I attempted Kim Kardashian’s scent-based water bottle: It was a tasteful mess

Specialists advocate that the typical human ought to drink about half a gallon of water a day. Regardless of the entire well being advantages that water has, I am unable to carry myself to drink almost as a lot as I ought to for one easy motive — I actually do not just like the blandness of water. That is what makes the Air Up bottle so intriguing. With out the addition of sugar and energy, the bottle could make water style flavorful. It actually sounds too good to be true.

Here is the method: You refill the bottle with water, drop one of many scented pods on prime of the bottle snout, and drink from it as typical. Easy, proper?

You might be questioning then why I did not give the Air Up an ideal 10 out of 10. Briefly, there are some design flaws that proved troublesome throughout testing (or consuming), particularly at a $40 worth and a price of $7.99 to $12.99 for a pack of three pods. To search out out if this method is value investing in, learn on. 

The science behind Air Up

I am going to begin by explaining the bottle’s flavorful magic trick. From the scented pods you place on the bottle snout, the flavors are transported by your olfactory receptors and into your mind, so that you understand the scent as a style while you’re actually simply consuming water. The idea of tasting what you scent is named “retronasal scent.” Have you ever ever been congested and unable to style the flavour of your meals? It is the identical idea right here however reversed. Because the identify of the bottle implies, air is critical for this method to work. Flavored air is mixed with water, and launched to provide the style you’re on the lookout for.

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Taste take a look at: Which of them to get, and which of them to keep away from 

I discovered how efficient the scent pods had been depended solely on the flavour I put in. The primary pod I examined within the bottle was the Cucumber taste and I used to be past dissatisfied after I took my first sip. The water tasted like… water and nothing extra. Even after I sniffed the pod earlier than inserting it on a bottle, it hardly had a scent — not to mention of cucumber. Nonetheless, after I put the Orangeade pod in, I had a wholly totally different expertise.

The Orangeade pod has such a robust scent that, after making use of it to the bottle, my hand smelled as if I had simply peeled an orange. With this pod in, the water tasted citrusy and refreshing, much like the style of water that is been infused with precise fruit. 

My suggestion when selecting pod flavors can be to get ones which have stronger, sweeter scents in order that the style is extra discernible when consuming. In any other case, you are left with the identical downside that you just had earlier than beginning the Air Up journey: bland hydration. For what it is value, Air Up has an intensive number of flavors to select from on its web site. 

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One other vital issue when discussing taste is how lengthy the pods can be utilized. Unsurprisingly, you’re going to get the strongest style when the pod is first put in, and it’ll fade with time. In line with Air Up, every pod is designed to taste roughly 1.3 gallons of water. When you drink a gallon of water per week, you’ll be able to count on to sip up the vast majority of a pod’s taste by the top of it. In my expertise, the corporate’s estimate is true. One week is the perfect time so that you can get the optimum taste per pod.

Bottle design leaves a lot to be desired

Right here is the place the issue with the Air Up begins. The plastic-made water bottle will not be efficient for retaining your water chilly and, most significantly, it leaks when it is tilted greater than a sure diploma. In fact, if you happen to do not thoughts consuming flavored water that is room temperature, you’ll be able to ignore the primary call-out.

Once more, the Air Up bottle works by letting air into the water to be able to expertise the scented pod’s style. It does this by a gap within the straw and a stress equalization valve. Which means the match of the mouthpiece won’t ever be flush with the bottle, as pictured under. Discover how the rubberized seal lifts up barely.

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This additionally implies that each time the bottle ideas over, water leaks out of the bottle. Fortunately, it is simply water, proper? Air Up acknowledges this in a video that explains why the bottle design contributes to the leaks. The one actual resolution is utilizing the removable bottle cap and twisting it on very tightly.

Though this methodology does stop leakage, it’s not essentially the most environment friendly resolution as a result of each time you wish to take a sip of water, you will have to undergo the effort of taking the cap off after which twisting it again on securely. One other problem with this method is that if you happen to do not screw the cap on sufficient, the bottle will proceed to leak, particularly if it is rolling round in your bag.

To Air Up’s credit score, it does warn on its web site, “Please notice that water can leak by the stress equalization valve, so please all the time put a Pod on the mouthpiece and shut the lid tightly.”

Lastly, there is just one approach that you may drink the Air Up bottle and ensure it will not spill over you: holding the bottle upright and sipping from the straw. You may seem like you are enjoying a musical instrument (see picture under), however belief me, it is the one and finest technique to drink up.

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Backside line 

In the end, sure, the Air Up has motivated me to drink extra water, even when it is on the expense of needing to take away and reseal the cap each time or being on the danger of spills right here and there.

When you’re available in the market for a flavorful various to water with out the added sugars or energy, the Air Up system may very well be an excellent possibility for you. Nonetheless, if you happen to dwell life on the go, end up dropping issues greater than you must, or just haven’t got the endurance to screw and unscrew the cap from the water bottle, then I might counsel trying elsewhere.

Options to think about

When you battle with consuming sufficient water every day, the Opard Sports activities bottle ought to assist. It has time marks and motivational messages on the bottle to ensure you are getting supreme water consumption and, as well as, has a fruit infuser to present your water some additional taste. One of the best half is it is almost one-quarter of the price of Air Up’s system.  

This $25 stainless-steel bottle will preserve water at your required temperature for hours and you may nonetheless get the perks of enhanced style due to the fruit infuser equipment.

The HidrateSpark Faucet is a brilliant water bottle that lights up each time you must drink water. It really works together with an app that tracks how a lot water you’re consuming and units day by day hydration targets.