seebee wrote:La Croix "Beach Plum" - thought I wouldn't like this, but...I get a real strong hit of Hawaiian Punch in the aftertaste. Love it.

Funny seebee, just popped open a Beach Plum for my lunch at work today. This is my daughter's favorite flavor. I like it too. Never gave the name any thought until today. I just thought the name implied plum flavor with a tropical vibe, but I was wrong.

From Wikipedia:Beach Plum (or Prunus maritima) is a deciduous shrub, in its natural sand dune habitat...The species is grown commercially to make jam.[12] Although it is bitter or sour it can be eaten out of hand. Beach plums are much smaller in size when compared to the longer cultivated Asian varieties found in the supermarket.

Looking forward to trying the LaCroix beach plum. Shopping day is tomorrow, so maybe later this week.

In the meantime, I saw three flavor combinations of S. Pellegrino 'Essenza' 8-packs at Fresh Farms. I couldn't resist temptation/curiosity and plunked down $5.99 for an 8-pack of the Tangerine & Wild Strawberry cans (11.5 fluid ounces). For my palate, I'd have to rate these "U" for undrinkable. I should have known better because in these types of applications, Strawberry usually ends up being awful, and that was certainly the case here.

I'll be taking the remaining 7 cans to work tomorrow, where I'll surreptitiously put them in the fridge and hope no one sees me doing it. They will certainly test the limits of the 'everyone loves free stuff' axiom.

=R=

Ron -
Upthread, I warned against San Pellegrino's new flavors. Just awful. I had high hopes, expecting some kind of Italian goodness, but...blech.

seebee wrote:Ron -
Upthread, I warned against San Pellegrino's new flavors. Just awful. I had high hopes, expecting some kind of Italian goodness, but...blech.

Yeah, I should have scrolled back. Disaster in a can. I giggled to myself this morning because I was actually relieved that no one was in the lunch room when I tucked those remaining 7 cans into the fridge. No witnesses!

=R=

Still yet to try the new LaCroix Beach Plum because our local Jewel didn't have it (or many other flavors, for that matter) but I did try LaCroix's (new?) Peach-Pear, which is okay. The flavor mostly approximates the essence of pear skin. Based on its name, there must be some peach in there too but I wasn't really able to pick it up. Not that it's ever going to happen but I'd be curious to try it without the peach and see what the difference might be.

When it comes to these waters, I've come to accept that I'm mostly interested in continuously trying newer flavors. My second priority is not burning out on the older flavors, a few of which I've come to enjoy. And lastly, I plan to avoid the lesser flavors for good. For the most part, if something's on sale and I haven't already decided I don't like it, I'm very likely to try it. There's no strong brand or flavor loyalty developing for me.

=R=

Finally tried the LaCroicks (sic) Beach Plum. I actually liked it, even though it's generically fruity and didn't have anything particular distinct to offer. It's at the top of my rotation for now, until I burn out on it.

Mango, one of the last remaining LaCroicks flavors still available in 12-packs (massively irksome to at least a few of us), was a bust though. Initial aroma reminded me of spoiled milk and while the finish vaguely approached some kind of mango, it was mainly the kind of mango a seasoned shopper would leave on the shelf. A big thumbs down from me.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Finally tried the LaCroicks (sic) Beach Plum.
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It's pronounced Le Crotch.

"Fronch bread, Fronch Fries, and of course, PERU!"

seebee wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Finally tried the LaCroicks (sic) Beach Plum.
=R=

It's pronounced Le Crotch.

"Fronch bread, Fronch Fries, and of course, PERU!"

LMAO - got it! Thanks!

=R=

My Jewel:
"Just 4 You coupon - $3.84 La Croix 12 packs. UNLIMITED USE!"

Also My Jewel:
"We don't sell La Croix 12 packs anymore. But we have plenty of these new 8 packs. They are on sale for $4 each. Feel free to stock up!"

Avoid the Kirkland brand cans of seltzer water. Harsh bubble and no flavor.

Nałęczowianka sparkling water and Spindrift are my current favorites.

Giovanna

AHA brand Pineapple Passionfruit:
zzzzzzzzz
Totally boring. One 12, er, 8 pack, and it'll be the last. Faint flavor, mostly faint pineapple. Boring.

Hi- I posted this in Jewelry too. I received a specialized price of $2.49 on my J4U for Polar sparkling water, and I just noticed it is for a 12 pack, which is a really good deal. I just looked on their website, and apparently they do have 12 packs. Is there any flavor that is especially good? I don't think I have bought it before. The personalized price is unlimited too. I also have a personalized price of $3.74 for La Croix, but all of their cartons have been downsized to 8 cans. Thanks, Nancy

Polar orange vanilla is great.

