air up Review: Does It Actually Work?

AD – PR Sample: I received an air up Click bottle and a selection of flavour pods for consideration on Word Soup.

I’ve known about air up for a while, and I’ll admit I’ve always wondered if it really works.

The whole idea sounds a bit bizarre. You fill your bottle with completely normal water, put a scented pod around the straw and somehow that makes the water seem like it has a flavour.

The water doesn’t even touch the pod.

Surely your brain isn’t that easy to fool?

Well, apparently mine is, because it actually works.

How Does air up Work?

Rather than actually flavouring your water, air up uses scented pods which sit around the straw. When you drink, you smell the fragrance from the pod, and somehow your brain puts the two together and thinks you’re tasting it.

It’s a bit like when you smell something really strongly, and you can almost taste it.

The pods themselves are quite fragranced but not overpowering; however, they are sitting right by your nose, and that is their job!

What Is the air up Click Bottle Like?

I was sent the 800ml Click bottle, and I really like it. It’s a good size, plus there’s a loop on the top which works as a handle and makes it easy to carry around.

It’s really simple to use as well, press the button and the lid pops open, then you can flip it the rest of the way. I can easily do it one-handed, and it just clicks shut again when you’re done.

It also has a nice big straw. There’s nothing worse than trying to have a drink and feeling like you’re sucking away for about three drops of water.

Cleaning it is easy too; you don’t really need instructions to work out how everything goes back together. It’s basically straw into lid, lid onto bottle and pod over the straw.

So far, I’ve had no problems with it leaking either.

But Does air up Actually Make Water Taste Different?

Yes! And this is the bit that surprised me.

You know you’re drinking plain water, but it genuinely seems like it has a flavour. It’s not as strong as drinking squash or pop, but it’s definitely there.

Of course, I had to mess around with it to see what happened. If I cover the pod with my fingers while drinking, the effect isn’t as strong. Take the pod away completely and it just tastes like water again.

It is honestly quite strange.

Brains are weird.

What Are the air up Flavours Like?

So far, Watermelon is probably my favourite. The fragrance is sweeter than I expected it to be, but it tastes really nice.

I’ve also really enjoyed Ice Tea Mango, so I think the fruity flavours are definitely more me.

Orange Kola Mix wasn’t my favourite. It starts with quite a sweet fragrance which was just a bit much for me, but I’m also not a huge pop drinker, so that probably plays a part.

I’ve still got Peach and Kola to try, and I’d really like to try some more of the fruity options. I’ve already got my eye on Lemon.

I would say if you try air up and don’t like your first pod, give another one a go. It is quite different from actually drinking flavoured water, and you might be surprised by the flavours you do and don’t like.

How Much Does air up Cost?

At the time of writing, a pack of three pods costs £6.99 directly from air up and should cover around 15 litres of water.

That works out at roughly 47p per litre, which I actually don’t think is too bad at all, especially if it helps someone drink more water.

I didn’t think to actually measure how many litres I got out of mine, because, well, that’s just me all over, isn’t it, but one pod definitely lasts for quite a few refills.

The bottles start from around £25, while you can also get an air up Straw for around £10. The air up Click Choco Rose seen in this post comes at £30.

My one complaint about my Click bottle is that it isn’t insulated. I like my water cold, and this doesn’t keep it cold.

However, air up does make insulated bottles which can keep water cold for up to 24 hours, so I might just have to buy one of those and problem solved. 

Would I Keep Using air up?

Yes, I would.

I already drink a lot of plain water, so air up hasn’t suddenly made me start drinking loads more. Most days I pretty much only drink water and tea anyway.

However, I know plenty of people struggle with drinking enough water because they just find it boring, and I think this is a really clever way of making it a bit more interesting without actually adding flavouring to the water.

For me, it’s something I’ll keep using because I genuinely enjoy it. I want to try more of the pods; I’m definitely sticking with the fruity ones for now, and there’s still something slightly ridiculous about drinking plain water while my brain is absolutely convinced:

Yep, that’s watermelon.

Have you ever tried air up, or does it sound like something you might like?

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