I Tried 10 Coconut Waters And Ranked Them Worst To Best

Coconut water, the fluid inside immature coconuts, is a beverage with many appealing qualities. It's tasty in its own right, but you can also add coconut water to your iced coffee or incorporate it into mocktails, where it brings a fresh, tropical note. Coconut water also contains electrolytes such as sodium, magnesium, and calcium. It also happens to contain more potassium than a banana. This last one is especially appealing as most Americans aren't getting enough potassium, a nutrient which is important for numerous processes in the body, including maintaining bone health and regulating blood pressure.

I work out regularly, and typically stick with water for my hydration needs, but I'm also interested in trying an option that offers electrolytes as well. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of most Gatorade or other sports drinks, but I do love coconut. Although it doesn't replenish lost sodium as well as actual sports drinks, coconut water is great for hydration. You could also make a homemade electrolyte drink by mixing coconut water with a little orange and lime juice and a pinch of salt. Of course, to make this drink, you'll need a delicious coconut water base, so I tasted 10 coconut water brands and ranked them worst to best. What mattered for deciding the ranking order was aroma, balanced flavor, and a refreshing mouthfeel. Here are the results of this (mostly) delicious experiment to find a top-tier multi-tasking coconut water.

Nature's Nectar is one of several coconut water brands available at Aldi, and Nature's Nectar itself offers two versions of the beverage. One, in a can, contains pulp. The other is this 33.8-fluid-ounce Tetra Pak carton of pulp-free coconut water. This beverage, unfortunately, had one quality that shot it to last place in the ranking even before I took a sip or poured it into a glass: the smell.

This coconut water smelled absolutely rank, and I have no idea why. Sulfuric and sour, it immediately inspired me to check the date on the package to make sure I hadn't bought an expired product (I hadn't). The seal also wasn't compromised in any way. 

Armed with faith that the liquid was safe to consume, I poured some out, snapped the above photo while thinking, "Really not looking forward to this," and gave it a sip. The worst part is that the actual taste of the coconut water was fine, or could be: I couldn't quite tell because the smell impacted my perception of its flavor. If the drink didn't straight-up stink, I suspect the sweetness level would at least be pleasant. That said, this coconut water (which is actually one of the clearest-looking out of the 10 I tried) seemed to leave a film on the tongue. That could be my imagination being influenced by the odor, but I don't think so. This one's literally a stinker.

Before I encountered Nature's Nectar, I had Vita Coco's coconut water positioned as last place in this ranking. Its aroma wasn't off-putting at all, but the taste let it down. There was a notable sour tinge that mostly obscured the nutty notes I want from a coconut water. The mouthfeel is also a tad thicker than I like, and left a slightly sticky film in the mouth. That and the sour flavor conspired to make this a product I might use in a mocktail with other mixers to balance the sourness, but I would have to be in a pinch with no other coconut water available — and I would never open one and drink it straight.

Most packaged coconut waters last five to seven days in the refrigerator after opening, but not this one from Vita Coco: you only have 24 hours to consume this once you've cracked it open, according to the label. The Vita Coco FAQ page also says to consume its products within 24 to 72 hours after opening for the best possible taste. However, it also says to check your Tetra Pak for specific directions, and I'm not one to risk food poisoning (though yes, I did drink the stinker in 10th place). If you bought a bigger bottle, you'd have to be going to town on it to use it up in time. And considering that it doesn't taste all that great, there are so many other coconut water brands with longer shelf lives and better flavors. That said, Vita Coco is at least usable in some capacity, putting it above Nature's Nectar.

Goya produces several varieties of coconut water, from with-pulp to reduced sugar to a roasted coconut version. For this ranking, I selected the brand's Tetra Pak of basic, pulp-free coconut water. Goya didn't perform so well in our ranking of canned coconut milk brands. However, in that case, the main complaint was a textural issue specific to coconut milk rather than coconut water. So, I opened my container of Goya Coconut Water with all the optimism you might expect for a mainstay brand in the Hispanic foods market.