As a huge lover of Polar Orange Vanilla, I jumped at the new Waterloo Orange Vanilla. (The Polar is only locally available at Mariano's, where I don't usually shop; Waterloo is at Whole Foods.)
I had high hopes but it is very strange - tastes like rootbeer, with no discernible citrus.

Rando thoughts:

Still absolutely loving on LaCroix Cherry Blossom, Beach Plum, Key Lime. and Limoncello.

Food For Less, and Marianos are still selling 12 packs of Lacroix. They must have played nicey nice with the distributor or mfr or something. Just scored 12 packs for 3.99 each, which, sadly, is a great price these days.

Jewel's "Soleil" brand has some new flavors, most notably a "yuzu." Tried it, enjoyed it. Family liked it far more than I did. They LOVED it. Very grapefruity imo. Not bad or anything. I was just hoping for more of a sour/tangy yuzu flavor. Not saying it was bad tho.

Kroger house brand has been fairly consistently the best prices recently. Their flavors are anything but interesting, even tho they sound good: StrawberryLemonade, Blackberry Citrus, Cotton Candy (didn't try.) Nothing great, although we do stock up on their watermelon when it's on sale.

Still waiting for Polar to go on some kind of sale so I can try their Ginger Mule.

so...despite there being tons of news items in 2018 about its launch and how amazon was going to conquer la croix, it seems they are quietly discontinuing the Whole Foods 365 brand sparkling waters? It's been impossible to get almost any of the flavors for a few months now and the amazon site says "currently unavailable"; someone on reddit says they called like WF stores and were told of the discontinuation. no news items on google though.
we take this as a personal bummer because 365 black cherry is heads and shoulders above all the others (waterloo, bubbly, polar) and now we're hoarding like 3 lingering cans of it. boo!

Looks like Waterloo has expanded their offerings at my Jewel, at least. Tried the "Tropical Fruit," and I think I REALLY like it. I remembered the mention of the Orange Vanilla being odd, so I skipped it. But Jewel has an unlimited $1.00 off coupon that might make it worth a try.

Another few notables:
Jewel's "Soleil" brand has a new Ginger Mule, and Lime Margarita. I like them both. They definitely have a sweet aftertaste, but no sweeteners, so, if you don't like the sweet flavors, they might not be for you.

If you happen to be in a Costco, and you happen to like LaCroix Limoncello, check if they have a combo case with 12 Limoncello, 6 Grapefruit and 6 Black Raspberry. My Costco has an unmarked sale. The shelf price is 8.89, but they are ringing up with a 2.00 instant mark-off (not displayed anywhere,) so they are $6.89 per case of 24. I found out yesterday that the limit is 5 per transaction.

Thanks for bumping the thread, seebee. I sometimes forget about it.

Fwiw, I've been enjoying the Soleil Yuzu Citrus lately. I suspect that I'll burn out on it sooner than later but it's my current favorite. I didn't realize it was a Jewel brand. While I do a lot of our shopping, sometimes stuff just shows up here and I have no idea where it came from.

=R=

In case anyone does it like I does it:
Jewel has 2 things goin on for this week's sale.
1. J4U coupon for Soleil 8pks at $2.37. In my experience, which is like 3 times in the past so far - their programming has been strict on the varieties that are included. My coupon lists a dozen varieties included, but Yuzu and Margarita are NOT displayed. I might check anyway, because at 2.37, those two flavors are worth a try. As it is, the only flavor I'll stock up on that is shown as included, is pineapple. The others are not a fan fave over here.

Polar 8 packs are 2.49 when you buy them in quantities of 4. I'll buy a decent amount of these:
Orange Vanilla
Ginger Lime Mule
Strawberry Watermelon
Blueberry Lemonade

Bubly hasn't had a decent sale in a long time, imo. I'm kinda jonesing to try their new flavors, but I won't unless they are priced decently since I'm a cheap bastage:
Key Lime!!!
Lemon Sorbet
Orange Cream

seebee wrote:
Bubly hasn't had a decent sale in a long time, imo. I'm kinda jonesing to try their new flavors, but I won't unless they are priced decently since I'm a cheap bastage:
Key Lime!!!
Lemon Sorbet
Orange Cream

My usual stop for canned flavored water was out of my go-to, the LaCroix Limoncello, so I took a chance and grabbed some Bubly Lemon Sorbet. I haven’t been a big fan of the Bubly flavors I’ve tried in the past but I was pretty impressed with this one. It may become my new go-to. Hope it sticks around. Might be “splurge-worthy”, Seebee.

