15 Waterloo Sparkling Water Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

If you, like me, frequent the sparkling water aisle at your grocery store, you've likely seen Waterloo Sparking Waters. Founded in 2017, it's a relative newcomer to the unsweetened carbonated water scene (Perrier has been bubblin' since 1863; La Croix has been around since the Reagan administration). But it's already well-loved among the sparkling water-minded as a more generally yummy, deeply-flavored option than La Croix, which leans too light on flavorings at times. When I ranked La Croix flavors from worst to best, this was a major issue: Since there's no sweet element to these waters, you need more of the natural fruit flavorings to balance things out on your taste buds. Too light, and it doesn't hit right.

The first time I cracked open a Waterloo, it was a Raspberry Nectarine (I had never seen nectarine as a water flavoring), and to say it engulfed my palate in sweet (yet not sweet!) berry/stone fruit goodness is an understatement. This stuff hadn't hit my local store (or at least my eye) when I did my La Croix experiment, and that's a good thing. If I'd already had a taste of Waterloo, I wonder how my perception of the best La Croix flavor would have changed — comparison is the thief of joy, and all that.

I have tried and ranked every Waterloo flavor there is to see how they stack up. Did Raspberry Nectarine rule the company, or did it meet its waterloo at the hands of another flavor?

I love cherry, and limeade is great, but this Waterloo flavor just didn't offer enough of either note — especially the cherry — to satisfy me. Presumably, you would pick up a carton of this looking for a balanced mix, where the cherry offers a slightly floral, darker, stone-fruity base and the lime a bright acidity. In this case, if your taste buds are like mine, you'd find lime the dominant note, and the charms of the cherry so muted that you can't really tell if it's cherry or another fruit. If I didn't know the name of the flavor, I might not be able to tell what fruit is in here.

That said, this didn't taste bad at all. It was, perhaps, just lighter-flavored than it needed to be. On its own it underwhelmed, but some real lime juice and berries could be the reinforcements it needs to make a lovely drink.

Lemon Italian Ice, a Waterloo collab with Guy Fieri, the Mayor of Flavortown, is one of the brand's new permanent flavors. Released originally in 2025 as a limited-time offering, it's described as a "fan-favorite" in a Waterloo press release, and I was curious how this flavor – inspired by the sweet and sour frozen treat – would perform.

This one is definitely going to have to go into mocktails for me, but only mocktails. The "sour" is there, for sure; it's not lip-puckering, but it feels imbalanced without something on the other end. I do like the zest — it's kind of nose-tickley — but, overall, I find it inspires comparison to a Sprite with its mojo taken out, or even an attempt at a La Croix Limoncello. The longer I sipped, though, the more complex it became, and I can see how it would shine with some sweet, tropical ingredients thrown into the mix. In the end, I decided I wouldn't buy a case of Lemon Italian Ice, but I'd take it over Cherry Limeade. It's just more interesting.

I was a little tentative about this one because raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries can be quite tart, and tart flavors don't always hold up well in unsweetened sparkling waters. However, this flavor is commendable. I think the brand did the best it could making a drinkable, flavor-forward water with these berries. It tastes exactly like what it's supposed to, and there's enough concentrated flavor there to keep it drinkable and fun. When all's said and done, though, it's just not my cup of tea (or water). It's too tart for my taste buds, but if you know you're fond of this kind of flavor profile, it's definitely worth a try.

Another perk, one that separates it from the other contenders, is the strength of its can's design. There's a distinctly festive blue border with white stars ranged along it. To me, this actually makes a difference. I'm a sucker for packaging, and this one, which smacked of a Fourth of July party, predisposed me to like the drink. It didn't quite work, but it was close!

Lemon-Lime is such a ubiquitous sparkling water variety that I was eager to see how Waterloo would handle its version — pretty well, as it turned out. Although all the brand's cans contain just carbonated purified water and natural flavors, Lemon-Lime somehow reads as especially refreshing — a hot summer day drink. It's not too heavy on the lemon, which is great, as I was a little worried it would be too sour. There's a zest to the lime, too, an exciting effect that keeps the flavor from tasting like a faded Sprite.

I don't believe I would purchase this on its own, though, unless I was using it for mixed drinks. There are just so many more other interesting flavors from the brand that revisiting this one would feel unnecessary. If you're a particular fan of unsweetened Lemon-Lime water, however, do give it a go. I can't see it being a disappointment.

I don't recall the exact experience of drinking a La Croix Guava São Paolo, but I do recall noting that the guava flavor was "medium strength," and that the sourness level wasn't too bad. So with Waterloo being my main squeeze in the world of unsweetened waters now, I expected Guava Berry to outshine the competitor's product. Specifically, I anticipated a relatively heavy, tropical note underscored by a light dose of berry tartness. In reality, the drink is heavier on the bright strawberry and raspberry notes than the guava — or at least it seemed to my mouth.

