Air Up, the Water Bottle Designed With 3D Printing That Changes the Taste of Water

The possibilities of additive manufacturing are countless and varied. The company we’re featuring today, Air Up, is one such example. Based in Munich, it has set a new trend in healthy drinks by selling bottles that flavor water using the principle of retro-olfaction. The company was founded due to the fact that many of us don’t drink enough water in a day – yet we know how important regular hydration is for our health. So the founders decided to develop this original concept to encourage more water consumption.

Many of us rely on sugary drinks, coffee and herbal teas to keep us hydrated. Yet water is the best source of liquid for the body. That’s why the Air Up team wanted to develop a bottle concept that would give water different flavors, making people want to drink water more. The fast-growing company has reached 1 million customers and 240 employees in just two years, until March 2022. And for us it is particularly interesting because 3D printing played a key role in the development process of their bottles, both for direct printing of prototypes and for rapid manufacturing of molds for silicone molding to create food-grade prototypes, saving the startup time and money and getting to market quickly.

You can choose from a wide variety of flavors: lime, orange, strawberry, etc. (photo credits: Air Up)

How an Air Up Bottle Works

The principle is quite simple: the user of the bottle clips a Pod, or a capsule of the flavour of his choice, to the straw. When he or she starts to drink, flavored air bubbles rise through the capsules into the oral cavity and reach his olfactory receptors. These are responsible for transmitting the smell to the brain. Since the smell of the capsules comes from the throat, our brain recognizes the smell but perceives it as a taste. In this way, the water becomes more attractive, but remains healthy and without added sugar. In addition, the aromatic capsules can flavor at least five to seven liters of water, which reduces the waste of plastic bottles.