Allison interviews Tucker Jones from Roam, the maker of the popular countertop Sodastream that converts plain water into sparkling water. In this interview, Tucker shows their new SodaTop that also converts plain water into sparkling water, but you can do this while you’re out and about.
Roam has developed a compact top that you screw onto your existing water flask. After inserting a small CO2 cartridge into the top, you screw on a plastic cap and your plain water becomes sparkling water. The SodaTop is small enough to fit in a drawer or glove compartment.
Roam uses a common thread design for its SodaTop that allows it to be screwed onto the most popular water flasks such as those made by Hydro Flask, Hydro Cell, and Simple Modern. Roam also makes a converter top that screws onto a water flask allowing it to be used directly with the countertop Sodastream.
The SodaTop and accompanying bottle should be released in the first quarter of 2025 and are expected to sell for around $50 US.
Learn more at https://roamwater.com
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Transcript of Interview:
Allison:
I’m apparently the last person on earth to get a SodaStream. My friend Pat Dangler got me one for Christmas and I said, “I don’t need this.” We go to the store and we buy little cans of sparkling water. I don’t know what I need this for. And she said, “Try it.” And I said, “I don’t want to try it.” She said, “Try it.” And I tried it and I think it’s the coolest thing on earth. So its whole job is to make soda water without having to go to the store and use up bottles and cans and all that. Is that right, Tucker Jones from Roam?
Tucker Jones:
That’s right. So we’ve taken kind of the approach of the SodaStream and we’ve actually shrunken it down into a singular lid that actually works with a reusable water bottle.
Allison:
I’m going to stop you real quick so people, I might not be the very last person on earth. SodaStream is a free-standing unit that you put on your counter. It’s maybe 18 inches high. You stick a cylinder of, is it CO2?
Tucker Jones:
That’s right. CO2 in the back and then you stick a bottle on the front and it puts all the good bubbles in and it doesn’t have power or anything like that.
Allison:
That’s right. And now you’ve modularized this down to a small unit that just fits on the top of the flask.
Tucker Jones:
Yeah, that’s right. Yeah, so we’ve taken similar technology and actually turned it all into a singular lid that you can thread onto a reusable water bottle. You take a small cartridge and then you insert it into this water bottle and then you would thread this lid on and then you make sparkling water. And this allows you to make sparkling water wherever you are, not just limited to your home. And then if you are at home, you also now just have a very small device that fits in your drawer, not taking up any space on your countertop.
Allison:
So that’s the thing I was, I was like, I don’t have room for another appliance. I don’t need that. Of course, I made room after I tried it. But yeah, so this is, I forget the name of the big, the big flask, cause that’s a certain size opening, right?
Tucker Jones:
Yeah. So this is actually a common threaded opening. So a lot of different brands have the same threads up there. We’ve actually made a way that you can take a different product that we make, the Carbonator Connector, and then thread it onto any, most of your favorite water bottle brands. And then that allows you to actually use this in a SodaStream itself as well.
Allison:
Oh, I see. So straight into that. But this, so this new little one is called?
Tucker Jones:
The Roam Soda Top.
Allison:
The Roam Soda Top, and is that in the market yet?
Tucker Jones:
Not yet. Q1 of this year.
Allison:
And do we have a price point yet?
Tucker Jones:
For the bottle and the lid, it’ll be retailing for around $50.
Allison:
Well, I was expecting a bigger number than that. Now I got to stock up on those little canisters. That looks like the ones that go into my, we have a whipped cream maker or something like that. I forget what it is.
Tucker Jones:
Yeah, it’s a similar technology. So it’s a gas cylinder that uses nitrous, but these actually use carbon dioxide.
Allison:
So that’s…
Tucker Jones:
Don’t get them mixed up then.
Allison:
Exactly.
Tucker Jones:
That’s true.
Allison:
Unless you want to have a fun party time.
Jason:
Potentially, yes.
Allison
All right. Very good. And the company’s name is?
Tucker Jones:
Roam.
Allison:
And where would we find this product when it comes out?
Tucker Jones:
We’ll be selling direct to consumer on Amazon and then eventually in retail.
Allison:
And the website?
Tucker Jones:
Roamwater.com.
Allison:
Roamwater.com. You heard it here. Thank you.
Tucker Jones:
Thank you.