This isn't a bad beverage, but it's just not quite deeply flavored enough for me. Also, the tartness of the berries makes my tongue crave sweetness. Like many of its cohort, this Waterloo flavor would be great in a mocktail, where its lightness and tartness could be balanced by a sweet, citrusy element like marmalade, along with real pink guava, which tastes like a pear crossed with a strawberry, and which is, as a bonus, a fruit surprisingly high in protein.

The Grape Waterloo was a pleasant surprise. I typically don't love grape-flavored beverages or treats, and yet I truly enjoyed this water. It's a simple one, with no other fruits in it to add complexity, but the amount of grape flavor in it is perfect; my mouth doesn't feel like it's waiting for something that will never come, as it does with the Guava Berry. If I may be so bold, it almost tastes like a traditional grape soda before the sugar is added and is giving me major childhood nostalgia for the days when I ran around with a purple tongue and a wild-haired Barbie doll. There's no weird, sour aftertaste, either, which could be a danger with a flavor like this.

Grape finds itself in the 10th position solely because of my "meh" feelings about the fruit's presence in drinks. But someone who wants unsweetened water and who really digs this particular fruit should be happy with this Waterloo flavor, especially if they have tried other brands of flavored sparkling unsweetened waters. This version does the flavor proud.

Strawberry Waterloo is, for me, in the same league as the Grape variety. It's a traditional, fruity, reliable flavor that should please anyone with even the slightest penchant for its delicate, yet bright, notes. Strawberry has the advantage of being a tad more appealing to me as a flavor; thus, it sits here a notch ahead of Grape.

The strawberry notes are spot-on, and with the sweetness levels of the real fruit itself being so varied, my taste buds don't detect anything missing with this flavor. It would be easy for Strawberry Waterloo to pull too sour in the aftertaste, but it avoids this fate, leaving only a subtle, juicy brightness. Ultimately, it's nothing but pleasant, but there are so many more flavors that are more beguiling that I would overlook this one in the grocery store unless I had a particular drink recipe in mind that required it.

I was very stoked about trying Melon Medley, another one of the flavors Waterloo released in early 2026. I'm a big fan of cantaloupe and honeydew (though I haven't tried their cousin, the Galia melon yet), and the can depicts a wedge of both of these, plus watermelon, which makes everything taste juicy and summery.

It seems to me that most beverages that include watermelon do so to excess — but not this one. Cantaloupe is its dominant note, making it pleasant and distinct. For its first few seconds on my tongue, I thought it tasted too naked without sweeteners, but the aftertaste brought out something that somehow, through the magical mystery that is flavor artistry, actually resembles sweetness.

Yes, the flavor is subtle, but it's a good flavor. Yes there is kind of a gap in it where a little more cantaloupe or honeydew should go, but overall, it's still pretty good.

Before this comparative taste test, I'd drunk Ruby Red Tangerine Waterloo before and deemed it phenomenal. Without competitors, it likely is. But with so many other flavors fresh in my memory, this tart-sweet(ish) fusion found itself right in the middle. First off, the flavor is definitely as advertised: the ruby red and the tangerine both come out on the palate and offer their charms in equal measure. If the idea of all that citrus, minus sweetener, makes you worry about it leaning sour, worry not: the flavor manages to balance itself nicely. Waterloo's ability to pull off that citrusy "zing" really shines through in this can.

For me, though, this particular blend of fruits needs a sweet element to make it feel complete. I can see it working really well in a cocktail, though — you could make a refreshing spritz with a sweet hibiscus infusion and Ruby Red Tangerine Waterloo. Still, if someone offers me a can of this, I'm going for it, and if it were the only flavor left in the grocery store, I'd snag it.

In my humble opinion, if there is a perfect fruit in this world (and I'm not counting avocados here, which are, indeed, a flawless species), it's peaches. Nothing is better than a good peach. But part of a peach's appeal is its eye roll-worthy sweetness. I wondered how an unsweetened water could even begin to approximate the charms of this almighty stone fruit. To my delight, this Peach Waterloo managed to do so, even with my high standards.

"This is a giggle of a drink," I said in my text-to-speech notes while sampling this flavor. What did I mean? I'm unsure, yet the descriptor is perfect. It's light and refreshing and generously steeped in peach flavoring. If I had to choose a Waterloo to chug after bringing in groceries in 100 degrees Fahrenheit weather, it would be this one. Even the flavors I've ranked higher would stay in the fridge while I rummaged around for this one. You could do mocktails with it, for sure, but it doesn't need any accompaniments. The only reason it's in sixth place is because the remaining five flavors wowed me a bit more.

While the thought of actual blackberry lemonade is enticing, neither the prospect of blackberries nor lemonade in an unsweet sparkling water sounded promising to me. I expected this Waterloo flavor to sit somewhere near Summer Berry in the ranking, with notes regarding "too sour" and "needs a sweet element" backing up its placement. I cracked open the can, poured some into my cup, and took a whiff — and that's where things got really interesting. The drink had an aroma I can only describe as "exciting" — a little tart, yes, but not at all the instant no-thank-you I was prepared for.

