17 Sparkling Ice Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

Sip, sip, ahhhh. That's the sound of a Sparkling Ice. Established in 1987, the brand is now one of the most well-known names in the world of flavored sparkling water. It was also operating as a healthier soda alternative long before it was cool — and long before brands like Olipop or Poppi ever arrived on the scene.

For Sparkling Ice, fizzy beverages with zero sugar, low calories, and added vitamins and antioxidants are its bubbly lifeblood. But most of us recognize the brand thanks to its rainbow-colored army of flavors. They stand tall on the grocery shelf in their uniquely-sized 17-ounce bottles, donning various images of fruit encased inside a block of ice. The variety is truly something to behold, including classic flavors like lemonade and black cherry to more out-there tastes like Starburst-inspired bottles. Today, we're sipping our way through the lion's share of its supply to find the sparkling gem of Sparkling Ice beverages.

I picked up 17 flavors (aka everything I could find at my local store), and got to sipping and swigging. All options are made up of essentially the same ingredients, including carbonated water, sucralose, fruit and vegetable juices for color, and natural flavors. They also share similar nutritional benefits and come at the exact same price. So, my rankings came down to pure taste alone. Let's dive in to see which flavors fizzle out and which ones bubble to the top.

I'm not surprised in the slightest that Sparkling Ice has a candy collab on its books. It's not the first drink brand to do so (excuse me while I drink my Trolli gummy worm Mountain Dew and my Jolly Rancher C4 energy drink), and it certainly won't be the last. Sparkling Ice came out with Starburst sips in 2024, in the candy's original flavors of cherry, strawberry, lemon, and orange. But it has since extended the line to also include this little watermelon number. Unfortunately, I think it should have quit while it was ahead.

The drink has shy undertones of watermelon, but it smells and tastes most like amoxicillin — you know, that pink medicine you were given as a kid to treat strep throat? I couldn't shake that taste all the way through. So, with a medicinal flavor at the forefront and no candy tastes to speak of, this Starburst ode quickly fizzled out.

It doesn't matter what brand they come from, cherry-flavored drinks always walk the line between tasting pleasantly sweet and tangy and tasting like straight cough syrup. And hardly any actually taste like real cherries. Typically, I'm able to see the good in them. Cherry Gatorade and cherry Powerade are some of my favorites, but this Black Cherry Sparkling Ice rendition falls too far to the syrupy side to be salvageable.

I could tell from the first pop of the cap that it wasn't going to agree with my taste buds. It has that strong artificial cherry taste, and because it's black cherry, it's also quite bitter. On top of that, it feels more viscous and less bubbly than other drinks, further solidifying its syrup-forward profile. It may be slightly better than the amoxicillin-watermelon elixir, but it's not a bottle I'll be reaching for again.

The Kiwi Strawberry flavor comes in an amusing shade of bubblegum or highlighter pink, depending on how you want to look at it. It gets this coloring from a mix of fruit and vegetable juices. However, the taste truly does come from a blend of real kiwi juice concentrate and strawberry juice concentrate.

The aroma is extra vibrant. I thought I was in for a sweet and juicy candy-like experience. What I got, though, was predominantly notes of kiwi and a bitter sucralose aftertaste that lingered for far too long. In most other Sparkling Ices, the sucralose (aka the zero-calorie sweetener used that's 600 times sweeter than standard sugar) is covered by a fruity mask. Here, though, it's quite obvious, causing this beverage to fall to the end of the list, above only the two medicines masquerading as flavored sparkling water.

It could be argued that lemon lime is one of the purest and most common sparkling water flavors. A little bit of citrus matched with a little bit of sparkle. That's the essence of a great, refreshing beverage. However, this version from Sparkling Ice reads more like a zero-sugar soda than a carbonated water, albeit a very watered-down soda.

Imagine a Sprite or a 7UP that's lost some of its luster yet none of its effervescence. That's what's hiding in this bottle. You still get some of that lemon lime zest, but it's diluted — closer to what you would experience with a lemon lime Poppi or Olipop. Although it could still be considered a reliable drink and a great low-calorie, no-sugar alternative, it doesn't hold a candle to many other Sparkling Ice flavor combos.

Strawberry pops up often in the Sparkling Ice portfolio. In this bottle, it happens to be paired with watermelon, and I was hoping and wishing that it didn't end up like the watermelon Starburst fiasco. Spoiler: It doesn't. It takes on a completely different kind of flavor, far from the world of cold and flu remedies. It still has its drawbacks, though.

First off, watermelon wholly eclipses any hints of strawberry, even though strawberry juice concentrate is actually included on the ingredient list and watermelon juice is nowhere to be found. It could be referred to simply as a watermelon flavor. It's refreshing, yet at the same time, there's something off about it. There's a synthetic or plastic-like taste that sits in your mouth for a while, severely knocking it down in the rankings.

