It is a well-known fact that the people like seltzer water. It’s like a cheat code where you get to drink flavored fizzy stuff but without all that sugar and syrup and other stuff that is apparently bad for you if you drink it all the time. But here’s the thing (and I don’t know if any of you can relate): sparkling water is not soda. It just isn’t. So when I first tried to get into sparkling water, I simply couldn’t. That is, until I found the seltzer flavors that work for me, aka the best seltzer for soda drinkers.

This wasn’t among the LaCroix flavors the Sporked crew tried when they taste tested LaCroix flavors, but YOU GUYS. It is cola-flavored LaCroix. And this stuff is not bad at all, especially if you drink it super cold. It is sharply fizzy, the cola flavor is dead on, and the fact that cola flavor is so often sweet, this seltzer presents the illusion that it is sweet. I highly recommend this one. It’s a gateway to the sparkling water life.

Read the full ranking of the best LaCroix flavors

Jordan Myrick, Sporked‘s resident soda lover/seltzer hater, recently ranked the best caffeinated sparkling water, and walked away a fan of Sparkling Ice. “If you’re a seltzer hater (me), this is the caffeinated sparkling water for you,” Jordan wrote. “It tastes like soda! Sprite, specifically.” It’s worth noting that this seltzer may be zero sugar, but it is sweetened, unlike most of the other seltzers on this list. Sparkling Ice is like the training wheels of the seltzer/soda world. And, hey, it has caffeine!

Read the full ranking of the best caffeinated sparkling water

Spindrift is always great, but LIME Spindrift?! Ugh. Chef’s kiss. Managing editor Gwynedd Stuart described it as “tart and bright and perfect,” and noted that it tastes like “high-quality key lime juice in very good bubbly water” which is basically what it is. Spindrift uses real juice so with any of the flavors you’ll get a hint of sweetness, perfect for if you are transitioning from soda.

Read the full ranking of the best Spindrift flavors

We kind of wanted to include Original New York Seltzer’s Black Cherry on this list—I mean, it says “seltzer” right there in the name!—but we had to face the fact that it’s a soda at heart. If you happen to love black cherry soda, take this Waterloo for a spin. We love Waterloo in general—their peach flavor made our list of the best of the best sparkling waters—because the brand really nails that implied sweetness you find in so many sparkling waters. “It tastes like candy but doesn’t have sugar,” Gwynedd wrote. “Science rules.” Agreed.

Read the full ranking of the best best seltzers and sparkling waters

If you are a fan of citrus flavored sodas, this sparkling water is going to do it for you. Now this one isn’t actually sweet, but the flavor is super strong and that kind of makes up for the lack of sweetness (the worst thing is when a sparkling water flavor tastes like the fruit in question just breathed near the water and the company left it at that, this flavor is not like that). Editor-in-chief Justine Sterling loved this stuff. She noted that it “smells so good—like really good grapefruit soda. I want to wash my hair in the stuff.” That sounds like a pretty glowing endorsement to me. She also pointed out that it truly tastes like “a seltzer water with a generous squeeze of grapefruit juice.” Which is what you want in a seltzer: abundant flavor and bubbles. Plus, Bubly is responsible for one of the greatest ads of all time, so they have my vote always.

Read the full ranking of the best Bubly flavors

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