I’ve always preferred my water without bubbles or added flavors. I drink a lot of water (probably at least 10 cups per day), and it’s genuinely one of my favorite beverages. I like how easy it is to drink, and I feel refreshed after every gulp.
All this is to say that in all 45 years of my life, I’ve could count the number of sparkling waters I’ve consumed on both hands, maybe even just on one hand.
Yet in the last 2 months I’ve purchased dozens of varieties of sparkling water, and I’ve drank quite a few of them. Here’s what it boils down to (pun intended, as you’ll see in a moment): I feel fancy when I drink sparkling water.
I still prefer the taste and texture of tap water. But when I’m playing games or doing some other activity, it’s fun to choose a fancy flavor of sparkling water and drink that instead. Also, I often want a treat around 4:30 or 5:00, which isn’t that long before dinner, and I’ve starting substituting sparkling water instead of having a piece of candy. It’s also a great alternative to tonic water for mocktails, as the types of sparkling water I buy have 0 calories or sweeteners.
Perhaps the biggest revelation is that I feel fancy offering people a variety sparkling water when they visit. I’ve tried at least 6 brands so far, and Waterloo is probably my favorite. It’s simply more fun than offering people water. I’ve found it’s even nice when we have someone working on the house–they almost never accept a glass of water, but they seem excited about sparkling water.
Last, unexpectedly we were hit with a boil water advisory yesterday, so for 48 hours we can’t drink tap water. We received this advisory literally 1 hour into an all-day game day when we were hosting dozens of people. Fortunately, I had a mini-fridge full of sparkling water!
Do you have a favorite brand or flavor of sparkling water? What are your thoughts on this bubbly beverage?
Spindrift is my favorite by far. They use real fruit juice instead of the generic “natural flavors” of other brands.
Waterloo has some fun flavors and is probably 2nd favorite for me.
I thought Spindrift was going to be my favorite, but it’s almost too close to a juice for me (when I’m wanting water). However, I’ve found that if I dilute it 50/50, it tastes right to me. 🙂
I haven’t found a sparkling water that resonates with me, but I do have a Circul water flavoring bottle. My favorite is a fruit punch flavor! I’m a Diet Dr. Pepper fanatic, so having something that makes water super appealing is good for me.
That’s really neat! The water bottle gives a little flavor to the water?
Yes! You buy little cartridges to stick into the bottle, and they flavor it. There’s a ton of different flavors, and you can even select the intensity of the flavor.
Sparkling water eased my transition from soda, which has a lot I don’t want to be drinking. Trader Joe’s has some nice flavors, pineapple, cranberry clementine, and blueberry lemonade. La Croix has a number of good flavors as does Bubly (which also had some funny commercials with Michael Buble). I do find the Waterloo seems a bit more acidic, which can upset my stomach.
For a while I had one of those SodaStreams, but ultimately decided it was easier to buy the preflavored seltzer than to make my own.
It’s great that sparkling water eased your transition from soda! I’ll have to try those Trader Joe’s flavors.
I thought maybe Bubly has fake sugar in it, which I can’t consume, but I could be wrong about that. I’ll check the next time I’m at the grocery store.
I’m a big Topo Chico fan. Great mineral taste, and perfectly carbonated. I think all the water is sourced from a legendary spring in Mexico. And while I think they do make flavored ones, I just get plain, because that’s what I prefer, but also because I can easily mix them with cranberry juice or whatever if I find myself wanting that.
Topo’s were maybe the smallest of fractions better before Coke purchased them, but I also think the aquisition has helped with distribution.
Topo Chico is great! I have a few of their flavors in my fridge.