First off: We must talk about the lid. It's a twist top that has an attachment so that you don't drop it on the floor by accident. It pops back on with a satisfying click, and you can also tighten it. Full points to Goya for this feature. Beyond that, this coconut water was okay — just okay. The aroma was fine, but the flavor was where Goya fell a bit short — there wasn't quite as much coconutty taste as I would like. More importantly, it had an ever-so-slightly sour note that reminded me of Vita Coco, although much less intense. It may be that this drink falls just short of adequate sweetness for balance. Still, the flavor was much better than Vita Coco's, making this a coconut water I could drink on its own without pulling a face. It would be far from my first pick at the grocery store, though.

This is another coconut water found at Aldi, though Real Coco is a family-owned-and-operated brand, not a private-label Aldi name. This coconut water was one of the more aromatic of the brands I tried. Its fragrance is not as bold as some of the others in higher positions, but it's noticeable in a good way — pleasant and nutty. Flavor-wise, there was nothing overtly unpleasant about this coconut water; it just wasn't quite coconutty enough, and it could have a little more sweetness to it. However, I respect that it has only 7 grams of sugar with none added; this would be a perfect contender for that aforementioned DIY electrolyte drink with OJ.

Notice that I said "nothing overtly unpleasant." There were two subtle imperfections with this one. For one, the mouthfeel was a tad too thin and watery. It took me several sips to decide this, plus a few more re-tastes of other brands for comparison; it's a small thing, but it counts. Then there was the aftertaste. Right on the finish, after a perfectly nice tasting experience, Real Coco hit a note that skewed sour. If you were drinking while paying attention to something else, it's unlikely you'd notice. My mind was in my mouth, though, so while this brand totally had me in the first half of the sip, six other coconut waters with no sneaky, sour secrets (and/or with stronger flavors) bested it.

Simple Truth is a private-label organic brand for Kroger stores; that includes Harris Teeter, where I purchased this container of organic coconut water. With its slightly yellow, cloudy appearance and lightly pleasant aroma, this beverage was off to a nice — though not outstanding — start. After taste-testing it, I learned that "nice, though not outstanding" is almost the perfect label for it.

While no coconut water is directly ranked for its sugar content in this review, if you're giving me 15 grams of sugar per container (zero added — that's a perk), I'd better be able to taste it on my palate for the entire ride. Simple Truth, however, was palatable but a little muted, both in nuttiness and sweetness. Its sweetness only came out in the aftertaste, which is not ideal. When I'm drinking a beverage, I'm thinking about what hits my tongue first; I'm usually not mindful enough to savor what comes after unless it's awful. That said, I'd be curious to try this in an herbal tea like rooibos. Coconut water makes tea sweeter and more refreshing, and rooibos has a natural floral flavor that could pair well with this.

Aldi produces Simply Nature Organic Coconut Water as well as the aforementioned (and much maligned) Nature's Nectar, and there's simply no comparison: Starting with this product, we're getting into "the good stuff" in this ranking. This coconut water had a mild, fragrant aroma and a light and refreshing mouthfeel. The flavor was very nice, with a good balance of sweetness to coconutty taste — I would happily drink this plain or mixed with other ingredients. It also cost only $1.99. Considering that the Vita Coco product, in a container of the same size, cost $1 more, I'd say that's a great deal, especially for an organic coconut water. Another bonus, if you're someone who watches their sugar intake, is that this one has 7 grams of sugar per container. That's on the lighter end, yet it still manages to be very tasty.

It's not the top coconut water, however. While Simply Nature had a lot going for it, other brands just had more flavor. However, that says less about Simply Nature and more about the top four coconut waters in this ranking, because this really was a solid beverage.

C2O Coconut Water was the clearest of all the products I tested for this ranking. The only other product that came close to its clearness was Nature's Nectar, in last place. The similarity worried me slightly; I hoped there was nothing else comparable between the two products — and indeed, there wasn't. For starters, there was very little aroma. That didn't bode well for the flavor, considering the near colorlessness — how tasty could it be? However, this is where C2O came into its own. This did have a good coconut flavor, enhanced by the sweetness, but "good" is where I'll stop. The flavor wasn't wow-worthy in terms of intensity, like some of the higher-ranking brands, but it did have a little more to offer than Simply Nature.