If you could bottle and sell the flavor of "zooming across a Slip 'N Slide on your stomach as a little kid on your birthday before it's time to open your presents," Blackberry Lemonade Waterloo, for me, is it. It's the taste of nostalgia combined with great anticipation. I think it's the lemonade component. It's not just "lemon," though how they got the "-ade" element in there without sweeteners, I don't know. The blackberry is subtle, but it's there, and whatever it's doing with that lemon, it tricks the tongue into thinking there's a whiff of sugar. I thought this flavor was my No. 1 for a while; I would undoubtedly purchase it and drink it on its own.

Tropical Fruit Waterloo comes from the same nostalgic flavor-fountain as Blackberry Lemonade: it smells like Tahitian Treat, an intensely sweet fruit punch I occasionally drank as a child. One would be unwise to expect the deluge of sweetness that vintage beverage provided, but the full, rich aroma of this Waterloo certainly made promises.

According to my notes, upon sipping Tropical Fruit, I said aloud, "Oh holy Nike, this is filled with flavor." I had no idea such a tongue-enveloping taste is possible in a zero-calorie, unsweetened water. No, it's not Tahitian Treat, but, seriously, I'd prefer this anyway.

This is another one of those that could go so wrong without a sweet element, but it manages to come off perfectly. I can see even a little kid liking this (don't hold me to that). The only quibble I have is that there's a mango on the can, but I get more zippy pineapple and blood orange than that. If I could taste more mango, it'd be a couple of spots higher in the ranking. Still, this begs for a mashup with a blood orange crush cocktail recipe.

Black Cherry was one of the last flavors I tested, and after remembering how little cherry I picked up on my palate with Cherry Limeade (the last-place contender, lest you've forgotten), I suspected this can might disappoint. I don't know what it is about cherry beverages, but, with the exception of Cherry Diet Coke, I'm usually left thinking, "More cherry, please." The same thing happened when I tasted and ranked Olipop flavors and found the Cherry Cola lacking.

Not this time. What I was left thinking was, "More sips, please." If you feel like me about cherry bevs, this stands a high chance of being an unsweetened sparkling water you'll love. The black cherry flavor is full-on, and it's one of those Waterloos that tricks your taste buds into thinking there must be a little sugar in there. It was comparable in enjoyment to Tropical Fruit and Blackberry Lemonade, but it bested them for being a bold voice in the generally timid cherry-soda crowd.

Banana Berry Bliss is the third February 2026 release from Waterloo and, in the opinion of my palate, the best of the trio. It either says something about my emotional relationship with flavor or Waterloo's ability to harness the nostalgic power of Juices Past, but this one reminded me, in the best way possible, of Tropicana Twister (back when it came in little glass bottles and was juice – not soda). Think "intense." When I opened the can, the banana aroma was immediately there in the room with me. When I poured it into the cup, I knew this water would be special.

On my palate, Banana Berry Bliss lived up to its name — it was blissfully yummy. Banana was the most prominent note, but strawberry did come out the longer I sipped. There's also an image of an orange on the label, a flavor I didn't quite pick up until I closed my eyes and got super-mindful; it's there — it's just quietly humming, while the banana and strawberry are belting out opera. Even better, the more I drank it, the more it almost gave fruity "bubblegum" on the aftertaste, and that's the mixologist's kiss right there.

Here it is: the reigning champion of all Waterloos. Despite the commendable efforts of its compatriots, Raspberry Nectarine could not be bested. Every general compliment I awarded the other flavors can be extended to this gem of a water, with one exception: It doesn't remind me of anything I drank in my childhood, and that, itself, is a compliment.

It's a sophisticated, yet approachable, flavor. With berry and stone-fruit notes perfectly in harmony, this tastes like laying in a field in the green grass, blinking up at a cornflower-blue sky. I've never done that (sounds itchy), but you get the point — saturated, semi-sweet, pastoral. If my poetry isn't doing the job, maybe this will: My housemate, who vocally detests unsweetened flavored sparkling waters, tried this and said, "Wow. This is really good." Told you. So, whether guzzled as-is or in a fruity martini with citrus bitters, you can't go wrong with the contents of this can.

I sampled each Waterloo flavor straight from the fridge so that it was as cold as possible, and I poured it into a wide cup to get the best tasting experience — aroma included. Each contender was ranked on how well it represented its flavor (for instance, does "Strawberry" really taste like strawberry?), since consumers presumably buy specific flavors hoping for that taste.

With Waterloo being unsweetened (either naturally or artificially), it was also important that each flavor taste pleasant and balanced without a sweet element; flavors that felt lacking or imbalanced would be ranked lower.