Huffington Magazine Issue 60 | Page 106

Exit TASTE TEST HUFFINGTON 08.04.13 When ‘I Didn’t Spit It Out’ Is the Mark of a Decent Coconut Water BY KRISTEN AIKEN OCONUT WATER has grown in popularity over the past couple of years, becoming the “healthy” replacement for sports drinks. Everyone’s drinking it. Rihanna’s drinking it. It’s even supplied in our office’s free vending machines. We just have one question. Why? The flavor of coconut water has never appealed to us, so we decided it’s about time we opened our minds and our taste buds to its possibilities. We gathered 12 C PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAMON DAHLEN major brands of coconut water, tasted them blindly, recorded our thoughts, and ranked them. We even brought in outside editors for help, hoping to offset our prejudicial scores. Turns out, everyone pretty much hates most coconut water. There were a couple decent brands in the bunch, but we’re going to do you a favor and tell you which brands were absolutely wretched. A few of the lowlights: “Tastes like rotten old plant water that results after leaving your flowers in a vase for way too long.” “Tastes like motor oil. I gagged.” “DEAR LORD, MURDER ME.” As always, this taste test is in no way influenced or sponsored by any of the brands involved. Nor any others, for that matter.