The world’s first molecular drinks printer can serve up thousands of drinks

The world’s first molecular beverage printer, which can make thousands of different drinks, has been unveiled by Silicon Valley startup Cana.

The touchscreen drinks printer, named Cana One, had been designed to fit onto any kitchen countertop and uses flavour, sugar and spirits cartridges and CO2 to make anything from sports drinks, coffee, wine and juices right through to cocktails.

For three years, a team of scientists have been studying popular drinks at a molecular level in an effort to isolate the trace compounds behind familiar flavours and aromas in order to create Cana One’s drinks options.

Cartridges can reportedly last around a month and Cana will automatically replace cartridges at no cost, however drinks from the machine are dispensed on a per-drink basis, with prices for each drink ranging between US$0.29 and US$3

The drinks printer features what the company calls “novel microfluidic liquid dispense technology” which gives people the option to customise levels of alcohol, caffeine and sugar in their drinks choices too. There is also the ability for people to lock alcoholic and caffeinated drinks with a pin code so that younger family members cannot access these options.

The device has been heralded as a way to reduce water waste as well as limiting the waste and emissions associated with the traditional packaging of drinks.

The Production Board, which produced Cana, founder and CEO Dave Friedberg said: “Every home in the industrialised world has water. We take just the 1% that differentiates water into coffee, tea, juice, beer, wine, and liquor and just ship that 1%, effectively making a beverage printer. Everyone will find a beverage brand they love. A better fit for them individually instead of being participants in the lowest common denominator solution that the big brands created for all of us.”

Cana CEO Matt Mahar explained: “Cana gives people the ability to create any beverage, any time, with the water from their tap – it’s like magic. Cana’s molecular printer is beverage manufacturing in your home – our system provides only the essential 5% of ingredients in a highly optimized cartridge, this significantly multiplies the number of beverages that can be served.”

According to Mahar, Cana can save the average household “100 beverage containers a month” and hinted: “beverages are just the beginning, with our eyes on food and more beverages we are taking ‘climate failure action’ to 10.”

Clear drinks will reportedly be offered first; Some traits such as viscosity, opacity and pulp are said to be much more difficult to achieve until future versions of the device are brought to market.

Friedberg added: “The technology that allowed us to create the bottled beverage industry 150 years ago has gotten smaller, faster, better and cheaper and now we’ve put it in your kitchen.”

Cana One will retail at US$499 for the first 10,000 orders and US$799 thereafter and is available for pre-order on Cana’s website with shipping expected for early 2023