Buzz
With options ranging from club soda to La Croix, the variety of sparkling waters can be overwhelming. It’s easy to dismiss them as ‘just water,’ but these carbonated drinks differ significantly in flavor and texture. Sparkling water is the one thing that has kept me from drowning in Diet Coke, and I definitely have my thoughts on the matter.
Choose a Clean and Crisp Club Soda
A quality club soda should be refreshing and clean, with a hint of salty mineral taste. This might seem straightforward, but some brands are going for a more artisanal approach, using ingredients like Himalayan sea salt instead of simple sodium bicarbonate. To compare these artisanal options with the more common ones, we sampled classic grocery store brands like Canada Dry and Schweppes, as well as the fancier Q Club brand.
The Winner: Canada Dry, which is available nationwide and costs just a couple of dollars per liter, won both me and my tasting partner over with its mildly tangy, ever-so-slightly sweet, crisp, and refreshing taste. It's bubbly with plenty of fizz that lasts quite a while.
The Runner-Up: Schweppes, another nationwide brand at a similar price, didn’t offer as much flavor as Canada Dry and lacked the subtle salty notes, which could be a plus or minus depending on your intended mix-ins. Still, its carbonation was impressive and delivered a consistent fizz.
The Avoid: Q Club “Superior Club Soda” ended up being much inferior to the other two (less expensive) options. With just carbonated water and salt, it came across as too sweet, overly carbonated, and a bit off in taste. The bubbles were large enough to be distracting. I didn’t like it, but if you’re curious, it’s available nationwide for around $6.50 for a four-pack.
You don’t have to spend your money on fancy club sodas. Common brands like Canada Dry and Schweppes are perfectly fine, but mineral water might require more attention.
Choose the Most Minerally-Packed Mineral Water
As a child, my sisters and I used to call mineral water “yucky water,” drinking it by the liter. The “yuck” we were referring to was the strong, slightly harsh taste from the dissolved minerals, but we became quite fond of it. Our favorite afternoon drink was Trader Joe’s now-discontinued Sir Strawberry mixed with “yucky water.” I still long for that flavor. What I’m trying to say is, mineral water is nothing without its minerals, so I suggest you look for the water that packs as many minerals as possible. We tested four widely available mineral waters: Gerolsteiner, Topo Chico, San Pellegrino, and
The Minerally Richest: Gerolsteiner Sparkling Mineral Water (around twelve bucks for a six pack of 16.9-ounce bottles on Amazon) may just be the ultimate mineral water. It's incredibly bubbly, with a sharp minerality that leaves your mouth watering in the most enjoyable way. Its sizable bubbles and mild bitterness make it extremely refreshing and a great stomach-soother.
The Smoothest Option: Topo Chico (approximately $39 for a twelve-pack of 11.5-ounce bottles on Amazon) offers small, delicate bubbles that gently hit the tip of your tongue and fade away. It’s slightly acidic with a faint mineral taste and a very smooth texture that makes it easy to drink quickly.
The Letdowns: San Pellegrino and Perrier both lack any substantial mineral flavor, featuring moderate carbonation. They’re drinkable, but somewhat underwhelming, leaving me wishing for more flavor. (Both are quite affordable, though, costing around two or three bucks for 750 milliliters at most grocery stores.)
If you're eager to discover more mineral-rich waters, check out the dissolved solids listed on the label. Gerolsteiner, for example, boasts a mineral content of 2500 mg/L, so seek out waters with similar mineral levels if you crave that bold, bracing sensation on your tongue.
Get Ready for Some Sparkle
Now we step into the sparkling water aisle, where both plain and flavored varieties are dominating store shelves. La Croix has become a nationwide favorite, and it's easy to understand why. The cans have a vintage, South Beach vibe from 1983, and the best part is that you get to enjoy a drink that actually has flavor, without the sugar or artificial sweeteners. (Though, stevia-sweetened drinks exist, I personally find stevia unpleasant.) While La Croix is the reigning champ of bubbly waters, it’s not the only option—and in some cases, it’s not even the best. Let’s first look at the plain options: we’ll taste-test Crystal Geyser, La Croix, and Mountain Valley unflavored seltzers.
The Cleanest: Crystal Geyser sparkling water (available nationwide for under two bucks per liter) tastes exactly how you’d expect: like pure, fresh water with bubbles, nothing more, nothing less.
The Odd One: La Croix (typically around three bucks for a 12-pack of cans) really falters here. I don’t know anyone who enjoys the plain flavor, probably because it’s unpleasant. It has a strange, medicinal, somewhat cloying taste that makes it almost undrinkable. I’m not exaggerating when I say I can’t finish a can of it.
The Divider: Mountain Valley sparkling water (which contains some minerals, though not many) has a flavor best described as “earthy.” I liked it, but my friend compared it to “bad tap water with bubbles,” so this one is definitely a matter of personal taste. (It’s also sold for around two bucks per liter across the US.)
Now that we've covered the basics, let’s dive into flavored options. I’ve long been familiar with La Croix’s flavors, but it had been a while since I tried Perrier’s flavored waters, so I picked up a grapefruit variety, along with a Cascade Ice grapefruit and a Cadia citrus.
Top Flavor Selection: La Croix dominates when it comes to variety, and they’re always adding more. Most people around here agree that pamplemousse is the best, and that coconut is terrible. But I strongly suggest you try tangerine, passionfruit, and peach-pear as well. Even though I drink a lot of it, I find the grapefruit flavor a little too weak (more like “pampleMOUSE,” amirite?) and prefer the more vibrant tangerine, which tastes exactly how peeling a fresh tangerine smells. The coconut flavor might remind you of sunscreen, but it’s not as bad as the strange cola flavor, which sits awkwardly between water and soda, making me wish I were drinking Diet Coke instead. (La Croix’s mission is to make me forget about Diet Coke.)
Best Grapefruit Flavor: Unpopular opinion: the title of “most grapefruit-y” doesn’t go to La Croix, but rather to Perrier, which delivers a tangy, slightly bitter, ruby-red grapefruit flavor that’s perfect for mixing with alcohol. It’s also pretty affordable at around two bucks for 750 milliliters. I almost can’t believe it doesn’t contain juice. (I’ve heard Topo Chico’s grapefruit is great, but I haven’t been able to find it.)
Flavors to Skip: Cascade Organic sparkling grapefruit water tastes like a watered-down, flat Sprite, while Cadia’s sparkling citrus mineral water has a flavor reminiscent of fruity Tums. I’d recommend avoiding both. Additionally, I’ve never enjoyed any of the flavored sparkling waters from Dasani or Canada Dry, both of which taste like less-flavorful versions of La Croix.
I hope this has helped clarify the fizzy and fascinating world of carbonated water, and guided you to the perfect bottle of bubbles for your taste. After all, plain water can be dull, and nobody should be stuck drinking it.
