Bubble Makers
We grabbed as many bottles and cans of sparkling water as we could, and tasted each one for bubbliness, flavour and quenchability. These are our favourites, from age-old classics to newfangled fizz bombs
VIVA MEXICO
This hard-to-find bottle—ask for it at Perola’s Supermarket in Kensington Market, or order it online at topochico.ca— practically perforates your tongue with bubbles. But Topo Chico isn’t all about the fizz: despite its overwhelming effervescence, this mineral water is stunningly thirstslaking and pairs exceptionally well with rich dishes, each swig simultaneously refreshing and resetting the palate.
old faithful
Perrier’s bulbous green bottle is one of the most recognizable vessels in all of beveragedom, and the bubbly spring water contained inside is liquid perfection. It’s sold in a variety of citrus flavours, but with a time-tested taste that’s this clean and refreshing, there’s no reason to deviate from the unadulterated classic.
MADE IN TAIWAN
While it might be hard to take a Pokémon-inspired can seriously, don’t be fooled: Ocean Bomb, infused with mint and something called “marine deep concentrate” (so, ocean minerals, hence its name) is a seriously good, slightly saline sip. It’s the sort of thing you can find only at a global megastore like Nations Experience in the Stockyards.
QUEBEC QUENCHER
Eska’s time-tested water—it takes 15 years for it to filter through St-Mathieu’s rocks and soil—continues to stand tall against some of the biggest names in the business, becoming the standard-bearer of fancy Canadian H2O in the process. It’s lightly carbonated, yet comes off tasting more effervescent than most, with a crisp, thirst-quenching taste.
PROVINCIAL PRIDE
Sourced from a spring just up the road in OroMedonte, Ontarieau is crisp, fresh and all kinds of effervescent. And its beer-bottle look may have some kind of placebo effect during Dry January.
ITALIAN JOB
Aside from its thirst-quenching abilities, San Pellegrino’s greatest superpower is its Pavlovian ability to induce immediate pasta cravings on sight. It’s a classic of the genre, with long-lasting bubbles and a periodic table’s worth of minerals that give the water its slightly salty tang.
LIME LIGHT
Trying to cut back on the sauce after the holiday blitz? Montellier’s limeflavoured bubble bomb mixes Quebec spring water with a substantial hit of natural lime flavour, and it kind of tastes like a (booze-free) vodka soda.
WINE NOT
Lightly sparkling O.Vine gets its rose tint from spent grape skins— cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah and petit verdot—that already did their winemaking duty. It’s alcohol-free and tastes like a light red-wine spritzer, which makes it an ideal party beverage for drinkers and non-drinkers alike.
BIG BOY
From Boylan, the label best known for its line of cane sugar colas, comes this crystal-clear throwback seltzer. The lime version is dosed with a suitable blast of fizz and spritzed with citrus, and while it’s far from boundarypushing, the taste is as classic as the bottle’s two-tone mid-century labelling.
EAU NATURALE
For more than 100 years, this naturally sparkling mineral water has been bottled at its source, a mountain-fed spring in the village of St-Justin, Quebec. Not only is it a real thirst-quencher, but its high concentration of bicarbonate means that its bubbles come from Mother Nature—and indigestion doesn’t stand a chance.
HEAD IN THE CLOUDS
We can’t say for sure if this nearly $6 can of hempinfused water delivers on its promises of relaxation and peace of mind, but Daydream’s cucumber-lime concoction is fizzy AF and it’s got a zero-proof cocktail thing going for it.
THE TREND SETTER
The can that made flavoured fizzy water go seriously viral comes in a dizzying assortment of flavours, from key lime to coconut. Some reproductions are more faithful than others, but our LaCroix pick is the pamplemousse for its gentle balance of sweet and tart, and all-around crushability.
TANGERINE DREAM
Sourced from a Norwegian aquifer, Voss is one of the fancier waters on this list. And with some obvious product placement in
Succession and Ballers, it’s basically the Fiji Water Girl of the TV world. We like the tangerine-lemongrass flavour for its lightly carbonated citrus zing—every sip is like unpeeling a clementine.
THE CULT FAVE
Farm Boy, Canada’s answer to Trader Joe’s, sells more than 500 of their own highly revered private-label products, including this lemony, lightly carbonated mineral water sourced straight from the Laurentian Mountains.
STRAWBERRY FIZZ
These smirking cans of flavoured bubbly water are PepsiCo’s answer to LaCroix. Strawberry Bubly smells like those pink marshmallows you can only find in cottage country general stores and tastes like a splash of summer with just a hint of sweetness.