Glug, Glug: To Heck with the Water Cooler
Aqua. We need it. We like it (at least I do with a little lemon). And manufacturers these days love finding new ways to make your eight daily glasses of H2O go down a little easier. Below is a round-up of drinks that have recently caught our attention. We by no means covered every new water out there, but we’ve got some good ones—probably a couple you’ve heard of and others you might not have. Either way, drink up!
Fruit20 Essentials
Ever wanted the benefits of real fruit in your water? Fruit2O Essentials may be your answer. With no calories, it’s a fortified water with the vitamins, minerals and fiber found in two servings of fruit. More notably, the fortified nutrients are specific to the fruit its flavored by (makes sense to me): Strawberry Kiwi, Cherry Acai, Cranberry Raspberry, Blueberry Pomegranate, Peach Mango and Citrus. For example, when you bust open a bottle of Blueberry Pomegranate, you get vitamin E, potassium, vitamin B6 and Manganese just like you would if you were eating two servings of blueberries and pomegranates.
Hint is just like you’d expect it to be: water with a hint of fruit. With no cals, sweeteners or preservatives, it’s like the cucumber water they give you in spas, but it’s not just cucumber—it’s 13 fun flavors like Hibiscus Vanilla, Mango-Grapefruit and Tropical Punch. I wouldn’t call all of them faves, but a few definitely stood out. (Erin tended to like all the flavors better overall, as I have this weird thing about not liking the taste of Dasani water and I could SWEAR that the water base in these was Dasani.)
With a cute little dancing lizard as a mascot, I had to try SoBe Lifewater. In fact, I regularly guzzled down these puppies as a reward after my long runs while training for the half marathon. (Drink too many and the costs add up with these fun liquids!) With zippo calories and Stevia as its natural sweetener, I loved them all, but I was most partial to the Fuji Apple Pear. It’s kinda like a fruity lemonade. And if you’re not afraid of a few cals in your drink, try the regular SoBe Lifewater in Pomegranate Cherry. Deeelicious.State of Mind Water
This water is meant to taste only like water, and it succeeded. With no flavors or extras added, it tasted as crisp and pure as the mountain spring it came from (at 5,000 feet in Utah, no less). It had no funky aftertaste like some non-flavored bottled waters do, and with biodegradable and 100 percent recyclable bottles, the company tries to be as Earth friendly as it can be. Affirmations of “love,” “compassion,” “peace” and “believe” are printed on the bottle to remind you that “thoughts can change the world.” My bottle said “love” on it. Did I feel lovely? I’m not sure…but I did feel hydrated.
VIB
Okay, so this one isn’t water, but it has water in it, so we’re counting it. VIB, or Vacation in a Bottle, is meant to make you feel like you’re kicking up your feet on a tropical beach. From its bright, beachy packaging to its fizzy carbonation to its slogan of “Drink. Chill. Be Happy” the drink tries to be more than flavored water.
Credit: justinlai
You may have heard of the regular version of this one in the press recently, but I’m here to do more of a taste test than a FTC advertising test. And, in my humble opinion, taste test says…”Eh, okay.” This result is in the minority, I think, as I see people downing this stuff like crazy and going on and on about its tastiness.
Comments
I'm usually not a fan of fruit 2(0) it has a funky aftertaste, does this one have that same supersweet afertaste?
I like O water, just a hint of fruit, I like the tangerine and lemon the best.
I have to admit, I'm more a dash-of-juice in my water kind of girl. When I splurge, it's on lime perrier. Otherwise, I'd rather not spend money on water drinks. But seems like flavored water drinks are big business, so I guess I'm in the minority. That said, you make Vib sound tempting…I do love fizz. 🙂
I'm not usually a fan of flavored waters, but I do enjoy metromint. I've only had the peppermint one, and it's quite refreshing.
I absolutely LOVE Vitamin Water 10 – better than the regular stuff actually. The 'Essential' one is my favorite (the orange one)
I prefer plain water, but thanks for reviewing these… I bet they would be great mixers for cocktails!
mmmm Hint is one of my favorites! It's so crisp tasting!!
Lots of info! I worry more about how much these waters cost. I drink water out of a PUR attached to my home faucet & then I buy those flavored waters that all the supermarkets have of their own brand. No minerals or vitamins in them but I like a flavor so I sip thru one of those thru the day or less depending since I drink my plain water too. I do love the flavor!
I'm a regular drinker of Hint and ViB and have to say that I can't stand the chemical tastes of Sobe Life Water and Vitamin Water 10 (and I love the original).
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