(Editor’s Note: Today’s review is brought to you by one of the Impulsive Buy’s original readers, Megan, who was kind enough to send me from Germany a bottle of Britannia Soliss Pear & Ginger Sparkling Water. She sent it because she wanted me to know what REAL sparkling water tastes like. Thanks, Megan!)
As many of you already know, my first experience with sparkling water was one I’d like to forget, but unfortunately, it will probably forever haunt me in my dreams…or when I get thirsty.
So it was with some trepidation that I tried the Britannia Soliss Pear & Ginger Sparkling Water from the United Kingdom.
After taking a hesitant first sip of the Britannia Soliss, the first thing that came to my mind was, “What the hell died in the Aquafina Sparkling Water to make it taste so damn horrible?â€
The Britannia Soliss was crisp and clean. It went down smooth. It had a nice distinguished pear taste, with a hint of ginger, which gave it some spice. But most importantly, it didn’t make me gag, it didn’t make me want to spit it out, and it didn’t taste like my tongue licked a fire hydrant. In other words, it was waaay better tasting than the Aquafina Sparkling Water.
Ever since taking that first sip, not only has my view of sparkling water changed, my whole view of the world has changed dramatically. The Britannia Soliss has lifted the blinders from in front of my eyes and it has made me see everything in a whole new light.
I no longer consider rain to be dismal and dreary. I now call it liquid sunshine. I no longer read Playboy only for the articles. I no longer see ALL the Baldwin brothers as B-movie actors, just Stephen, Daniel, and William. I no longer think of prostitutes as whores, I now think of them as sex professionals.
It’s like the world is anew.
One of the the things that caught me off guard with the Britannia Soliss was that they actually tell you where the got the water from on the label.
Britannia Soliss is a unique new range of drinks blending natural flavours and extracts with Spring Water drawn from a source at the end of the Pennine chain, with its protected environmental ensuring purity.
I got nothing of the sort from the Aquafina Sparkling. For all I know, some sweaty, hairy dude in adult diapers, sitting in a kiddie pool filled with sparkling water, might be filling each bottle with the water he’s sitting in.
Oh, I hope those bubbles in the water were from the carbonation.
Besides the taste, one of the best things about the Britannia Soliss was the price and size of the bottle. For only 99 cents, Megan picked up a one liter bottle (about 34 ounces).
If the Britannia Soliss and the Aquafina Sparkling were in the same school, the Britannia Soliss would totally be taking Aquafina Sparkling’s lunch money and giving it a wedgie every single day, because it’s much bigger.
Sure the Aquafina Sparkling Water has no calories, but the entire bottle of Britannia Soliss only had 15 calories. I could probably burn that amount while typing this review or…ahem…reading an issue of Playboy.
Of course, if there was one downfall of the Britannia Soliss, it would be the fact that most of us can’t get our hands on it here in the States. But if you happen to be in Europe, especially the United Kingdom, and you’re thirsty, I’d recommend the Britannia Soliss.
Item: Britannia Soliss Pear & Ginger Sparkling Water
Purchase Price: 99 cents (purchased by Megan in Germany)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Pros: Tastes helluva a lot better than Aquafina Sparkling, but what doesn’t. Crisp and clean taste. Made me change my mindset about sparkling water. Big-ass one liter bottle for less than a dollar.
Cons: Might not be available in the United States, but it’s available in parts of Europe.
Good Job Marvo for trying a sparkling water that doesn’t taste like ass. Thank you Megan for sending it to him. It made for a great review and let us all know that there really can be a good tasting sparkling water. I hope I can find that in St. Louis because I would like to try it that’s for sure!!!
I told you this was GREAT, right?! It MAY be available in the states, as I bought it on the american base. I’m not sure though, as I havent been back for a while. Thank you for the great review. And just because someone may ask – yes it was 99 cent US$ NOT 99 cent Euro. I love the clean taste with the spicey ginger. You can imagine how great the apple cinnamon is – really spicey but not too appley. this comes in a bunch of really great flavors.
Glad you liked it. I knew you would. Unfortunately even more other sparkling water here still tastes slightly similar to aquafina shit.
