I mostly drink water, so it should come as no surprise when I want to talk about various types of water. I decided to scurry around town to find 9 types of interesting waters to feature.
Sparkling Water - Perrier, San Pellegrino, La Croix, Bubly, and several other brands. I just pulled some sparkling water from my fridge - Bubbly and Kroger brand. These are sparkling water with flavor added, but no sugar. I really love sparkling water - plain or flavored. It makes me feel like I'm having something that's not water or more than just plain water. If you're trying to increase your water intake, you might want to have a some sparkling water to break up the monotony of plain water. The most surprising flavor I've encountered is Apple Bubly - it's surprisingly refreshing.
Alkaline Smartwater - Alkaline Smartwater has a 9+ pH (normal tap water is usually 7 pH). It does have electrolytes in it making it a good choice for workouts or post-workouts. I personally love that it comes in a 1 liter size. Looking around the internet at reports done on alkaline water, it looks like it could possibly help deactivate pepsin (cause of acid reflux) and it allows for higher reduced blood viscosity of 6.3% (rather than 3.36% with tap water) which means better oxygen flow to the brain and other parts. There are other claims, but they aren't really verified. Is it trendy? Does it work? All I know is that I notice a little difference, but I can't really place what. I will often pick up a liter of this to have with lunch at work.
Reverse Osmosis Water - Putting this list together I totally wanted to do a write up on Kona Deep, which uses reverse osmosis (science is rad). If you've been to the Big Island of Hawai'i, you probably saw the facility out along the water between the Kona airport and downtown Kona. Kona Deep uses ocean water, does the reverse osmosis thing, and produces the finished product of still water packed with minerals and electrolytes. I am a huge fan of Hawaii and I fully support this water company. I couldn't find this in town when I was out looking for water. Apparently it's just out of stock everywhere. Good thing I've had it before. This is just great tasting bottled water. I'd put it right up there with Fiji Water.
BLK Water - BLK Water is spring water with fulvic acid and it comes in 8 oz, 16.9 oz, and 1 liter size. It's alkaline, contains fulvic and humic minerals (which make it naturally black), electrolytes, and amino acids. It comes plain and in 4 flavors: mood (peach, mango, basil), focus (apple, grape, sage), energy (spicy black cherry), and resistance (citrus mint). I've tried the Focus BLK Water and it seemed more like a juice than water. The BLK Water (plain) has a slight earthy mineral taste. As you can see, the liquid is black. I wanted to show you a full bottle and one that had a little out of it, and the final message on the bottle - just to show you that it's not some packaging trick or something. This is definitely the most gothic water I've ever had.
Maple Water - Maple water is actually maple sap. It's full of phytochemicals and is known for providing hydration. On the bottle it says that it has less sugar than coconut water, more manganese than a cup of kale, 7.4 pH level, contains electrolytes and antioxidants, contains prebiotics, and has 7g of naturally occurring sugars. This bottle is only 12 oz and is a little pricey, but I think that's due to the limited availability. It has a light maple flavor, but nothing overpowering. I wouldn't want to drink this at the gym (I'm not wild about flavored things while working out), but this is great to drink with some food. This maple water is made by DrinkSimple and comes from Vermont.
Note: I know that birch water is starting to become a thing, but it's hard to find it. I'm saying this from the stance that I'm Alaskan and we have a lot of local birch products - birch syrup, birch candy, etc.
Herbal Water - This brand is Ayala's Herbal Water. I picked out lavender mint, but other herbal flavors were available. This is a 16 oz bottle. Upon opening it, I found the aroma to be delightful and it tasted like it smelled. This is a zero calorie product. It's just water and natural flavoring. I'm not a fan of flavors when I workout, but this would be good either post-gym or when I want to relax. For what it is, I found it to be a little pricey. Checking the website, it looks like there are five available flavors: lavender mint, lemongrass mint vanilla, cinnamon orange peel, ginger lemon peel, and cloves cardamom cinnamon. It reminds me of something that you would find at a spa or a wellness center.
Probiotic Water - This is Karma Wellness Water and it comes in an 18 oz bottle. There is a weird little pouch thing with the probiotic dry mix that you push down into the water and shake up. I chose the Berry Cherry flavor. I will admit that I was hesitant to try this, but it's not bad. Doesn't have a fake flavor profile, which was a concern. It does have a little...almost yogurt sort of taste, but water (if you try it, you'll understand). According to the bottle, it contains 2 billion cultures, essential vitamins, and it supports immune and digestive health. It is non-GMO, gluten free, vegan, lactose free, and made with spring water. To me this seems like it would be a good drink for the morning or after dinner. You want your body to have time to process the probiotics either with work or sleep.
Coconut Water - There are so many brands of coconut water available. I decided to go with Vita Coco in a 16.9 oz size. When I get the occasional bottle of coconut water, I like to get the bigger size. I tend to pick something like this up for lunch at work. Coconut water is great for long term hydration and contains natural electrolytes. When it comes to coconut water, I prefer plain or coffee/espresso (C2O or Zola or Vita Coco). This isn't something I'd drink while at the gym, but it makes a good post-workout drink. Coconut water is often used in place of water in smoothies at modern juice/smoothie bars.
Aloe Water - Aloe water is like the shy sibling to coconut water. I actually prefer aloe water to coconut water. I was hoping to pick up a 1 liter bottle of Aloe Gloe "crisp" (no pulp), but that's out of stock. Instead I grabbed my second favorite, Paldo brand, which contains aloe pulp, also in a 1.5 liter size. This is something that I like to drink at work around lunchtime. If I'm having any skin issues, I grab one or two liters. One liter a day can make a noticeable difference in skin. I don't know if that's on the bottle, but it should be. I do like aloe water with pulp, which is available but not in the larger bottle size. This isn't something I'd drink while at the gym, but it makes a good post-workout drink.
SOAPBOX MOMENT: I really want to state that I absolutely do not support the Nestle Corporation. This includes their water brands: Arrowhead, Nestle, San Pellegrino, Perrier, Poland Springs, Deer Park, Acqua Panna, Ice Mountain, Ozarka, and Zephyrhills. I won't get into everything that's wrong with this company. One BIG issue that I have is the billions of gallons of water they take from California each year -- it's no wonder why that state burns every year (this is just one factor). Also, the CEO of Nestle is a real jerk. Google some news articles about Nestle, you'll see what I mean.
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