The PrimaFoodie Guide to Coconut Water
Coconut water, the cloudy-clear liquid found inside the coconut fruit, is now found… everywhere. A staple in mocktails and smoothies, it also serves as a quenching drink. Some love to cook and bake with it. Others love it for its amount of natural electrolytes, like magnesium and potassium. It tastes mildly sweet and coconut-y and is low in natural sugars.
The rub here is that there are tons of coconut waters available, and some aren't as great as others. Certain varieties contain sneaky added sugars, artificial sweeteners, and coloring. Many are made from concentrate. The best source of coconut water, bar none, is straight from the source. Many health food stores and restaurants offer organic fresh young coconuts that you can tap into to source the refreshing liquid. But when the whole fruit isn’t an option, some bottle versions offer a solid second option.
So in the quest to find the best—and cleanest and freshest—bottled coconut waters, we tried the most popular ones on the shelf and ranked them according to purity and flavor.
Editor’s Note: We recommend only these specific products, not the companies’ entire offerings.
Our Top 4 Coconut Water Picks
What we love most about Harmless Harvest are the company’s strict organic and social standards. Every coconut it sources comes from farmers in Thailand that follow sustainable and certified organic methods. Plus, the water, which is unpasteurized and unadulterated, tastes incredible. Clean and lightly fruity, it comes from the Nam Hom variety of coconut, which is a particularly fragrant and tasty variety. (An interesting note: Some Harmless Harvest coconut waters have a pink tinge. This is because natural antioxidants interact with light after it's been sourced and bottled, causing some to eventually turn color before you drink it. Essentially, it’s a natural marker of purity.)
Thrive continues to be a real player in the sustainable, conscious, organic food market. This coconut water boasts such a clean and light taste that it registers less as coconut water and more as a fruity drink. Still, it’s a top pick for its organic roots, zero added sugar, and drinkability.
Real Coco Organic Pure Coconut Water
Like Harmless Harvest, Real Coco prides itself on only using certified organic coconuts, which it sources from Vietnam. There is no added sugar, coloring, or thickeners. It has a mild taste that’s more coconut-y than the others.
With its super refreshing taste and zero added sugars, Cadia comes in as another PrimaFavorite. We value that it comes from young coconuts, which tend to taste nuttier than other varieties, and only certified organic sources.
Secondary Picks
If you cannot find the above, the following land as secondary picks in the instance you’re vying for a coconut-y quench but lacking in options.
We fully get behind the social impact of Vita Coconut. The team is aiming to increase the annual yield of coconut farmers in Asia, who fall victim to poor working conditions and extractive business practices. The taste of this water is super light and clean. However, there is a trace amount of added sugar.
While we do love this CO2 for its pure flavor, we’re hard-pressed to get totally behind this because of the trace amounts of added sugars. It sips mild, is not too sweet, and contains no fillers or coloring. This is a better option than others, but still not a top choice.
It’s barely sweet, which we love, and has a thicker feel. But Taste Nirvana does contain “coconut essence” and a slight amount of added sugar, both of which makes us pause. Like C20, this is a better option than many others out there, and easy to find, but it’s not the purest.