The Coca-Cola Company recently released a range of sparkling waters in the USA. They’re called AHA and it’s a sugar free drink, sold in a range of eight different flavours. Today I’ve got three of them for review.
Now reviewing a drink is quite hard work, especially when it’s something like this.
We’ll start with the fact they’re not overly carbonated, which is great for me because I’m not the biggest fan of that taste. I know fizzy water is the norm in places like Germany, but I’ve just never really been able to get along with it. The flavour is just so strong and off-putting for me personally, I’ve never understood why you would do that to plain water.
So now you know that, it might mean something when I tell you’ve that I’ve bought three different multi packs of this drink. In comparison, I’ve tried just 1 box of LaCroix. I didn’t like it and won’t be getting another.
As for the flavours, there’s plenty – plus some quite interesting combos. There’s Citrus + Green Tea, Lime + Watermelon, Orange + Grapefruit, Black Cherry + Coffee and Strawberry + Cucumber… plus the three below. I may get the Black Cherry & Coffee out of curiosity.
All these drinks are advertised as:
- No Sweeteners
- No Sodium
- No Calories
Ingredients are vaguely and simply listed: Carbonated water, natural flavors.
Peach + Honey
A flavor duo this juicy shouldn’t be possible.
This does actually taste like peach with a touch of honey. It’s mild, it’s not fruity and it doesn’t taste like fruit juice in water. There’s no depth to it and yet it somehow does taste like peach. It’s nice enough, and probably my favourite of the three.
The drink doesn’t carry an artificial tone either, which is confusing when you start to think about it and that mysterious “natural flavours” ingredient. It both seems like a real flavour AND YET it doesn’t scream “fruit” at me. The confusion is getting to me, so I’m just going to label it as “witchcraft” and move on.
Blueberry + Pomegranate
FLAVORFUL sparkling water has arrived with new AHA Sparkling Blueberry + Pomegranate.
Of the three, this has the strongest flavour profile of the lot – and it’s certainly blueberry. The flavour comes across as more than just blueberry, but I’m not entirely sure I’d have figured out it was pomegranate.
It’s so strange to have a drink that tastes so strongly of something and yet my brain is repeatedly telling me that it isn’t a fruit drink. There’s no juicy quality to it, in my mind. I wonder if it’s searching for the sweetness of fruit that never comes?
Apple + Ginger
Make your mouth do a double take with the awakening flavors of new AHA Sparkling Apple + Ginger.
This was the first flavour I picked up. Apple is usually a good start for me and I love ginger. However I use it quite a lot in my cooking, so perhaps that’s why I was disappointed by the flavouring in this drink. I could only taste apple – or should I say, the flavour of apple. It’s odd, I know. But again, there’s no juicy quality to it.
With this flavour I actually think the carbonation gets in the way a bit and I don’t think the ginger comes through at all. That being said, I would buy this one again. There’s just enough apple taste to keep me happy.
In conclusion then, the way to get me to drink sparkling water is to go light on the fizz and interesting on the flavour. What about you? Do you like carbonated water anyway?
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