What are the Best Coconut Waters – We Rate 31 Brands

Best Coconut Waters

Updated 5.1.19 – added Festival

Full change list at bottom.

What are the best coconut waters? Judging by the amount of shelf space devoted to them in grocery stores, coconut water is a popular item. Not being a huge fan of the fruit, I had never tried it until it was recommended to me by several doctors. They extolled the virtues: low in calories, lots of electrolytes, more potassium than a banana, no fat, no cholesterol and an easy way to hydrate. I decided to give it a try, so on the way home from an appointment one afternoon, I stopped and picked up a carton at Trader Joe’s. It was terrible; I nearly spit it out, and it was weeks until I gave another brand a try. The second was much more pleasant and easy to drink, which led me to investigate the wide variety of brands available.

Some of their websites promise all kinds of miracles. For example, CocoFresh claims to “help with rashes, kill intestinal worms, check urinary infections, is a tonic for senior citizens & sick people, cure malnourishment, treat kidney & urethral stones and eliminate poisons”. Another “increases semen, promotes digestion, and is a “proven pitta-pacifier” with a pranaropana-life-restoring-capacity”. Huh?

Over the last six months, I have tried many brands and have found a huge variation in taste. Some were too sweet, some bitingly acidic, others tasted like a chemical brew, and a few had little flavor at all. It occurred to me that it would be worth the time to do a taste test: What are the best coconut waters?

I held a tasting over three nights with 17 intrepid friends, rating 18 brands in a blind tasting (more brands were added in later tastings). Here are the results, from lowest score to highest. I need to mention one issue that gave me fits – inconsistency. At first, I thought I was losing my mind when I did tastings with the second and third groups – ratings were very different than the first group. After buying samples of the same water over three months, it became clear that aside from the big name brands such as O.N.E or Naked, the overall taste varied considerably from batch to batch. The smallest, least processed waters such as Harmless Harvest had a wide variation in taste, with two groups calling it the best, and two groups the worst. This is the reason you’ll see divergent comments in the ratings, but in the end, enough people participated in the tasting with samples from different sources so that the averages worked out. I discussed the issue with a couple of juice company representatives, and was told that “much like wine, the flavor of each coconut varies, especially from season to season and the age of the coconut”. Apparently, young coconuts are best for water whereas older once are best for industrial uses. In addition, some brands add “natural flavors” or sugar to ensure consistency between batches. Therefore, these ratings are subjective, based on the taster’s preferences, and the particular batch of water. I did go out of my way to buy one of each brand from three different stores.

One trend over the years since this report was first published is the rise of more “artisanal” coconut waters. For instance Trader Joe’s cheapest coconut water is rated dead last, but their refrigerated version earns a much more respectable 8th place. Vita Coco and Coco Community are the same company, but rate 15 and 1 respectively. Also, prices on coconut waters go up and down like the stock market. If you check different stores, you can find a price difference of $1 per can within the same brand. For this reason, though I update the prices regularly, you may find differences. One thing I did highlight is whether they have been pasteurized as this is thought to make a difference in nutritional value. Here is our list of the best coconut waters in order of preference from least to most favorite.

Not recommended:

30: Taste Nirvana Young Coconut Juice: Glass container, non-organic. Cane sugar, sodium metabisulfite added.

• Comments: I didn’t even bother to put this before the group. I’m sure I speak for all of them when I say this was the worst we’ve ever tasted. To be fair, they call this “juice”, not water, but it looks and is labeled much like their regular coconut water. The clear glass bottle is rather pretty with long strips of coconut floating in it, but that is where the good ends. It’s like drinking a mouthful of brown sugar – almost to the point of being syrupy. It also contains 5 grams of saturated fat and 10 grams of sugar in 9.5oz. Most coconut waters have 0 fat and 100 calories in a 16.2oz container. I’m not a fan of sweet drinks to start with, but I couldn’t finish the bottle. Don’t confuse this with Taste Nirvana Real Coconut Water which is currently at #2 on this list.

29. Trader Joe’s Pure Coconut Water: Paper container, non-organic, vitamin C added, flash pasteurized. $.25 per ounce.

• Comments: The judging was universal – it was the worst of the entire group. We found it acrid and bitter, yet watery. I couldn’t drink the leftover water and ended up pouring it out. This is the non-refrigerated version.