Thanks for letting us know about the brand, Margo and Megan. If I see some I’ll pick it up…perhaps Trader Joe’s sells it, they have some unusual brands. Regarding Aquafina…you just KNOW that any major soft drink company that starts trying to sell sparkling water is going to royally screw it up.
PS – I just went to the store on my way home from work and it’s only US$0.90 now! yippy!
how can spring water in any form taste good ?
you’re slipping 😛
but, as i am in the UK, i just might get convinced..
“it didn’t taste like my tongue licked a fire hydrant.”
dude, I think you should do the Aquifina thing one more time in about a year. You’ve had so many fun references like this one ever since you first did it!!
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Is The Impulsive Buy Still “Better Than Sparkling Water” After This Review?
oooooooooh sooooo preeeeety. love euro-design.
it makes me convinced that it tastes good just by looking at it.
Becky – Finding out there’s great tasting sparkling water has shown me that anything is possible. I just hope that “monkeys fly out of my butt”-thing doesn’t come true.
Megan – Once again, thank you for sending this to me. Now I will be a sparkling water snob and ONLY drink Soliss. Of course, this means I won’t be drinking Soliss until I find my way to Europe.
Chuck – Trader Joe’s…Yeah, that’s another store we need here. As for Aquafina, I agree with you. The soft drink companies should stick to what they do best.
Megan – I find it unfair that water there is cheaper than water here, and I’m frickin’ surrounded by water. Oh wait, I can’t drink the water that surrounds me.
SEV – I speak the truth. Also, while you’re getting yourself a bottle, can you pick me up a bottle of the Strawberry and Banana Soliss and ship it here. Only kidding.
birdwoman – Since Aquafina is part of the Pepsi Corporation, I’m just waiting for Coke to come out with their version of Aquafina Sparkling. So you may get your wish a whole lot earlier.
Damon – If you put all the sparkling water together, then, yes, the Impulsive Buy is still better. But one-on-one with the Soliss, it totally kicks the Impulsive Buy’s ass.
akiko – Hey! Never judge a book by its cover. Or a quasi-product review blog editor by his hairy chest.
Coke already has Dasani sparkling, it’s horrible too.
No, pear and ginger flavoring in water just sounds ga-ross to me. Maybe it’s me. I don’t like that Fruit 2-O crap,either. Now put some carbonation in there and you’ve got a product!
OOPs, it IS carbonated. I still stick by the pear and ginger thing being gross!
Oh no! I got all excited when I saw this one, because it sounds so good! Now you tell me I can’t get it here? Where am I going to get me a German friend?! 🙂
And remember, “SPARKLING WATER” is an anagram for “A PRANK WETS GIRL”.
I have no idea what that means.
mmmmm, it sounds exotic!!!
kat – Oh, must torture myself and find Dasani sparkling water…
nat – The ginger part sounded kind of gross, but luckily there wasn’t a whole lot of it.
Christine – Or if you have a friend in the UK.
kaos – Another anagram, “A SNARK TWERP GIL.” I don’t know what that means either.
Webmiztris – Actually, is sounds kind of European, maybe French-Canadian.
This has probably been asked before, but how do you do those product pictures?
TheInfamousJ – After I take the photo with my digital camera, I open it up in Adobe Photoshop. I have a Photoshop plugin called Knockout from Corel (www.corel.com), which allows me to “knockout” the background. Knockout gets rid of most of the background, but I almost always have to do some cleaning up in Photoshop. After I’m done cleaning it up, I shrink the picture size to something reasonable in Photoshop, so it doesn’t take forever to appear in a browser. Hope this answers your question.
Ooooo yay, new sparkling water. My favorite is Voss, which as far as I can tell, can only be purchased at Neiman Marcus for a damn pretty penny. I must try to get my grubby hands on some Soliss!
lakitu – Voss…Now that’s some expensive stuff in a pretty bottle, which I think is the reason why it’s so expensive.
i should say i agree with all your comments about Aquafina’s water products. bleh! seriously, I can get the same thing by chewing on pennies from my grandpa’s overall pockets.
now that your sparkling water aversion has *somewhat* been lifted, I recently found Market Pantry Naturally Flavored Sparking Water. Only $0.59 per 1 liter. Mmm mmm good. Espcially the white grape flavor.
moosigal – 59 cents for a one liter bottle! It scares me that it’s that cheap.