Sparkling water, seltzer water, and club soda are all other names for sparkling water. Out of all seltzer waters there is one that reigns superior to the rest: La Croix. La Croix is just one of those things that tastes great, one can is fairly cheap, and comes in multiple flavors. Honestly it’s one of those things that does take an acquired taste, but once you get used to it there’s no going back.

It’s a healthier and tastier alternative to soda. Some may argue that iced tea or lemonade is a better drink choice, but why drink iced tea or lemonade? Like some iced teas taste odd, while some lemonades are just water with a drop of lemon juice and yellow food coloring. But, with La Croix you know what you’re getting: seltzer water with a just the right amount of flavor. Now, some may say that sparkling ice is better. Well sparkling ice is really just a guilt-free version of soda. There’s way too much in a bottle, and the flavor is so aggressive, while in La Croix it comes in the perfect sized can, just enough flavor to separate it from being plain seltzer water, and the packaging is much more appealing.

La Croix is much easier to take on the go as well. When the can isn’t opened you can fit it easily into a bag, and the can fits perfectly into car cup holders. Which, may I bring up that most of the time iced tea is served in a glass? So transportation is much harder, and therefore it loses points. Also, in terms of transportation, seltzer waters are served on airplanes and iced tea is not. So the drink also holds higher in the eyes of most travellers.

Lastly, I’ll discuss the large abundance of La Croix flavors. From flavors like berry to tangerine, there’s at least one flavor to suit each flavored seltzer water connoisseur out there. As previously mentioned, each flavor has just the right amount, so you aren’t smacked in the face with flavoring.

Ultimately the debate of La Croix comes down to the fact of being willing to acquire a taste for a jazzed up version of seltzer water. Once that taste is acquired, there’s no turning back, and there will be a moment of realization where one wonders where La Croix has been their entire life.

It’s a popular belief that La Croix is the best thing that has blessed this earth since sliced bread, however, I disagree.

Drinking La Croix is like drinking straight carbonated water and faintly hearing someone shout “orange” or “lime” from far away. It’s as if the carbonated water and the flavor have a long-distance relationship that’s falling apart because they don’t have anything in common anymore.

How anyone can willingly ingest this overrated brand of seltzer water is a mystery to me. I get that it’s a healthy alternative to pop; however, there are so many other options that taste so much better––iced tea, regular tea, juice, lemonade, and have you ever heard of San Pellegrino? There’s also Sparkling Ice, which comes in a multitude of different flavors that all taste better than the hardly-there-fruit flavor that you get from La Croix.

It’s true that the flavor in Sparkling Ice is strong, but that’s why it’s good. I would rather be able to taste the flavor right away, than have to think about tasting it in order to actually taste it.

Any kind of flavored sparkling water, including La Croix, comes with a risk. Drinking too much too frequently could lead to tooth enamel erosion because of the high acidic content of the drink. The gradual erosion of your tooth enamel can cause your teeth to become extremely sensitive to temperature, and it can make them more prone to cavities. This risk is especially high with flavors based on citrus fruits like oranges and lemons.

Lastly, I must hit the topic of the packaging. Like, hello? The 90’s called and it wants its bus seat patterns back. The pattern on the can belongs on a bowling alley floor. It looks like some half-hearted attempt to make the packaging look fun to distract people from the terrible liquid that it holds.

All in all, La Croix should definitely not be anyone’s first choice of drink. It hardly has any flavor, it holds potential to strip away your tooth enamel, and the packaging is unsightly, at best. Please, don’t succumb to peer pressure and drink this buji seltzer water. Please.