28. Coco Libre: Paper container, water and organic coconut concentrate and “natural flavors” added, flash pasteurized. $.22 per ounce.

• Comments: “Salty”, “Awful x 3”, “Heavy”, “tastes like something dairy”, “You need a spit cup”.

27. Tasco Young Coconut Juice – Metal can, includes sugar, preservatives. Flash Pasteurized.

• Comments: “Ugh – tastes like chemicals” “Too damn sweet”. This water cost us only $1.19 at an Asian market, making it one of the lowest priced, but I would never buy it again.

26. Refreshe: Paper container, non-organic, vitamin C added, flash pasteurized., .$13 per ounce.

• Comments: “Could hardly get down”, “Caramel”, “Too sweet – x 12”, “Tastes like cherry Koolaid”, “Awful”, “Unpleasant smell” – Safeway brand.

25. Blue Monkey: Metal can, non-organic, no additives, flash pasteurized., $.12 per ounce.

• Comments: “Lingering chemical aftertaste”. “Overpowering chemical aroma”, “Heavy”, “Dull”, “Way too sweet!”, “Metallic”.

24. Trader Joe’s Organic King Coconut Water – Cardboard container with an attached straw. USDA Organic, not from concentrate. Sri Lanka. $.16 oz. We were not impressed by yet another version of coconut water from Trader Joe’s.

• Comments: “Watery”, “lacks body”, “tastes cheap”, “there are coconuts in this?”, “I wouldn’t pay for this”.

23. O.N.E.: Paper container, non-organic, contains water, sugar, coconut concentrate, “natural flavor”, flash pasteurized, .13 per ounce. Owned by Pepsi

• Comments: “Oddly salty”, “Bland x 5”, “Simple”, “Not too sweet”, “Off taste”, “Foul”, “Oh hell no!”, “Chemical taste”.

22. Nature Factor: Metal can, organic, no additives, high-temp pasteurized.  $.20 per ounce.

• Comments: “If this was representative of the others, coconut water would have no future”. “Smells like a pond”. “Woody”, “Too sweet”

Fair:

21. C20:  Metal can, non-organic, no additives, high-temp pasteurized, $.17 per ounce.

• Comments: “Bland x 3”,  “Smooth”, “Average”. “Awful!”, “Sugary”. Retasted 4.19 – “Nasty!”, “Even worse than before”, “Plastic taste”, “Foul”.

20. Naked: Paper container, non-organic, added fruit sugar, flash pasteurized, $.15 per ounce. Flash Pasteurized. Owned by Pepsi. USDA Certified Organic. According to news reports they have had a class action lawsuit for using GMOs and deceptive labeling.

• Comments: “Bland”. “Tastes like plastic”, “Nothing special”, “Tastes off”.

19. Harvest Bay: an 8.45 oz. cardboard container with a “sippy straw”. Thailand. $.21 cents per ounce.

• Comments: “Tastes off.”, “Chemical tones”, “Flat”, “No, I wouldn’t buy this”, “Near the bottom of my list”, “Doesn’t taste much like anything”.

18. Cadia All Natural: Metal can, no added ingredients. Flash Pasteurized. Thailand. Updated 2.19

• Comments: “Ugh… nasty”, “Astringent”, “No body”,  “Lousy aftertaste”, “Off taste”. “Not refreshing”. “Way down my list”, “Throw the rest out”.

17. Vita Coco:  Paper container, non-organic, <1% fruit sugar, ultra-high temp pasteurized, vitamin C added. $.22 per ounce.

• Comments: “Not bad”, “Just ok”, “Bland”, “Better on 2nd pass”, “Better warm”, “Fruity”, Citric acid taste”, “Average”, “Boring”, “Smooth”.

16. 365 Whole Foods: Metal can, non-organic, no additives, flash pasteurized, $.11 per ounce.

• Comments: “Middle of the road”, “Easy drinking”, “Drinkable”, “Pleasant”.

15. Zico: Plastic container, non-organic, not from concentrate. No-GMO’s. 100% coconut water, ultra-high temp pasteurized. $.18 per ounce. Owned by Coca-Cola (this review updated for new formula 7/17 ). Ultra-high temperature pasteurization.

