The beverage arena wasn’t flooded with AI at CES 2025, but there was still an impressive amount of innovation.
Water had the largest presence, largely focused on products that filter water efficiently in the home, businesses or commercial spaces. These include standalone filters that also act as dispensers as well as smart gadgets that integrate with your existing water source. There wasn’t an overwhelming amount of representation in the coffee space, but most noticeably the products displayed introduced more convenient ways of creating craft coffee and espresso. Two brewing products also stood out, which each make beverages that require fermentation easy enough that you could whip up a craft beer quite easily in your own home.
Water
Kara Water
A water filter and dispenser that does not require any water, Kara simply uses air to create distilled water. Founder and CEO Cody Soodeen won a CES Innovation Award this year in the home appliance category for both models of the appliance–Kara Pure ($4,899), a free-standing water cooler that makes 2.5 gallons of water a day, and the newly-unveiled Kara Pod ($599, $349 presale), which makes one gallon a day and made for the home countertop. Soodeen grew up in Pennsylvania with poor water quality, only drinking bottled water. More recently he gained inspiration from the Namib beetle, also known as a stenocara gracilapes (which is the namesake for ‘Kara’). He tells me that this insect drinks by turning air into water on its shell. It does a sort-of handstand to then drink it off of its own back. If a beetle is able to do it, Soodeen figured he could replicate the phenomenon.
The beetle’s shell, Soodeen came to learn, has a desiccant coating on it, which is a negatively charged material. Because water is positively charged, the electrons stick to the coating. Inside the Kara, there is a fan pulling in air, which gets passed through the desiccant. Heating elements extract the humidity in that air off of the porous desiccant inside, then pulls the steam it creates down, storing it as water. The process also distills the water.
One benefit of this technology is that it reduces the extremely high shipping costs of bottled water. It can also rid the need to carry large, heavy jugs of water into a cooler. Everyone, unless they are in an environment with 0% humidity, can now access water with Kara. In desert regions like Las Vegas, the company has seen that Kara only takes about 30% more time to make water than in humid regions. The Conrad Hotel in the Financial District of New York City currently has a Kara Pure in its lobby, among many other commercial clients. The Kara Pure has been on the market for four years and has since created 1.2 million liters of water. The Kara Pod, which goes into mass production next month, will also be capable of making coffee and tea through espresso pod technology, so in addition to water, you can also make coffee without adding any water source.
Echo Flask
At CES, Echo unveiled its Echo Flask–a smart water bottle that infuses hydrogen into the water. CEO Josh Carr tells me that supplemental hydrogen can support gut health, brain health, fight inflammation and help your body absorb nutrients. According to Carr, athletes like Tom Brady, Jake Paul and Cristiano Ronaldo are avid users of the Echo Flask because of the recovery benefits that the added hydrogen can provide. The water bottle syncs with Apple Health and its corresponding app, which allows users to schedule the 10 minute hydrogen infusion cycles, where little bubbles of hydrogen float from the bottom of the bottle upwards against the blue light. The small screen on the bottle shows how much hydrogen has been infused and how much time is left on the cycle.
Echo has two patents on the product. One is for the design of the 12 oz, rectangular BPA-free plastic bottle hugged by a rubber overmold grip. If the bottle were made out of glass, it would shatter. That’s because the bottle needs to build up 90 pounds of pressure–double than that of a car tire–in order to contain the hydrogen, which leads to the second patent: the lid, which you press down on to release pressure. The bottle takes about an hour to fully charge and claims to last for about two days with regular use. The previous model of the Echo Flask sold $30 million worth of product in 2024. The new model costs $299 and starts shipping February 5.
“I got into this because I had a serious genetic arthritis condition. I couldn’t walk up the stairs for three years,” Carr tells me. “I started drinking hydrogen water and it helped me walk and sleep–the things that normal people do. I felt it was a miracle and I needed to tell this to people.” He adds that if you drink three bottles a day for a month, it will noticeably improve your sleep and energy throughout the day.
Coffee
AstroBrew
Cold brew coffee typically takes about 24 hours to make. With the brand new AstroBrew gadget, it takes 5 minutes. It’s very low maintenance and does not require pods, unlike other cold brew makers on the market. On the AstroBrew, you lift the lid and pour in filtered water, top it with the stainless steel filter, then add your coffee grinds. This creates 34 ounces of cold brew chilled to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. If you let it run a few extra minutes, it can get as cold as 35 degrees.
Founder and CEO Joseph Damigella, based in Massachusetts, spent a decade working at Keurig where he realized the market needed a machine like this. He spent three years developing the chilling technology in a way where he could make the machine affordable, compact, and light (it weighs five pounds). Damigella has two patents pending on the cold brew technology that he created, which uses recirculation, turbulence, and pressure to extract the coffee in a way that’s quick and also enhances flavor and texture. The machine is also compatible with matcha and tea as long as there is no sugar. Damigella worked to gain the attraction of investors at CES so that he can scale the company.