Even though it's commonly said that pink is the most beloved Starburst flavor (it's backed by science), I, for one, have always been on the cherry train. There's something about that bold, juicy red bite that hits the spot every time as you chew your way through those taffy squares. However, I'll step off my soapbox to admit that in drinkable form, it doesn't impress.

It doesn't taste like Starburst at all, and it doesn't necessarily taste like cherries either. Maybe that's because it doesn't include cherry juice concentrate to taste. It only includes apple juice concentrate and other juices for color. That means it boils down to an extra-sweet, generically red-tasting refreshment. It's better than a handful of other washed-out or fake-tasting flavors, but it's not one of my favorites.

This Sparkling Ice seems redundant, does it not? In my mind, peaches and nectarines taste nearly identical, just wrapped up in different packaging — nectarine in a smooth coat and peach in a fuzzy one. So, let's call this flavor what it is: peach. That's the only juice that's included anyway. And the bright neon orange color, which comes from paprika oleoresin.

As a peach-centric drink, it's not bad. It doesn't necessarily capture that freshly-picked, juicy peach taste. But it manages not to be overly syrupy or saccharine. There's a level amount of sweetness and the right amount of flavor. I'm not big on peach-flavored drinks or candies, and I could at least still enjoy this one. I'll also overlook the fact that the brand tried to make it more enticing by pretending to add nectarine into the fold, when peach alone would have been fine. How about we call it "juicy peach" or "peach splash"? Those seem a bit more fitting.

I hope you packed your bags. This particular bottle is taking us on a tropical vacation. I don't see the piña colada combination of coconut and pineapple all too often in sparkling beverages. And, quite honestly, I worried that the coconut would take over and give off that unpleasant sunscreen taste. To be fair, it does smell more like a summertime lotion than a drink, but the flavor turned out much better than expected.

It achieves a good 50/50 balance between citrusy pineapple and rich coconut. It starts with strong bursts of the sweet fruit, then the coconut hits later, almost giving it a creamy finish. I noticed that the brand also suggests mixing it with peach puree and lime juice to shake up an island bellini mocktail, and I think that's a fabulous idea. The only issue I have with this flavor, and the reason it sits in the middle of the pack, is that it seems to be a right place, right time kind of drink. I can't see myself casually sipping on this without my toes in the sand and the sound of waves crashing in the distance.

Sparkling Ice does not offer a pure grape beverage. It does, however, carry its Grape Raspberry flavor — it loves its random pairings. Naturally, I thought that the taste of grape would take over the entire palate. But as I took my first slug, I was pleasantly surprised.

Even though the grape is fairly dominant, the raspberry juice concentrate puts up a strong fight. I could detect it all the way through, lying right under the bold, purple-y taste. It's more like blue raspberry than classic raspberry, giving it a bit of a sour candy tang. It's a unique fusion, and it works pretty well in my opinion. It may not be the most authentic or natural of flavors, but it's tasty, and I can see it being more universally liked compared to something like the coconut pineapple.

I am not typically a grapefruit person. In seltzer brand packs that include the citrus fruit, I will avoid them at all costs because of their acidic, almost metallic flavor. However, I gave this bottle a fair chance, and it really stepped up. Perhaps I'm buying the wrong grapefruit products.

This sparkling water flavor is specifically called Pink Grapefruit", and its coloring certainly fits this distinction. After tasting it, I'd say the flavor fits the bill as well. It's not as sweet as a red grapefruit would be. Instead, it has a nice citrusy tartness that's balanced with a hint of sugariness and no metallic weirdness. It truly does taste like real grapefruit juice, which is a win in and of itself when it comes to flavored drinks. It's refreshing and succulent, but there are a handful of other flavors I found to be even more so.

This is one of those sparkling beverages that somehow still tastes good, despite its fruit identity crisis. It sticks with the ol' generic "berry" in the title. The image on the bottle then shows a strawberry and blueberries trapped inside the brand's emblematic ice cube. Meanwhile, the ingredient list reveals nothing about the berry types used, and the flavor I got was primarily raspberry.

So, I guess it's something of a mystery. I'll let it slide, though, because whatever kind of berry it is, it works well with the citrus notes. Lemon juice concentrate combines with dizziness to give the drink its zest and vibrancy, keeping it lively from the first sip to the last. And the reason it makes it farther than most in the taste test is that its flavor is broad enough to appeal to nearly anyone.

Each of the four Starburst drinks I tried was entirely different from the next. We started out on a low note with the pharmacy-coded watermelon. Then, the cherry was an improvement, though not by much. This orange flavor is where we finally start to get somewhere.

