Sick of Aha? Don’t want to pay for Spindrift? It’s a nice time to be alive if you’re a seltzer drinker, as there are countless companies pushing carbonated waters our way and your choices are vast.
Waterloo’s purified carbonated water has been slowly dominating grocery stores for about five years, and the flavors keep coming. Which ones are worth paying for? I grabbed a variety pack from Amazon and tasted eight popular Waterloo flavors. Here they are, ranked just for you.
Prices and availability are subject to change.
Best: Peach
$4.29 for an eight-pack from Target
I almost always like a peach seltz. For the most part, I have found that with flavors this strong, you need to crank the carbonation up to even things out. Waterloo has done that; get ready to burp. This is the most mellow and drinkable of Waterloo’s water flavors, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intending to buy it again.
2. Lemon Lime
$4.29 for an eight-pack from Target
This is nicely done, showcasing lemon and lime equally. The lemon is less aggressive here than in other lemon-flavored things, too. It’s nice and subtle, and to be honest, there’s no way I’d ever be able to tell this apart from a different sparkling water brand’s lemon-lime flavor. In a good way.
3. Blackberry Lemonade
$4.29 for an eight-pack from Target
What’s fun about Blackberry Lemonade is that, unlike most lemonade-flavored things, this actually tastes like lemonade. In fact, it tastes like blackberry lemonade — not just blackberry and lemonade. Atta babes.
4. Grapefruit
$5.47 for a 12-pack from Walmart
Grapefruit tastes simultaneously like artificial sugar and a real grapefruit. It’s bitter, but still sweet. I’d mix this with tequila or mezcal more than any other brand’s grapefruit, as the flavor is strong enough to add to a drink without getting lost the way others might.
For more great taste tests, please sign up for our free newsletters.
5. Watermelon
$3.98 for an eight-pack from Target
I don’t typically like sparkling water flavors this sweet, but Watermelon is pretty tasty. This is reminiscent of candy-style watermelon flavor, almost like a Jolly Rancher. “Natural flavors” is not what springs to mind here, but for some reason, it works.
Related: A Definitive Ranking of the Most Popular La Croix Flavors
Trending on Cheapism
6. Grape
$4.29 for an eight-pack from Target
If you were the social outcast who enjoyed the purple Flintstones vitamins the most, I’ve got a drink for you. This is not undrinkable, but that flavor is really taking me back to a place I don’t want to go.
Related: I Tasted 8 Flavors of Polar Seltzer Water— Here’s How They Rank
7. Strawberry
Available from Instacart
Holy moly. This has so much flavor. It reminds me of strawberry sorbet or gelato, laced with the sweet flavor of strawberry seeds. I could never finish an entire can of this.
8. Black Cherry
$3.98 for an eight-pack from Walmart
Wanna make Black Cherry Waterloo at home? Here’s an easy way to do it: Pour some Robitussin into a Soda Stream. It would taste no different.
