Vita Coco / Our Favorite Coconut Water

Although coconut water has been around since, well, coconuts, and the popular food brand Goya has been selling coconut water for as long as they’ve been around, it wasn’t until a few years ago that the market for coconut water really exploded. Unlike Goya (which sells everything), a few brands popped up that specialized in only selling coconut water. From what I’ve seen, the most popular brands today are Vita Coco and ZICO, but there are probably a dozen more trying to carve their way into the market.

Now I haven’t tried and tasted every coconut water on the market, but I have tried what I think are the larger brands–Vita Coco, ZICO, and O.N.E. Besides drinking the water straight from a coconut in Puerto Rico, the first brand I had, was Vita Coco. I’m not going to go into a very detailed review of each of the different brands, you can find a million blogs on Google that have done that already. For all the myths and truths surrounding coconut water, give this post a read.

For me ZICO and O.N.E were more milky than Vita Coco and that’s one of the main reasons I like Vita better. Plus, Vita Coco doesn’t leave a chalky taste/feeling in my mouth after drinking it. I also like Vita Coco’s packaging better than the other brands because there is less waste and it’s not made from a lot of plastic. All the different Vita Coco flavors are good, but I prefer the 100% pure coconut water. My girlfriend does seem to enjoy ZICO’s chocolate flavor. I wasn’t really a fan and its other flavors were also a bit too sweet for me.

Those aren’t the only reason’s I enjoy Vita Coco. Let me set the scene for you: I’m on a Long Island Rail Road train from NYC back to Long Island and after a hot, sweltering, summer day in the city I’m stuck on an overcrowded standing-room only train for the next hour. I was thirsty, tired and probably a little dehydrated. All I wanted was something cold and refreshing. So I sent the following tweet.

i need some @vitacoco in my life

— SURFBANG.com (@theSURFBANG) July 10, 2012

The next day, whoever monitors the Vita Coco twitter account sent me a DM asking for my address so they could send a case of Vita Coco. If I had any doubts about what my favorite coconut water brand was before, I certainly didn’t now. The case arrived at my doorstep today (see photo below) and prompted me to write this post.

Another thing I’ve also noticed about Vita Coco is that it’s always sponsoring local surf events–from surf movie premiers to Surfrider chapter events. That alone would be enough for me to support the brand.

So, if you’re feeling thirsty or just want to stay hydrated, I recommend grabbing a bottle of Vita Coco next time you’re out. For more on Vita Coco, check its website at vitacoco.com, like it on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter.

Also, for all our 21 and over readers, I’ve found that Vita Coco on the rocks mixed with a little bit of Seven Tiki spiced rum makes for one refreshing cocktail. If you’re going to mix booze with your coconut water, remember to drink responsibly.

Thanks Vita Coco!

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