Are you drinking enough? I like to be hydrated but sometimes struggle to hit my goals. The more enjoyable the process is, the more likely we will follow suit and drink enough as well. I like soft drinks and all sorts of flavored drinks, but this should be the exception, and it’s likely best to stick with water as the primary source of hydration. As I am not alone with such a goal and challenge, a company called Air Up (also stylized as “air up” as part of their brand) came along and introduced a solution.
They aim to establish an immersion of drinking subtly flavored water based only on smelling a fragrance. I recently had the opportunity to test this product based on a press sample provided by the company. The concept behind Air Up bottles is simple yet curious – adding flavor to water through scent alone. Using the biological effect of retronasal olfaction, Air Up creates an impression of taste that is actually a scent. In other words, it tricks your brain into thinking you’re tasting something when you’re merely smelling it. This clever system combines the health benefits of drinking plain water with the pleasure of enjoying different flavors.
Does that work? What’s it like? What does it cost, and how long do the flavor pods last? Read on to find out more about this product.
About Air Up
At first, they were driven by a desire to tackle the problem of unhealthy nutrition. It began in 2018 when a group of students completed their bachelor’s project and turned their results into a company. They developed the concept during their joint product design studies at the University of Design in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. Air Up has grown since then and is now boasting more than five million customers across 10 European countries and the USA.
Following their math, they have potentially saved over 368 million single-use 1L plastic bottles and prevented more than 7360 tons of sugar from entering our bodies. With a diverse team of over 300 employees from 45 nations, Air Up has brought almost all its production to Europe. But how does the solution work?
How Air Up works
The Air Up drinking system is as simple to use as it is interesting but not complicated. You start by filling the Air Up bottle with still or sparkling water. Then, you select your favorite flavor pod and attach it to the mouthpiece. As you drink from the bottle, a suction effect transports the water and air from the outside through the flavor pod into your mouth. This process activates retronasal olfaction, tricking your brain into perceiving the flavored air as taste. The scent-taste function can be easily activated and deactivated using a sliding mechanism on the bottle.
I first thought it didn’t work well during my testing, but there were several issues to tackle first. Their instructions seemingly gave the wrong information when it came to attaching the flavor pod, but after checking a YouTube video of a random user, I spotted how to do it right, which helped. This was the case for the earlier version of the bottle, though, and the pod activation now happens automatically on the newer version of the bottle, which I tested a little later. The whole process of drinking from this bottle and experiencing immersive flavor gradually grew on me. I didn’t like it at first, but over the days of using the bottle, I started to like it more and more.
You just have to remember they are not aiming to replace a juice or soft drink. The flavor is only very subtle, and it’s more of a blend than anything else. If you don’t expect the taste to be like a soft drink, then you’ll likely be able to accept the results more easily. If you entirely disregard the flavor, I also think that based on how the bottle works, I feel like I drink more liquids with less effort. Somehow, the straw mechanics mixed with the air bubbles being mixed in when you’re drinking lets you drink more. I can empty the bottle once in a few minutes without issues. It takes some practice to get used to how to drink from the bottle “in the right way,” but you’ll get there. It also takes some time to get used to not lifting the bottle but using the straw instead, but it is really only a matter of practice and fighting your intuition at first.
The flavor pods are easy to switch out, allowing you to change flavors on the go. They have 12 different flavors, including Watermelon, Wild Berry, Ice Tea Peach, Mango-Passion Fruit, Cherry, Raspberry-Lemon, Strawberry-Lemongrass, Cucumber, Orange-Vanilla, Peach, Apple, and Cherry-Cola. According to their website, each flavor pod lasts for about 1.3 gallons of water, although there’s no noticeable flavor decline based on time alone. Overall, Air Up offers a unique solution for anyone looking to add a bit of flavor to their hydration routine without resorting to sugary drinks or artificial flavorings. The Air Up water bottle is made from BPA-free Tritan, with a food-safe silicone mouthpiece, strap, and ABS plastic lid. Each pod contains a food-safe fleece with natural flavoring, ensuring a safe and enjoyable hydration experience.
There are also some negative reviews about Air Up in the international press, but I think it’s unjustified. I can only imagine the testers did not try the Air Up bottles long enough and did not have enough time actually to use them beyond the first attempt. I know it takes some getting used to, but it’s not as negative as Wired reported, for instance, in my opinion.
Pricing
Pricing is one area where the Air Up solution might fall short for some. A starter kit, which includes a 22oz bottle and nine flavor pods, costs $49.99 on their website. If you want to purchase new pods, a bag of three pods will cost you between $7.99 and $12.99, depending on what flavor you are going for. This pricing matter is really the only downside I can identify right now, but if this is in your budget or maybe you even save some money compared to what you currently spend on hydration, then it’s all good. Beyond that, it’s worth mentioning that the water bottle also works as a regular water bottle, even if you’re currently out of flavor pods.
On Amazon, you can also find some fake products and pods if you search for “Air Up,” but I have no idea how well these would perform. The bottles look generic and not nice at all. On the other hand, I have no idea what’s inside the fake pods and would be careful what you consume here if they don’t clearly state it. I’m surprised that Amazon keeps them on their marketplace, but you have to decide if you want to try the real thing or your luck with the original maker.
Do they keep all their promises?
They don’t claim anything unreal in their marketing. They are quite transparent about the solution and upfront about telling you how much everything costs. The only aspect I disagree with is that on their website, they claim to be “the first hydration system that flavors water through scent alone.” This is not true. In 2017, one year before their founding, we at TechAcute reported about a project called Right Cup, which had the same basic premise of providing the sensation of flavor only based on smelling the scent.
The only difference was that Right Cup designed cups to drink from instead of bottles, but the function seems the same. This is why companies should never claim they did something first, simply because it’s not verifiable. Maybe a random inventor on the other side of the world built this a hundred years ago but never patented it or sold it to anyone. You never know if you are the first with something; that should never be a claim. But to be fair, this doesn’t change the fact that their solution works fine.
Summary
We tested both an older version and the new version of the Air Up water bottle. Both performed well, but the new version has significantly improved, including a better refill system and automatic flavor pod activation. In conclusion, the Air Up drinking system is worth considering if you want to make hydration more enjoyable and if it’s no problem for your budget. Just remember, you’re not actually tasting the flavors – you’re smelling them, and the flavor is subtle. If that’s good for you, they are good for you.
YouTube: The Air Up drinking bottle system explained (promotional clip)
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Photo credit: All images shown are owned by Air Up and were made available as part of a press kit.
Editorial notice: We received the product from Air Up to write this review but were not paid to publish this article.
