A lot of Consumerist readers are Sodastream fans, and a number of you wrote in with some sad news: as part of a redesign of its proprietary line of flavoring syrups, the bottles are now smaller. How much smaller? The old version made 50 servings of flavored drink, and the new versions make only 29. Why 29? Why not 30? Such are the mysteries of the Grocery Shrink Ray.

Reader Rob sent along these photos. In grand Shrink Ray tradition, the new bottles are somehow taller even though they’re smaller. On the positive side, they no longer look like petite laundry detergent bottles.

What you’ll notice, though, is that while the number of servings is down to 2/3 of the original amount, the bottle size isn’t that much smaller. That’s because the measuring cap is now bigger, and each serving uses more syrup. “The worst part is that they just diluted it with more water so the ‘new improved’ ones LOOK like they are the same size,” reader Erik complained to us. “They are 440ml instead of the old 500. EVIL! Free the bubbles! Stop this shrink ray occupation of my favorite soda!”

The old versions are still available on SodaStream’s site for now, as “Classics,” but readers report that they only find the shrunken version in brick-and-mortar store.

Maybe SodaStream made this change because they know that the product still looks reasonably priced next to its new competitor, the Keurig Kold. Maybe. We don’t know: we’ve called SodaStream’s media relations team repeatedly, and they haven’t responded to our messages.

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