LaCroix has been taking the world by storm in the past year and inspired a hair trend and a sparkling water trend among millennials. While I have been enjoying LaCroix since high school (wow hipster much?), I have found that it is not the best sparkling water out on the market.

Okay so hear me out before you start to argue with me. Yes, LaCroix is a decent sparkling water beverage, however, it only uses the natural essences of the fruits (and no I don't completely understand what the essence of the fruit is) meaning that it is essentially carbonated water with some extracted flavors that are not very noticeable.

Now, on the other hand, Spindrift, my current obsession uses the juice from the fruit making the sparkling water taste more refreshing and provides the carbonated water with more fruity flavor. There is a slight downside to this company though, the sparkling waters range from 1-16 calories per 12oz can while LaCroix has no calories. In addition, there are fewer flavors of Spindrift, but I believe Spindrift is higher quality.

Spindrift currently has eight flavors: half & half, strawberry, grapefruit, blackberry, lemon, cucumber, orange mango, and raspberry lime. And, "Spindrift is America's first and only line sparkling water made with real squeezed fruit." Plus what could be better than Spindrift donating 1% of their sales to environmental organizations? Maybe the list of ingredients on the can (from the blackberry flavor): sparkling water, blackberry juice, fresh lemon juice, and blackberry puree. That's it. No weird artificial sweeteners or things you can't identify on the label.

Spindrift, it's a great drink to have by the pool and if you tweet at them (even without directly mentioning their twitter handle), they respond. They liked my tweets from Naples, Florida when I first admitted my unpopular opinion about Spindrift vs. LaCroix.

The only downfall to the wonderful Spindrift company is the cost; an eight-pack of Spindrift is $5.99 compared to an eight-pack of LaCroix at $3.33 (prices found at target.com). However, you have to remember that you are paying an extra $2.66 for squeezed fruit instead of the oils and essence of the fruit (which isn't really fruit at all).

So take my advice and try some Spindrift, the sparkling beverage with real fruit juice, or ignore my advice and continue drinking your LaCroix, the sparkling beverage with only the essence of fruits. So when making your decision, ask yourself: do you prefer the quality of the product or the quantity of the flavors? It's up to you.