra bottles.

Item	Buy	Serve	Cost per serve	60	260	520	750	1000
Machine	$299.00		Amortised	$4.98	$1.15	$0.58	$0.40	$0.30
Original Gas bottle	$36.00	60	$0.60	$0.60
Cordial	$5.90	7	$0.41	$0.41	$0.41	$0.41	$0.41	$0.41
Gas refil	$18.00	60	$0.30		$0.30	$0.30	$0.30	$0.30
4 spare 1L bottles	$49.95			$0.83	$0.19	$0.10	$0.07	$0.05
Per Bottle			700ml serve	$6.83	$2.05	$1.38	$1.18	$1.06

Of course, paying less for the Breville InFizz Fusion and different flavourings will influence the cost per bottle, but the main fixed cost is gas at 30 cents a fill. If you only get 40 fills, that adds 15 cents per bottle.

CyberShack’s view – perfect for families, and you can control what you drink

Let’s face it: most families spend a lot each year on soft drinks and seldom responsibly recycle the empties at the bottle bank.

This is a good alternative; you can control what you put in it, especially the amount of sugar or sweetener.

We found fresh lemons ($2.50kg for about five ‘Odd Bunch’ lemons) juiced makes about 4-5L of ‘real’ lemonade. You can add a little sugar or stevia to taste. Similarly, you can fizz any fruit juice (you can’t do that with other brands).

Then there was a lovely 700ml jug of Limoncello gin cocktail, using the lemonade above, Limoncello liqueur, and some lemon slices. Or the vodka, frozen mixed berries, and more of the lemonade above.

Don’t expect homemade concoctions to be as colourful. All store-bought flavours contain additional colouring, preservatives, and stabilisers.

The point is that you can reasonably economically add fizz to anything you can add to water.

Who is this for?

It’s the Aussie alternative to the competitor’s brand, and frankly, it is well designed with a die-cast lever (not cheap plastic) and made to last longer with a choice of brushed Stainless Steel, Black Truffle, and Sea Salt powder coat.

It has the advantage of being able to fizz both water, juice or wine and the flavour at the same time. The more you use this, the lower the cost. It comes into its own quickly if you buy 5-10 bottles of soft drinks a week.

And I think the amateur bartender angle is a real market.

Rating

As this is the first carbonated water maker we have reviewed, we have no benchmarks. Let’s just say that it seems class-leading over the competition.

Features: All brands do the same thing—inject CO2 into water. This is superior because you can add flavour before fizz. It has bottle-locking lugs, a Fusion Cap, and superior construction.
Value: $299 is at the upper end, but shop around and get it for $219 to $249. Compared to the competition, the Breville InFizz Fusion is far better made and has a two-year warranty. Spare bottles are a must, and it’s a little hard to swallow the $49.95 for a pair.
Performance: Never having used a carbonated water maker, I was not sure what to expect. It is very intuitive, and we nailed it after a bottle or so. Rules: use cold water, 3 x 1-second presses
Ease of Use: It is easy, quick, and no mess. It comes with a long-handled bottle cleaning brush, a strainer (or sieve), and a funnel.
Design: Elegant and a keeper. Does not take up much bench space.

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