The Kirkland Signature Sparkling Water You Can Just Ignore At Costco

When you sit down at a nice restaurant, do you take the waiter up on their offer for sparkling water, or do you ask for still water instead? Sparkling water is an increasingly popular industry, globally valued at over $29 billion in 2020, with a rise expected in the years that followed, according to a study by Grand View Research. Though it's a favored ingredient in many of your favorite cocktails from the bar, sparkling water is more often consumed at home in the form of cans and tabletop machines. We sat down to rank seven of Costco's Kirkland Signature sparkling waters and found that among the many flavors, the Italian Sparkling Mineral Water wasn't worth the purchase.

The Italian Sparkling Mineral Water was the only option on our list that wasn't flavored, which didn't automatically make it last place, but certainly didn't contribute to making it rank any higher. For a brand that's marketed as "mineral water," those signature mineral-tasting essences were missing from this drink. It was also only mildly carbonated, which may be preferable for some. However, in a ranking of sparkling waters, we were looking for a beverage that truly sparkled, and Kirkland Signature's Sparkling Mineral Water just didn't. The six other flavors on our list easily knocked this one into the lowest-ranking spot, though we wouldn't necessarily say this was bad. It was simply unremarkable and worth ignoring while using that Costco membership for the first time.

Kirkland Signature's Italian Sparkling Mineral Water is available in a 24-pack, with each bottle containing 16.9 ounces of water. The water is kosher and has no added sugars, though it does contain a 4% daily value of calcium and 10 milligrams of sodium. The calcium and sodium in the water most likely come from the fact that this particular sparkling water (one of many types of carbonated water) is classified as mineral water, meaning it supposedly comes from a natural source with no artificial distillation. The process of the water rising to Earth's surface means it collects minerals, such as calcium and sodium, along the way, and those minerals end up in the bottle.

It's worth noting that although this particular Kirkland Signature product is marketed as mineral water, there's also a message on the label that specifies "low mineral content." The product lives up to the warning and only contains small amounts of sodium and calcium, and is entirely missing magnesium, another common ingredient in mineral water. Other well-known sparkling mineral water brands such as Gerolsteiner Naturell contain 348 milligrams of calcium, 108 milligrams of magnesium, and a whopping 118 milligrams of sodium. Not to mention, Kirkland Signature's Italian Sparkling Mineral Water was recalled in Taiwan after customers discovered pieces of plastic in the bottles, though the concern never reached the U.S. Given the other, more preferable Kirkland Signature sparkling waters, it's okay to skip this one.