Water bottles are now not simply vessels for the well being necessity that’s H2O — they’ve turn out to be a press release piece expressing the newest traits in hydration. Due to the recognition of bottles just like the Stanley cup, and the reusable water bottles that’ve come earlier than it (Nalgene, Hydro Flask, CamelBak and extra) the purple carpet has unrolled for a brand new sort of water bottle: the Air Up.

The Air Up is exclusive in that it is designed to change the pure style of water, however not by flavoring it. As a substitute, the Air Up prompts your sense of style by including a scent pod close to the nozzle to offer you a perfume as you sip your water — a water bottle idea that was born as a part of a last challenge by two German college college students. As a result of scent is so carefully linked to our style (as anybody who’s ever misplaced their sense of scent will let you know, it may dramatically have an effect on the tasting expertise), the Air Up is supposed for individuals who do not notably look after the style of water, are hoping to switch their soda or carbonated beverage with the plain stuff, or who merely are curious about taking a sip of the newest traits coming from the water bottle world.

However idea is completely different than actuality. I examined the Air Up with a collection of its taste pods to get a style of what the corporate is s(m)elling. I additionally requested my colleague who makes use of the water bottle what her expertise has been like. This is what I discovered.

Unboxing the Air Up and attaching its components

I examined a silver stainless-steel Air Up that holds 28.7 ounces of water and comes with a inexperienced neon-colored straw and nozzle; it presently prices $70 on sale once you buy it in a bundle that comes with 9 perfume pods. The corporate has a 28 ounce silver metal bottle and black metal fashions in 16-ounce and 28-ounce capacities. Air Up additionally sells laborious plastic fashions product of Tritan that are available in enjoyable colours comparable to scorching pink, orange, blue and white. The plastic bottles are offered in 22-ounce sizes. The mouthpiece on all of the water bottles is product of silicone. You may also purchase different-colored equipment individually.

I additionally tried the 1 liter charcoal-colored plastic (Tritan) bottle, which is a part of the newer Gen2 line and presently accessible solely in some European nations. These bottles are made of fifty% recycled supplies, are dishwasher secure and are extra leak-proof, the corporate says. The form of the bottle resembles the form of the bigger metal fashions accessible within the US, in that the bottle is not slanted or tilted on the prime and has a bigger prime.

The Air Up is fairly intuitive to arrange. It arrives in a field, components unattached, with no matter collection of scented pods your bottle package deal comes with. The primary occasion throughout setup is attaching the pod, which is simple, as long as you align the little level of the nozzle with the little level of the pod and securely latch it in. To “activate” the pod and put it into flavored-water mode, gently pull it up till it stops.

How the Air Up works

By the use of what the corporate says is its patented Scentaste expertise — attaching a pod with scent across the nozzle of your water bottle — you are tricking your thoughts into pondering you are consuming one thing flavored. This works as a result of your olfactory sense (smelling) is intimately associated to style; actually, scent makes up the bulk of our notion of style. (When you want an instance of this relationship in reverse, strive plugging your nostril the following time you eat your favourite meals.)

As soon as your pod is activated or nudged in correctly, you will drink via the straw like regular, which stirs up air and kicks up taste via your mouth and nostril, providing you with the phantasm that you simply’re consuming flavored water, with out altering the precise composition of the pure stuff you are really consuming.

So long as you are utilizing Air Up, you will want to purchase alternative pods, which might be one of many larger downsides to this water bottle — it may add up cost-wise.

The consuming check: My expertise with the Air Up

Consuming with the Air Up’s pod activated is a novel expertise; that is for positive. I knew my pod was correctly activated when consuming via the straw resulted in slurping sounds — the sort of sound you make once you’re making an attempt to suck the final bits of your drink via a half-busted straw. (Activating the pod is simple, however it took me a minute earlier than I spotted I hadn’t adopted primary instructions and had failed to drag the pod up into “activation” mode. So when you aren’t listening to bubbles or slurps, your pod in all probability is not activated.) Sadly, there’s actually no approach round this sound, as a result of it means the air bubbles are working their magic, stirring up smells in your mouth that immediate you to style in retronasal olfaction trend (casually drop that phrase at your subsequent social gathering).

General I used to be shocked by how nicely the idea labored — injecting “style” into plain water via scent and straw-sucking alone. It was the same expertise to consuming some kind of artificially sweetened fruit drink. (The corporate does say its pods are derived from pure substances.) I obtained a handful of various flavors to check (peach, cherry cola, mango-passion fruit, orange-vanilla swirl), and although I favored some higher than others, all of them gave me the same artificially and noxiously candy vibe. So, when it comes to scent or “style” activation, the Air Up works, and I believe does just about what it claims to do, although I might nonetheless say there is a distinction between “common” style and the Air Up style expertise.

