World’s first molecular “beverage printer”

After securing a US$30 million investment from TBP, Cana Technology is ready to bring its innovation to market. The “printer” can produce a nearly infinite variety of drinks including juice, soda, hard seltzer, cocktails, wine, tea, coffee, and beer. In a blog post about Cana, TBP's CEO Dave Friedberg said, “We know we can print an infinite number of beverages from a few core flavour compounds. We know we can do this across many existing beverage categories...” 

The mechanism is straightforward: Cartridges, filled with flavour compounds are inserted into the toaster-sized machine, and are dispersed into water using “novel microfluidic liquid dispense technology.” As water is the main ingredient of all drinks, people can now customise sugar or alcohol to their taste quickly and correctly using a simple touch screen. 

A hit-or-miss product? 

Each recyclable cartridge lasts for one to three months and when the “supply” is low, the device then starts automatic reordering. “Any beverage, any time, greater convenience, and most importantly, dramatically less environmental impact,” Cana Technology stated on its website. 

There have been huge advances in intelligent food and beverage production technology over the last few decades. However, whether Cana’s innovation will change the way we enjoy commercially available drinks remains to be seen. The company's CEO said the full data on pricing and purchasing will be revealed at the end of this month.