This Ingenious SodaStream-like Bottle Can Turn Flat Water Into Delicious Sparkling Water Anytime, Anywhere

Plain, flavorless water went into the Roam SodaTop bottle on the show floor at CES 2025. Delicious, sparkling water with a vibrant white peach flavor came out. It had a fuller flavor than most sparkling waters I've had, and a gentle, drinkable level of carbonation. The magic was in the bottle cap and the flavor was in the air.

Read more: These Are the Official 2025 Best of CES Winners, Awarded by CNET Group

When a Roam representative carbonated the bottle with the white peach flavored CO2, it was a simple process that took just a few seconds. Part of that process is venting the bottle so it's safe to open, and the smell was like briefly walking through a peach orchard.

The Roam SodaTop is like a handheld SodaStream and the cap is what makes it carbonated. A tight seal and a small CO2 cartridge turn boring, still water into something a little more exciting. You can screw the top on a water bottle Roam sells itself or on a compatible water bottle (like a HydroFlask).

Roam plans to start selling the SodaTop directly from its website in the first quarter of 2025 for $50. The CO2 cartridges are expected to cost about 70 cents apiece. The flavored CO2 cartridges, like produced that wonderful white peach flavor, are still in development.

The Roam water bottle's cap has a CO2 cartridge built in, where all the fizzy magic happens.

James Martin/CNET

Handheld carbonation on the go

The Roam SodaTop's process is simple. You insert a CO2 cartridge into the SodaTop's special cap, release that carbon dioxide into the bottle, let out excess gas on the inside and drink. Each cartridge is good for a single liter of water. The company aims for about 2.8 to 3 volumes of CO2 -- the carbonation level of a fairly highly carbonated beer, but a little lower than some bottles and cans of sparkling water.

Roam says its stainless steel water bottles are designed to keep drinks cold for 24 hours. If you already have a SodaStream, Roam also has an adapter cap, which will sell for $13, that lets you carbonate your drinks from your countertop machine.

Flavor is in the sparkling air

The only thing you should carbonate in the bottle is water, but that doesn't mean you can't add flavor. Flavored syrups or other drink mixes can be added after the CO2 if you want something that tastes like, well, something. But Roam is also developing its own ways to add variety.

Flavor drops will be available at launch. Yuzu is another flavor I tried. It was bright and fruity, with a sharp profile like you'd find with other water flavoring. 

The flavored CO2 cartridges are still being perfected. Right now, they produce a little less carbonation than the standard, plain CO2 cartridges. Flavors will likely include ginger, lemon, yuzu, grapefruit and white peach. The cartridges mean you won't have to carry around carbon dioxide and flavor, just the gas cartridge. 

For more coverage of CES 2025, check out the $7,000 coffee-making robot, and find out which products from CES are actually available for purchase now.