Making sparkling wine in a carbonator is my ultimate New Year's Eve hack — here's how to do it

I've tried many gadgets in 2024, but I'll end the year in style with the Breville InFizz Fusion. Many carbonators, such as SodaStream and the Ninja Thirsti, don't endorse adding anything other than still water to a bottle (although, if you ask me, I think a one-off exception for some emergency fizzy wine wouldn't hurt), but Breville actively encourages it.

When I went to an event for the Breville InFizz Fusion back in April (known as Sage in the U.K., where I'm based), I drank exclusively carbonated white wine and genuinely couldn't have guessed that it wasn't prosecco or champagne.

So if you find yourself running a little low on the fizz this New Year's Eve and you happen to have an InFizz Fusion, your guests will be none the wiser that those bubbles don't come from the fermentation process, but a 30-second pulse on a carbonator machine.

How does it work?

The InFizz Fusion has a special lid that lets you pulse and release pressure from your bottle before opening it outright, preventing it from fizzing over. This means you can add some fizz back to flat soda, or even prosecco, or create your own bases from iced tea to mocktails and not have to overly dilute them with sparkling water.

Can I use my SodaStream?

SodaStream says no, as does Ninja's Thirsti machine. This is because adding anything other than water could impact the long-term performance of your appliance.

But while I can't recommend trying this hack in other carbonator brands, I can guide those in a pinch and need some sparkling wine, stat.

The trick is to fizz your drink in very short bursts and release pressure between these pulses. If you carbonate for too long at a time, you'll risk creating too much fizz and causing leakage or excess pressure inside the bottle.

How does it compare?

Notice how I've not called this a hack for making homemade prosecco? That's because the fizz in prosecco comes from fermentation, so making this from home is impossible.

My recommendation? Use all the good stuff first (saving a bottle for a New Year's toast), and by the time your party's in full swing, your guests probably won't be able to tell you've switched to an improvised prosecco.

You'd be better off calling this drink a faux-secco, and although I couldn't taste the difference when I used regular white wine in my InFizz Fusion, I don't want to start my 2025 with an inbox full of angry sommeliers.

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