Off the bat, I discovered the flavour pods to be fairly sturdy. In actual fact, perhaps too sturdy, and I can not say the Air Up makes for a scrumptious consuming expertise. In all probability my least favourite factor about consuming from the Air Up was how the taste-smell expertise affected the expertise of the meals I used to be consuming alongside. I discovered consuming from the Air Up after consuming an egg sandwich, and earlier than taking a chunk of candy potato, fairly off-putting, and borderline nauseating. However that is strictly my private expertise, as somebody who has a delicate nostril and does not look after ultra-sweet flavors like orange-vanilla swirl — plus I’ve a distaste for artificially sweetened meals and drinks to start with. And to be truthful, the corporate is not making claims of ultra-deliciousness. It is touting a novel expertise that might lead to folks consuming extra water. I am going to additionally word I did get used to the flavour over time as I turned accustomed to consuming from Air Up.

An enormous word for the straw-lovers on the market: The expertise of consuming from the Air Up in scent/style mode is sort of completely different from the common stream of water you get from a water bottle with a straw. The setup that permits for the pod and bottle to kick within the retronasal motion is similar one which leads to a less-satisfying stream, so I discovered myself deactivating the pod to drink simply as usually as I left it activated. If you wish to use the Air Up as a “regular” water bottle with out the slurps and style, you will nonetheless must have a pod in place, even when it is deactivated, which I used to be just a little disenchanted to appreciate.

Whenever you’re achieved consuming, you screw on the lid. The Air Up’s cleansing course of is fairly easy, and I discovered it straightforward to take the factor aside and put it again collectively.

As a result of the Air Up’s enchantment and common usefulness rely in your causes for wanting one within the first place — and it is best suited to individuals who need to drink extra water or want it to be flavored — I requested my colleague Religion Chihil, a social-media producer right here at CNET, what she considered her Air Up. She began utilizing the water bottle after it piqued her curiosity; she stated she’s “at all times making an attempt new methods to trick myself into consuming extra water.”

“I’ve additionally had hit-or-miss experiences with flavored water drops (making an attempt to determine the best-tasting ratio; bizarre faux sugar aftertastes), leaking and spilling, etcetera. So I figured a scent-based product could be neat to strive,” Chihil stated.

She stated it did assist her keep in mind to drink extra water, at the least for the primary week. She had just a few notes concerning the water bottle, although. She stated it may be annoying to make use of in quiet environments due to the sounds it makes; the plastic model is not insulated; and the cap that screws on is less complicated to misplace than a lid that flips. She additionally stated that, of the flavors she’s tried, the pods appear to differ in depth, which I might agree with.

Some folks have reported leaking points with their Air Up bottle, however I did not run into any issues whereas consuming from the stainless-steel bottle, so long as the cap was screwed on correctly. I additionally did not discover any leaking difficulty with the 1 liter Tritan bottle, which is a part of the Gen2 line the corporate says is meant to be leak proof. This can be because of the construct of bottles — when you examine pictures of the plastic bottles to the metallic ones (silver or black), the highest a part of the metal bottle is completely different and much like the Gen2 line.

Who’s the Air Up for?

The Air Up is not for people who find themselves anticipating this smell-meets-taste expertise to be scrumptious, and it will not be for individuals who dislike the style of artificially sweetened issues. Individuals who do not have a very sturdy sense of scent may not get rather a lot out of it. Strictly when it comes to sustainability, there are higher choices on the market for water bottles, since you will must proceed shopping for pods so long as you are utilizing the Air Up.

Mainly, individuals who do not thoughts the style of water and/or aren’t curious about discovering a option to drink extra of it ought to save their cash. There are cheaper water bottles that ship the (plain) items.

People who find themselves all the way down to experiment with the newest expertise in water bottles, people who do not thoughts spending just a little cash to boost their hydration routine, and individuals who aren’t thrilled by the style of water could also be good candidates for this water bottle.

Jokes apart concerning the noises the Air Up makes, and the not-for-everyone “style” of the pods, the corporate behind the Air Up makes level about homing in on the advantages of plain water, and about the advantage of folks getting again to the fundamentals as an alternative of choosing the favored carbonated drink or sweetened beverage. Sugary and/or carbonated drinks aren’t nice in your tooth and may match away on the enamel (protecting coating) over time, as can including acidic fruits like lemon to drinks on a regular basis.

Additionally, hydration is the best software we’ve got at our disposal to enhance our well being and assist our physique filter out its waste, regulate its temperature and performance extra easily general. Within the pursuit of higher well being, we won’t yuck no matter is somebody’s yum in getting them there.