PurAqua Sparkling Water

The beverage aisle at Aldi does not lack for artificially sweetened drinks of all types. Whether you want individual bottles of fruit-flavored water, or sparkling fruit drinks, or those little powdered packets you empty into a water bottle, Aldi has a lot of choices if you like non-sugar sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose. If you want an aspartame-sweetened drink that comes in a larger bottle with more than one serving, Aldi has that, too.

PurAqua Sparkling Water cost $0.55 for a 33.8-oz. bottle at the time of publication. It comes in strawberry, white grape, black cherry, and juicy peach flavors.

This is a Regular Buy, which means it’s in stores year round.

Each 33.8-oz. bottle has about three 12-oz. servings. One serving has zero calories or carbohydrates, although the label says the entire bottle has 10 calories and 2 grams of total carbohydrates (1% DV).

These drinks contain 0% juice and have a laundry list of not-easily recognizable ingredients such as potassium benzoate (a preservative), potassium citrate, natural flavor, acesulfame potassium (another sweetener), and malic acid.

Aspartame, which is the primary sweetener in these drinks, has been around since the early 1980s and is generally deemed safe, but it can be problematic for people with a rare genetic disorder called phenylketonuria, in which the body cannot break down phenylalanine, an amino acid found in many foods and in aspartame. Food and medicine that contain aspartame have to carry the warning: “PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE.” These bottled drinks have that warning.

While artificial sweeteners such as aspartame are generally considered to be safe, I don’t go out of my way to buy these kinds of drinks. That’s in part because I don’t always like the taste of artificial sweeteners, but also because they can sabotage your plans for healthy eating. That’s because artificial sweeteners may intensify cravings for sweet foods. Because artificial sweeteners are sweeter than sugar, people who consume a lot of them may find foods that aren’t as highly sweet such as fruit to be less palatable. So I tend to only buy these kinds of drinks occasionally.

Keep reading for a closer look at each of these sparkling water flavors.

PurAqua Strawberry Sparkling Water:

PurAqua Strawberry Sparkling Water nutrition and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

My family liked this flavor, with several people declaring it their favorite of all the flavors in this product line. It tastes fruity, vaguely like strawberries, with that familiar aspartame taste.

PurAqua White Grape Sparkling Water:

PurAqua White Grape Sparkling Water nutrition and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

I like this flavor. It reminds me of grape soda, a childhood favorite. This has a milder, less overpoweringly sweet taste than traditional grape soda and yet is still satisfying.

PurAqua Black Cherry Sparkling Water:

PurAqua Black Cherry Sparkling Water nutrition and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

My family didn’t like this flavor as much as the strawberry one, but it’s still a decent artificially sweetened sparkling water, with a distinct cherry flavor.

PurAqua Juicy Peach Sparkling Water:

PurAqua Juicy Peach Sparkling Water nutrition and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

This is a satisfying fizzy, peachy drink, and of all the flavors in this line, I think this one disguises the aspartame taste the best. If you like peaches, this is not bad.

The Verdict:

PurAqua Sparkling Water comes in strawberry, white grape, black cherry, and peach flavors. It’s sweetened with aspartame and contains no fruit juice. If you’re looking for artificially sweetened drinks with fizz, these are a decent option, and they come in bottles that are large enough to share.