While this coconut water has the versatility I'm looking for, I don't love that there are 10 grams of sugar (with 3 added) in 240 milliliters. That's on the higher side overall, and if you're giving me sugar, you'd better be giving me the flavor to match. One of the higher-ranking coconut waters contained less sugar than this one but had tons more flavor, as did the next contender coming in at number three.

The quality of Target's Good & Gather Organic Original Coconut Water wasn't entirely a surprise. Good & Gather offers some pretty tasty products, like its cottage cheese. That's a whole different food-world away from coconut water, though, so I really didn't know what to expect when I poured out this lightly yellow-tinged beverage. The aroma was the first clue that this would be a bit better than the others I'd tried so far: it was fairly strong, with a promising tinge of coconuttiness.

The flavor of this coconut water delivered on the promises of that fragrance. The coconut was noticeable and well-defined, more so than Simply Nature's or C2O, and the sweetness level was perfectly balanced — not cloying despite one 240 milliliter serving containing 10 grams of sugar. In fact, in terms of flavor, this coconut water was comparable in quality to the top-ranking products, though it fell short in the intensity department, putting it in third place.

I went back and forth on which coconut water would earn this second-place position. Zico Original Coconut Water was in first place for a while, which was an interesting surprise considering it was up against big names like Goya and Vita Coco. This coconut water had a very nice, nutty aroma with a slightly cloudy yellow hue (tinged, perhaps, with a hint of pink), and the flavor was fantastic. The coconut hit immediately and morphed into a nice, sweet aftertaste on the tongue. It didn't overwhelm or underwhelm in any way, and the sugar content (9 grams per 240 milliliters) was more or less reasonable, especially for the amount of flavor in the drink.

Zico's original coconut water impressed me so much that I had to take a look at the brand's other offerings. Zico also makes a chocolate coconut version that sounds like a delight. Still, in the interest of keeping added sugar low, the brand's plain coconut water blended with a couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder and a pinch of sea salt could make the perfect copycat drink. But Zico is just so good that I'd probably stick with the regular coconut water most of the time anyway.

Meet Harmless Harvest, the tastiest coconut water brand (and the prettiest — just look at that pink). Before I go into the interplay of factors that made this one the winner, let's talk about that color. The brand's FAQ page explains that the hue comes from the interaction of the antioxidants with light and other elements. Competitor brands, it appears, try to hide this with additives, though I have no idea why; the color alone makes Harmless Harvest look as utterly delicious as it is.

The aroma was tantalizing, and the flavor was powerfully rich and nutty. Zero sour notes invaded this bottle, and the balanced taste hit strongly on the palate and lingered nicely. Now, it is true that the entire 355-milliliter bottle has 17 grams of sugar (all from the coconut — none added), but here's the thing: If that's what it takes to get this level of flavor, I'm all for it. 

I originally had my eye on Zico for first-place, weighing price against flavor and sugar content, but the superior flavor of Harmless Harvest rendered all those other factors unimportant. Even with this small bottle costing $4.19 (by far the most expensive coconut water; that 1-liter Zico was $4.48), I could never leave it in second place. While I would potentially zhuzh Zico up with cocoa powder, I wouldn't touch this pink stuff with any other ingredient; it's just that flavorful and refreshing. This outperformed every other contender to a dizzying degree, though you'll pay for the pleasure of drinking it.

I selected all coconut waters that were readily available in-store at my local grocery stores, opting for pulp-free options over those with pulp wherever possible. Rankings were based on aroma, flavor, and texture. Each coconut water was refrigerated before taste-testing and sipped from a cup to best gauge each of these features. 

A high-ranking coconut water had a flavor that was balanced between natural sweetness and coconutty taste; there were no bitter, sour, or other off-notes. I wanted the aroma to be clean, light, and mildly nutty or floral. I ranked the mouthfeel based on how light and refreshing it was. A hint of viscousness was allowed, but never anything syrupy or heavy. Any ties were broken by an examination of the product's sugar content. If a coconut water tasted delicious with less sugar — particularly added sugar — it was ranked higher than its contender for that spot.