Before you buy a soda maker — or switch your refills to a new supplier — there is one thing worth checking: the cylinder thread. It is the single fact that determines whether a cylinder fits your machine, and getting it right saves a lot of frustration. Here is everything you need to know about what works with Sparkling Mate cylinders.
Two systems, one important difference
Home carbonation cylinders come in two main formats. The first is the standard EU/US screw-in thread — a cylinder that literally screws into the machine, used by the majority of brands worldwide. The second is SodaStream's Quick Connect, a snap-in system introduced on some of its newer machines that does not use a thread at all. Sparkling Mate cylinders use the standard screw-in thread, which is the widely supported, cross-brand format.
Machines that DO fit Sparkling Mate cylinders
If your machine takes a standard screw-in cylinder, Sparkling Mate cylinders will fit. That includes Sparkling Mate machines and most other screw-in brands on the market:
- Sparkling Mate machines
- DrinkMate
- Aarke
- Spirit
- Bubble Bro
- Crystal
- Jet
- One Touch
- GoZero
- Older screw-in SodaStream models
Machines that do NOT fit
Sparkling Mate cylinders do not fit SodaStream's Quick Connect machines — the Terra, Art and Duo models — because those use SodaStream's proprietary snap-in cylinder rather than the standard screw-in thread. If you own one of those, you are tied to SodaStream's own cylinders for that machine.
If your cylinder screws in with a thread, it is the standard format — and Sparkling Mate cylinders will fit. If it clicks in without turning, it is Quick Connect, and it will not.
How to check your machine in ten seconds
Look at how the cylinder attaches. If you have to rotate it to screw it in and out, you have a standard screw-in machine and Sparkling Mate cylinders are compatible. If the cylinder pushes in and clicks into place without turning, you have a Quick Connect machine and it is not. That one check tells you everything.
Already own another brand of screw-in cylinder?
You do not have to buy a cylinder from scratch. The Switch to Sparkling Mate trade-in (AED 70) lets you hand over another brand's screw-in cylinder to the driver and receive a full Sparkling Mate cylinder in return, which then joins the swap programme. From then on, every refill is a simple same-day swap at AED 55 — the driver brings a fresh cylinder and takes your empty away.