I was at the Whole Foods on Green Bay in Evanston last night, and they have cases of 12 cans of Lacroix on sale 2/$9 currently. I thought all of the Lacroix only had 8 cans in a carton?

Mariano's / FF Less have been pimping Lacroix 8 packs for the past few weeks at 4 for 10. My simple brain has to convert that to case price to compare it to other stores, and my math says that's 7.50 per case, which, is seebee stock up price. I'm keen on Key Lime, Limoncello, Beach Plum, Mojito (new favorite,) and Cherry Blossom (hard to find these days.) Costco has a sale going on which might make it slightly cheaper, but you only have their specific combo pack flavors. At 7.50 per case, if I can pick my flavors, I'll load up on those specific flavors.

The Mojito flavor tastes like cola w/ lime, imo.

@NFriday - some stores do still have 12pks on display - not sure what the deal is. I see them regularly at Aldi, and Cermak Produce, which, btw, shows 12 pks on sale this week for 3.99.

There are so many viable choices out there, there's always something I like (or am willing to try) on sale. There's no Ford vs. Chevy or Coke vs. Pepsi situation for me with any of these. I'm never brand or flavor loyal. Whatever's on sale is good enough and within that group, some mild preferences have formed.

Case in point: lately I've been enjoying Waterloo's Tropical Punch, which a friend let me try at his house. I probably wouldn't have tried it otherwise. Shortly thereafter, I saw it on sale, so I bought some. It's very over the top but in a way that I find pleasant, at least for now. I say that because I tend to get bored/burnt out on most flavors, irrespective of the particular brand. That said, I've kind of settled into a rotation:

Most often: (in no particular order)
Soleil Yuzu Citrus
LaCroix Hibiscus
LaCroix Passionfruit
Soleil Peach
LaCroix Beach Plum

Less often: (in no particular order)
Waterloo Tropical Punch
365 Lime
Kirkland Lemon
Kirkland Lime
Kirkland Grapefruit
LaCroix Pamplemousse

Infrequently: (in no particular order)
Aha Peach
Soleil Cucumber Melon
LaCroix Cúrate Múre Pepino (Blackberry Cucumber)*
LaCroix Cúrate Cerise Limon (Cherry Lime)*
*Seemingly discontinued at Costco, so probably fading away for good.

Generally speaking, I have one can per day and try to avoid having them with food. None go well with food. Some are worse than others in that respect but none are good. I enjoy them on their own, ice cold -- but never over ice -- in a koozie, late PM/before dinner.

=R=

Our go to cans are:
Polar: Lime, Black Cherry or Cranberry/Lime
Waterloo: Black Cherry, Lime

New Bubly flavors. Jewel had a $2.49 price when bought in groups of 3, so I bought a bunch, and tried these:

"Strawberry Sunset"
YAWN (IMO.) my tongue says I'd be better off with plain starwberry. Strawberry Sunset just seems more like watered down strawberry favor because of the other flavors they are trying to introduce to it. YAWN.

"Bellini Bliss"
Sounds interesting, but I haven't tried it yet.

"Orange Cream"
Love it, but I think I like Polar's Orange Vanilla more.

"Lemon Sorbet"
They were out, or I would have def tried it.

- Their website now has a fancy list of flavors, and it shows that one of my all time faves, "Apple" was indeed discontinued.


Side note:
I've found a new contender - Perrier in the plastic bottle. I LOVE IT! Super tiny bubbles, very effervescent, smooth. San Pellegrino OTOH, flat by comparison. Not a fan. I balked at wife 1.0 when she requested the Perrier from Costco ($$$) but I'll be buying it up when it's on sale again. Love it.

Waterloo, which we generally don't love, has a new flavor: all day Rosé. it has to go to the trouble of marking itself "non alcoholic". i was worried it would be rosewatery/soapy but it is very tart/tannic like the wine, and a refreshing NA apero hour option. surprisingly good!

Bubly "Bellini Bliss:"
Far more interesting than Strawberry Sunset. The Bellini flavor is peach forward.

Polar "Pink Apple Lemon" - I'm instantly a fan of this one. When Polar goes on sale, it's now all about Orange Vanilla, Apple Lemon, Raspberry Lime, and Ginger for me.

San Pellegrino "plain" vs Perrier "plain" at Costco:
San Pellegrino has about half of the bubbles as Perrier. I like them both, but imo, Perrier is FAR superior.