• Comments: “Ok”, “Unremarkable”, “Bland”, “Middle of the pack”, “Grassy”, “Simple”, “Gummy taste”, “revolting”, “Tastes like plastic”. [The comments above have been updated since they reformulated the product and it moved up the listings.]

14. CoCo Fresh: Metal container, non-organic, no additives, $.22 per ounce.

• Comments: “not a hint of taste”, “Not much fragrance”, “Icky”, “Unremarkable”, “Smooth, but so is water”, “Bland”.

13. Columbia Gorge Organic – Plastic container, organic, no additives, cold pressed, distributed refrigerated. Thailand. .27 per ounce. Information is sparse – not much on the web and CGO’s website is terribly outdated and not mobile friendly. I generally like CGO products but wasn’t impressed with this one. But the taste is what you are here for:

• Comments: “Wow, I thought this would be better; it’s so bland”. “No depth… a very flat taste”, “The mouthfeel is a little off”, “$4! – It’s not worth it”.

12. Wild Harvest: 100% coconut water, no artificial colors/flavors, no preservatives. “Micro filtered”. 8oz can. $.10 per ounce. This is a recent entry that is showing up everywhere.

• Comments: “Innocuous”, “Bland”, “Not unpleasant”, “Would do in a pinch”, “Price is right”, “Slight off taste”.

11. Festival Coconut Water: this brand has suddenly appeared in most major stores as well as online. The price is right – currently about $1.20 per 16.2 fl oz. 100% organic. Metal can. Thailand.

• Comments: I haven’t run it by the full panel yet (we get together every six months), but here are my comments: Nutty, a bit too sweet, slight chemical aftertaste that turns me off a bit on the finish. Unremarkable overall.

10. Amy & Brian’s: Metal container, organic, no additives, flash pasteurized. $.17 cents per ounce. No GMO’s, no preservatives. When Re-tasted 2.19 the tasters weren’t as impressed because of the high sweetness – interesting as there are no added ingredients. We’ve dropped it to the “Fair” category.

• Comments: “Watery”, “Bland”, “Too sweet”, “Wow – too sweet!”, “Mellow”, “Brown sugar”, “Better than most”, “Could do in a pinch”.

Good:

9a. Kroger brand – Simple Truth: cardboard container, organic, no additives. Philipines. This was so similar to Thirsty Buddha (below) that we think it may be the same company. At $.89 it’s a good buy.

• Comments: “Easy drinking”, “Refreshing”, “Another bland one”, “Slightly astringent”, “Smooth”, “Would work in a pinch”.

9b. Thirsty Buddha: Cardboard container, organic, no GMO’s, Philippines. See note on Kroger above. We picked this up at T.J. Max.

• Comments: “A bit watery”, “Bland but refreshing”, “light”, “Smooth”, “Not much body”, “Not much character”, “Slightly astringent”.

8. Trader Joe’s 100% Pure (cold case): Plastic container, organic, no additives, cold high-pressure processed, $.25 per ounce. Re-tasted 2/18

• Comments: “Actually tastes like coconuts”, “Not as sweet as the others”, “Refreshing”. “Expensive for Trader Joe’s”

7. Obrigado: cardboard container. No additives/sugar. Water is processed without exposure to light or air, which is supposed to make it better.

•  We were surprised it didn’t place higher on this list, but the two samples we bought had a slightly off taste, with hard edges. Comments were all over the place: “Tastes more like home than most”, “a bit one dimensional but still good”, “doesn’t taste very coconutty”.

6. Zola: Metal container, non-organic, <1% sugar, $.13 per ounce.

• Comments: “Too sweet”, “Very toasty”, “Good coconut flavor”, “I actually could drink this daily”, “Complex”, “Layered”, “Like toasted almonds”, “Refreshing”, “Best of the bunch”

Best Choices:

5. Purity Organic: Paper container, organic, water/coconut concentrate, flash pasteurized, $.17 per ounce.

• Comments: “A bit syrupy, but very nice taste”, “Refreshing x 4”, “Quenching”, “Crisp”, “Nice finish”, “A little too sweet”.

