While tap water in the U.S. is usually safe and cheap, no one comes home after work and craves a tall, cold glass of flavorless liquid. But a shiny can of flavored seltzer has enough pizzazz to make water a little less boring. Companies know this and have cashed in on the $30 billion global industry, leading to a glut of shiny cans of carbonated water with hypebeasty names like Liquid Death and La Croix. We tried some of the top brands to determine the best flavored sparkling waters on the market in 2022.
Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.
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Best Overall: Spindrift
Price: $7 for 8 cans
Selection: 12 flavors
Ingredients: real fruit juice and carbonated water
Flavor: 5/5Shop Now
I’m no pretentious water snob, but it’d be more accurate if companies gave their beverages names like “lab-tested lime” and “artificial apple.” What makes Spindrift so good is that it bucks that trend and flavors its waters with fruit juices and purees. Instead of some tinny fake grapefruit flavor, you get a refreshing drink with grapefruit, orange, and lemon juice. The obvious downsides are 1) each drink has a few calories and grams of sugar and 2) the price.
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Best Budget: Good & Gather
Price: $3.59 for 8 cans
Selection: 13 flavors
Ingredients: carbonated water and natural flavor
Flavor: 3/5
At nearly half the price of Spindrift, Good & Gather is a great choice for people who don’t want to blow their entire budget on carbonated tap water. The strawberry and mango flavor was heavily carbonated (a plus), though the experience is marred by the flavoring’s artificiality. Nevertheless, I could see myself drinking this every day, especially given its low price.
Best Variety: La Croix
Price: $4.59 for 8 cans
Selection: 21 flavors
Ingredients: carbonated water, naturally essenced
Flavor: 4/5Shop Now
While the flavors can be hit or miss — do not try the cherry blossom! — La Croix offers an impressive selection of 21 flavors, not including the Cúrate and NiCola lines. The faux French company also offers some of the tastiest artificial concoctions on the market, with its pamplemousse flavor as an obvious standout. It is, however, on the pricier side at $1 more than Good & Gather.
Best Flavors: Polar
Price: $4.79 for 8 cans
Selection: 20 flavors
Ingredients: carbonated water, natural flavors
Flavor: 3/5
Polar looks like it hasn’t changed its design since the 1990s, which tracks given that this is a family-owned brand established more than a century ago. Despite its outmoded branding, I was pleasantly surprised by the company’s cranberry lime seltzer, which tastes like a sugar-free Capri Sun: sweet, juvenile, nostalgic, and artificial, but also a joy to drink. Polar also has the wackiest selection of flavors — enjoy toasted coconut alongside pineapple pomelo — rivaling La Croix’s variety.
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