Each of these three products has a number of reviews. I don't have much to add to any of the individual reviews. Coconut water is great, if you are in the market for a case of it you already know this. But which of these three is the best?
I went around town and found 5 boxes of each of the three brands (15 total) each, with no two boxes of a the same brand coming from the same supplier. The goal was to get a wide range of product batches. This I am happy to report was pointless. All three brands produce an internally consistent product.
I then ordered a 12 pack of all three brands from Amazon. The only significant difference in packaging is that O.N.E. glues a little telescoping straw to each individual box, the other two brands do not. If you are a straw person this is a feature if not this is just more trash, you decide. The amount per container varies slightly by brand but given the price fluctuation on Amazon I don't consider the 0.1 Oz differences an important factor.
All three are made in Brazil, O.N.E. mentions that it is pasteurized the other two do not (nevertheless, I suspect all three are).
On pure taste, at refrigerator temperature, I found Zico to be the best (say 5/5), but only nominally better than O.N.E. (4.5/5), Vita was a distant third (3/5). Both Zico and O.N.E. taste almost exactly like drinking right from a fresh green coconut. Vita, on the other hand, has a grape aftertaste which I did not like. At room temperature the order remained the same; however, the differences in taste became more obvious: Zico (5/5), O.N.E. (4/5), Vita (2/5). Obviously all of this is subjective.
I observed the price of three on Amazon over the course of a month. Zico (~$24) was consistently more expensive than the other two (~$18-21) which traded places as the least expensive.
Considering the price and quality, O.N.E. is my choice and the brand to which I now subscribe. I consider Zico an excellent, but over priced, product and Vita an inferior product. If, however, I preferred my coconut water at room temperature I would give strong consideration to paying the extra money for Zico. If I used my coconut water as a mixer I would buy which ever one is cheapest at the time.
All three products are better than nothing (the previous option) and I am happy to see them on the market.
This is the best way to get coconut water unless you have direct access to fresh, green coconuts. Tastes great. I prefer to use a straw to drink from the box. There's no jelly included, only the liquid coconut water. They are not cheap, but I buy from Amazon since our grocery stores don't sell coconut water. Some people don't like the taste of coconut water, but this brand is great if you do.
My husband runs and we'd read that coconut water is a much better replenishment drink than all the artificial sports drinks, so we began our search for a good brand. He is Latin American and I'm West Indian, so we're quite familiar with how this is supposed to taste. The canned drinks were awful - they picked up the taste of the can and many companies chose to add in coconut pieces which didn't do anything pleasant in terms of taste. This is by far the best brand we've tasted. It is expensive but so is Gatorade and similar drinks, so if you work out and use those, this is much better. It is higher in potassium by far, very important for post-workouts. It is also great for hangovers (hah!) and for women who've recently given birth. Essentially it does a great job of helping the body to recover and replenish essential electrolytes, so whether you go with this brand or another, coconut water is a great drink. To us, this is the best tasting and most authentic tasting brand out there. We do wish it was cheaper, but unfortunately we live in a society where it's easier to eat crap and get obese and unhealthy than it is to eat well and stay fit. (We have NOT tasted vitacoco yet...hoping to try soon. Will review again if our opinion differs after tasting!)
When I visted Thailand, a woman offered me a coconut. I nodded and she whacked it open with a machete with all the precision of a samuari, stuck a straw in it and handed it to me. It was decidedly different and unlike any other coconut product I had before. I enjoyed several of these while I was there, and some European tourists asked how was it as we floated by in the canal at the Rose Market. I gave them the thumbs up, but for people used to the ultra sweet and syrupy soda pop drinks and juice sweetened with high frutose corn syrup, they'll likely find the taste vile. It's very light and refreshing and if your taste buds aren't conditioned by overly sweet drinks, you'll probably enjoy this.
I gave it 4 stars because the contents say the coconuts are from Brazil and I found the ones I had in Thailand a bit more tasty.
Everyone in my family loves this drink! We use it in smoothies and health drinks. We use it as it is and we use it as a base in other blendered drinks. We think it is fantastic any way we've used it. Its flavor is very subtle and nice - not sweet, not salty, unique to itself and not at all overpowering when used with other flavors. We have only used it in "natural flavor" and really like it a lot. If the health claims for it are at all true, then it is a wonderful product. We like to use it with a little fruit juice, too, with kids so you get the health benefits but not so much of the sugar from fruit juice. It's delicious on its own but with juice or whey powder or yogurt and fruit - whatever you like - added. To those few reviewers who made such negative statements: what in the world were YOU drinking? Not this, that's for sure! It's great stuff....we're glad Zico makes this available. - Zico - Sports Drink - Health - Delicious - Coconut - Beverage'
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