4. Original Villager Natural Coconut Water: Paper container. No added ingredients.  Certified USDA Organic. 33.8 oz. The Philippines $.15 oz

• We received this directly from the manufacturer. As of now, it is only available in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Comments: “Crisp”, “Refreshing”, “Better than I expected”, “Nice toasty flavor”, “No off processing tastes”, “Not too sweet”.

3. Harmless Harvest Coconut Water: never heated, sold in cold case. Plastic container, organic, no additives, cold high-pressure processed. $.32 per ounce. From Thailand. This water varies from an almost clear color to very pink, which they claim is from the antioxidants interacting with light. Note: This was number 16 during out test in 2015. Multiple tastings showed it seemed to vary widely from batch to batch. Though the company used to call their product “raw”, they have discontinued the phrase due to issues with the FDA. In 2016 the company was sued by a group claiming they were not really using organic coconuts, which they settled but denied any wrongdoing.

• 2015: “Excellent”, “bright”, “toasty flavor” – our number 2 pick.
• 2016: “Unpleasant aftertaste”, “No! No!”, “Horrible”, “Too sweet”, “Toasty coconut, but a bit much”,  “Nutty”, “Tastes very green (not in a good way)” – our 16th pick.
• 2017: “fresh”, “balanced”, toasted coconut” – 3rd place.
• 2018: nice full body, but way too sweet.
• 2019: much more similar from bottle to bottle than it used to be.

You can see why had trouble rating Harmless Harvest. Because of these differences from year to year, we feel this brand varies greatly between batches and is difficult to rate. Your experience may vary. Tip: you can get this at Costco in boxes of six (larger size) for <$13. It hides in the refrigerated foods area.

2. Taste Nirvana, Real Coconut Water* A best buy: Metal or glass containers, non-organic, no additives, $.18 per ounce. Thailand. (prices are steadily climbing on this brand (lately up to $3.29) but it is frequently on sale for around $2.00 a can. Thailand. Re-tasted 4.19)

• Comments: “Would be great over ice”, “Toasty coconut”, “Nutty”, “Pleasant, smooth and balanced”, “Smooth”, “Nice mouthfeel and body”. Retested in 2019, it kept the same placement on this list, though we felt it lacked body.

1. Coco Community Organic Coconut water: Plastic container. From Thailand. Fair Trade, organic, no GMO.  This coconut water is made by the same company behind Vita Coco, number 14 on this list. That is where the similarities end. This water is processed with the high-pressure process like Harmless Harvest and shipped cold.

There was quite a bit of debate as to the placement of Coco Community in the rankings. All agreed it was in the top three. In the end, the similarity between two different lots pushed it to the number one spot, as Harmless Harvest tends to vary quite a bit. Taste Nirvana drops one place, but still does well because of the taste/price ratio – it’s possible to find it for $2 a can, whereas Harmless Harvest and Coco Community cost much more. I haven’t been able to find this water in Portland, but it is available in the California Bay Area.

• Comments: “Very refreshing with nice toasty flavors”, “Salty and sweet”, “Great balance”, “Odd finish with a syrupy sweet note”. “Best we’ve tasted”.

*HPP – Cold water high-pressure processing supposedly preserves the largest amount of taste, nutrients, etc. In 2015 the FDA banned products using this method from sale in the United States. This ban has now been lifted. 

Update history:

Updated 4.19.19 – added Wild Harvest, Thirsty Buddha, Kroger Simple Truth. Retasted Amy & Brian’s, Taste Nirvana, C20 and Cadia waters.

Updated 12.7.18 – prices and a few comments

Updated 2.14.18 – added Original Villager, Trader Joe’s King Coconut Water, update prices.

Updated 11/17 – added Columbia Gorge, Harvest Bay, restest Harmless Harvest, Coco Community, Obrigado]

Updated 7/17 – Zico has a new formula. Updated 4/17 – Taste Nirvana changed the label, so we retested and found it the same. Also retested Harmless Harvest and found it better – it moved from #16 to  #2, but it proves our point that it tends to vary widely from bottle to bottle. We moved it up with a comment.

Updated 9/16 – added Tasco. Updated 2/16 – added Cadia. Updated 10/15 – downgraded Zola due to a noticeable slip in quality]