Mihatama Flavor Craft AI
Mihatama is a Japanese startup that has created the Flavor Craft AI gadget which creates custom coffee blends in your own kitchen using AI. The physical product includes five tubes to insert different types of coffee beans, which you are provided. It connects to a corresponding app where you plug in your preferences, including acidity, bitterness, astringency, richness and strength. Based on your selections, the AI technology determines how much of each of those five types of beans to incorporate into your own custom blend. The gadget does not grind nor brew coffee, but simply creates the blend of beans, which even the size and shape of can alter the coffee’s ultimate taste. You are not supposed to use your own coffee beans. With Mihatama, you get set up on a subscription service because you need to insert the specific types of beans that the software is familiar with.
While founders Misa Yamamoto and Masata Umemoto have been working on the startup for a decade, they revamped it last year when they integrated the AI component. Before the coffee beans are sent to the customer, this AI technology also filters out defective beans from the blends. The company has a patent on this sorting technology. Flavor Craft AI is still in its pre-launch phase on Indiegogo and is hoping to launch on the market this summer for $400. There’s a possibility that the company could sell the technology to a larger brand that would want to integrate it into their own branded products.
Beer
Exobrew
Exobrew has the potential to change the way restaurants create their beer programs, while also providing the necessary materials to brew craft beer at home. The product was honored with a 2025 CES Innovation Award in the Home Appliance category. Founder and CEO Bart Van de Kooij tells me that Exobrew is the only one-vessel beer maker available on the market. This system allows you to brew, ferment and tap beer all from one single appliance. Each kit comes with actual grains like barley to create the mash which goes inside the middle chamber. You insert water into the orange 6 liter keg and insert the hops, which are provided in the form of small pellets, into the top where the oils are then extracted. The mash brews as it boils for an hour, at which point the hops are added, creating a wort. After about another three hours of temperature changes, you remove the keg from the base, add the provided yeast and let it ferment. Depending on the type of beer you are making, this can take three days or up to 30 days. The keg is self-refrigerating so you don’t need to store it in a fridge. It’s also able to detect the external temperature so it cools the beer down accordingly. CO2 is added during fermentation.
The keg has an internal conical shape, so it helps catch all of the residue from the fermentation process, and all of the leftovers from the hops are caught in a mesh filter, facilitating cleanup. There are 25 pre-sorted kits ($25 each) available for different types of beers, mash bills and hops. You can even buy additional kegs ($389) to make multiple types of beer (it can make cider and kombucha too). The corresponding app can create countless recipes and sends them to the Exobrew so it knows how to function while guiding you through each step. While the gadget can sit on a countertop and be used in a home kitchen or lounge space, Van de Kooij sees great opportunity in the commercial space, like having restaurants create their own craft beers where large parties can have one of the small kegs on their table or create a beer pairing menu. He’s currently looking to start a seed round with a goal of $1 million to scale the company and bring into American retail. It will cost $799. The first batch of pre-orders shipped a few weeks ago and they are expected to go on sale to the public this summer.
iGulu
iGulu, a home beer maker, debuted a brand new model of its small appliance at CES 2025: the more accessible S1 model ($549). The primary difference between this model and its flagship model, the F1 ($699), which debuted at last year’s CES, is that you do not need an additional attachment to add CO2 with the F1. Conversely, the S1 has a more modern interface, although they both share the same functions.
In order to make your own beer, iGulu provides packets of dry mash which include all of the extracts, hops, bitters, dry yeast and finely-milled grains. Depending on the type of beer (or seltzer, cider, kombucha or mead) you’re making, the packets will contain different types of sugars and aromatics. The kombucha packet is the only variety that is wet because it uses a live and active SCOBY. The machine scans the packet so it knows which drink you’re fermenting, but you also have the options for “Master” mode, where you can input personalized settings if you have more experience with making beer. Once you pour in the contents of the packet, all you need to do is add water. Depending on the drink, it then ferments anywhere from 7-13 days. ABV will range anywhere from 5-6.5%.
The 5L keg can also act as a kegerator if you’re not using it to ferment. It keeps beer cold and fresh in the tank for at least 30 days. Users also have the option to connect it to an app, which allows you to track the time remaining, carbonation levels or to control the temperature. You can personalize the tap with fun tap handles, and the company is also working with a 3D printing company so that you can make a custom tap handle. Founder Shu Zhang tells me that about 4,000 units have been sold so far since its launch. It raised $1M on Kickstarter which started in 2017 before the product went to market. His main focus right now is to expand the amount of kits available (they are soon launching a kit to make white wine) and to increase marketing as they launch the S1 model.
