Snack of the Week: Hint Essence Water

I am sure you are reading the title of this post and thinking, water? Seriously, Rebecca, water?

But let me explain, I am definitely not one of those people who has issues drinking water. Beyond a cup of coffee in the morning, water is all that I drink. I used to be a hardcore Diet Pepsi drinker but I gave it up cold turkey seven years ago and never looked back. Water is my beverage of choice.

Some people hate the flavorlessness of water; I think it just tastes like, um, water. But that does not mean I do not like to jazz it up every once and a while as a treat. The problem? Most flavored waters are billed as “low-calorie beverage” which is a huge red flag for artificial sweeteners. Which I, personally, avoid. Lucky for me a few companies have introduced flavored waters with no sweeteners.

In the past few months, I have tried three different brands with two levels of enjoyment…

Metromint water

The product is billed as “Pure water, real mint, no sweeteners. More than flavored water.”

My review of Metromint (in the cherrymint flavor) – It tasted like cough medicine. EW!

Ayala’s Herbal Water

The company promises that “we make our beverages by infusing organic culinary herbs in pure water. We use no artificial sweeteners, no preservatives, and no additives of any kind.”

My review of Ayala’s Herbal Water (in the cinnamon orange peel flavor) – Let me preface this my saying that I was seriously excited for this drink. It seemed like autumn in water form. It actually had more of a summery taste. The taste of bug spray. SO disappointed.

And last, Hint Essence Water

The product is described as “No Sweeteners. No Preservatives. No Calories.”

My review of Hint Essence Water: LOVED this stuff. I have tried multiple flavors of it including Cucumber, Watermelon, and Raspberry Lime. LOVED them all. All of them have the refreshing appeal of water with a rich flavor that does not taste fake at all. Also the flavors taste as you would expect so no surprise cough medicine or bug spray flavors here.

The downside of all of these waters is that they are pricey. I buy mine at Whole Foods and they are all in the $1.30-$2.00 range. So these are a “treat” for me and often, I buy one when I think that I am hungry but know that I am not. The flavor of this is enough to kick a craving.

**** All pictures from the company websites.