Does it offer an uncanny resemblance to the actual orange Starburst candies? No. But it gives the Sparking Ice line a classic orange flavor that it didn't have before (orange is only found married to mango, and unfortunately, I didn't find that one at my local store). It tastes to me like an orange creamsicle with a hint of vanilla — similar to the orange cream Poppi. Each sip is bright and flavorful, though it doesn't dip into cloying territory. Even though it does get beaten out by one other Starburst flavor and a few other standout tastes, it's a keeper.

Classic Lemonade is one of the few Sparkling Ice flavors that incorporates one fruit in its recipe. A clarified lemon juice concentrate rides solo, making it seem as though it would taste boring and one-dimensional, but its simplicity is why I like it.

The bottle has just enough of a citrus kick to it. It's also sweet without the heaps of sugar found in standard lemonade, and the bubbles make it seem lighter and crisper. It can easily be enjoyed all by itself, yet it also has versatility on its side if you're feeling like zhuzhing it up. The brand gifts us with a few recipes for this exact purpose. You can give the lemonade a boozy twist by mixing it with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and Champagne, creating The Fizz 75 cocktail. Or you can go NA (no alcohol) with The Dennis mocktail, complete with 6 ounces of classic lemonade topped with 3 ounces of the brand's cherry limeade flavor.

This is the fourth and final Starburst flavor I tried (as I did not find the fruit punch or lemon variations), and it's a dead ringer for a strawberry Starburst. They finally got one right. Between the fluorescent pink hue and the bubblegum smell, I had a feeling it was going to be spot on, and I was correct.

It doesn't taste exactly like strawberries, but that's okay since the actual candy doesn't taste exactly like real strawberries either. Instead, it's super sweet and has that sugar-coated confectionery taste to it. I don't think I could drink the entire bottle, given the stark sweetness levels. And I'm not saying that pink is my new favorite Starburst flavor. But I was thoroughly impressed by Sparkling Ice's ability to perfectly recreate the treat in liquid form, so I thought it deserved a seat near the top of the rankings.

Buckle up, we have another mystery flavor here. The front of this bottle shows images of orange, pineapple, and cherries — a pretty standard fruit punch blend. But, on the ingredient label, the only type of juice concentrate listed is apple (aka none of the above).

I'm not sure where this drink gets its flavors from, but I do know that somehow it still works. It has that same classic Hawaiian Punch energy, a more grown-up version with a touch of fizziness. If I try to focus, I can taste hints of oranges, berries, and maybe other types of citrus. Mostly, though, it could be described as a non-specific fruit salad concoction.

I like it because it's a reliable choice. Like many other fruit punch medleys, it's not likely to let you down (that is, as long as you don't read the ingredient label to try to figure out its flavor).

At the store, the Sparkling Ice Strawberry Lemonade bottles came in a range of different shades. Some had a much lighter color than others, and all were more orange than pink, which I thought was strange. I grabbed a darker one, thinking it would have a deeper flavor, and hoped for the best.

Either my gamble paid off, or all of these particular bottles are naturally tasty. It's leaps and bounds ahead of the Berry Lemonade version, and it's clear from the jump what flavor it is: juicy strawberry mixed with the tart taste of fresh lemons. It keeps the sweetness to a manageable amount, and adding in some noise-tingling bubbles really brings it to life. The brand says that the flavor is like a "wave of perfectly ripe flavor to your thirst," and I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree. It's undoubtedly one of my favorites.

As we learned with the previous Strawberry Lemonade flavor, pairing a sweet fruit (specifically a red one) with a citrus fruit seems to make for a well-balanced drink. Sparkling Ice proves this theory yet again with its Cherry Limeade.

This one really popped when I unscrewed the lid, letting me know it was full of fizz. It's extra sparkly, and the flavor even sparkles as well. There's no unpleasant cough syrup undertone as there was with the Black Cherry bottle. Instead, the cherry juice concentrate tastes bright and tart, and it's neutralized by zesty spikes of lime. It's elevated and thirst-quenching, yet also feels like a little treat. Plus, it feels like the kind of drink that can be enjoyed any time of year, no matter where you're at. For these reasons and more, it's easily my favorite Sparkling Ice flavor of the bunch.

All Sparkling Ice flavors start with a solid foundation. I like that they keep things light in terms of sugar and calories, and simple in terms of the ingredient list. For more unrecognizable ingredients, I appreciate that the brand includes a little description. For example, Calcium Disodium EDTA is "to protect flavor." Each drink also has a pleasant level of effervescence. It isn't too aggressive, but just enough to make it feel bubbly on your tongue. So, really, the rankings relied heavily on the taste profile itself.

I looked for drinks that stayed true to the fruit (or candy logo) shown on the bottle. I ranked ones that tasted too syrupy or medicine-like lower. Some in the middle of the pack tasted too sweet because of the sucralose or, conversely, were too diluted. My absolute favorites tasted like true-to-form fresh and juicy fruits and provided a balance of flavors that was versatile and made better by the bubbles.