Swedish Sparkling Water Craze Finally Hits North America!

I’m so thrilled that the flavored sparkling water craze finally hit North America. Truthfully, it’s not a brand new phenomenon, but it is getting increasingly popular thanks to the no-sugar diets that have overtaken the U.S. and Canada. Previously, they were referred to as club soda, seltzer and carbonated water in English. The genius who said you should add different flavors invented something really delicious!

Flavored and natural sparkling waters in general have been popular in Europe for a very long time (at least since the early 90s when I lived there). I didn’t like it at first, but forced myself to drink it in order to cut back on soda pop and sugar calories. I am now hooked! You get the flavor and essence of pop but none of the icky artificial sweeteners and sugar.

My favorites have always been the fruity ones (any berry flavor will do!). They even have coconut and cola flavors that are really nice. They say that the smell has a lot to do with the taste sense, so this should satisfy you if you are hankering for a sweet soda.

Today in Sweden, Loka, Ramlösa and other brands have been adding eccentric flavors to the normal fruity ones. Check out Loka Rosa Svampar, which is a candy mushroom flavored sparkling water (eek!). But don’t worry, they still have relatively taste-friendly strawberry, pear, mango and other yummy flavors. They are even offering 50% less sugar pop versions (called Loka Crush) that you can swallow instead of going cold turkey. Oasis and Tropicana fruit juices are offering less sugar alternatives, but the soda companies should get with the program as people still crave the bubbly and want less sugar too.

Unfortunately, Loka and other Swedish sparkling waters are not available in Canada, but we have other brands to try. Here in Canada (and the U.S.), LaCroix and Perrier have been at the forefront. But I am really digging Nestle and Bubly (by PepsiCo) sparkling waters which are available at Loblaws, Metro, Real Canadian and other major chains in Canada. The flavors are really divine and the cans are very affordable. You can get the expensive Italian Soda Water ones, but really, there’s no need to splurge on WATER. Give it a try, and you’ll be transported back to Sweden. Yay!