Product Review: Coconut Water

Coconut Water

A few weeks ago, while helping Karen set up her Worm Composter, she told me about Coconut Water, a newish product now available in grocery stores around town. And on the plane last week to Vancouver, I read an article in Hemisphere’s Magazine about Coconut Water. This week, while grocery shopping at Whole Foods, I decided to conduct a little taste test. Using my family as guinea pigs, we tasted the three main brands of coconut water, as well as a flavored version from one brand.

Coconut water is touted as an all-natural alternative to sports recovery drinks. It is low in sugar, carbohydrates and is 99% fat-free (mind you, we are talking about the water, not the milk!). Drinking it straight from the coconut with a straw is very popular in many South American and Asian countries. Coconut water boasts 18% more potassium than your average sports drink, but sodium levels are lower, which can be a plus and a minus. For more information on the health benefits, I would suggest this article in U.S. New and World Report.

I wanted to try it, since I am curious, and Whole Foods had all three major brands available – One Natural Experience (O.N.E.) ($1.79 retail), Zico ($1.99 retail) and Vita Coco ($1.59 retail). A couple were even on sale. I bought 11 ounce Tetra Pak cartons of all three and brought them back to my laboratory kitchen.

Here are the tasting notes from our event:

Zico: lightest in flavor of the three. No pronounced coconut flavor

O.N.E.: cloudy liquid, good coconut flavor.

Vita Coco: clearest liquid of the bunch, interesting (or funky) aftertaste

We also tried Vita Coco with Tangerine, which had a nice overall aroma of tangerines, a little sugar aftertaste and a nice citrus flavor. No coconut flavor was discernible in this variety.

If we were choosing just a coconut water, we all agreed that O.N.E. would be the choice. The flavor was the most balanced, it did not have a funky after taste and served cold, would be quite refreshing. However, we all agreed that choosing a flavored coconut water would be our overall preference, which probably means a little more exploration into the flavors from each of the brands.

Vita Coco has several flavors of Coconut Water, including Tangerine, Pomegranate, Peach Mango and Pineapple. O.N.E. has other drinks besides Coconut Water, including Amazon Acai, Coffee Fruit and Cashew Fruit. And Zico has Passion Fruit and Mango Coconut Waters. Zico even has a fun cocktail made with Mango Coconut Water!

Have you tried Coconut Water? What do you think?

And if you are curious, all three can be followed on Twitter – @ZICOCocoWater, @ONECoconut and @VitaCocoVehicle….