Comment by goldenkey | Hacker News Reader

Comment by goldenkey | Hacker News Reader

I have no stake in coconut water but I've tried them all.

Here's my breakdown:

Goya and those other cheap canned brands usually have sugar added and are heavily pasteurized to preserve.

Out of O.N.E, Vita, and Zico, O.N.E. is the best. Often times Vita has the sour potassium taste from overaging, and Zico is somewhat bland.

Now, here's the deal breaker, all of the above coconut waters are total trash compared to RAW coconut water. When coconut water is heated, it destroys the delicious taste. Coconut water naturally should look glowing pink.

There are two brands of raw coconut water. Copra and Harmless Harvest. I couldn't put my finger on it but Harmless Harvest had a slightly weird aftertaste. ( I bought a case so it wasn't just a mishap with a single carton.) Copra consistently delivered and I found myself drinking way too many because they're so tasty.

Until you try Copra or indigenous fresh Thai coconut water you're missing out. And I know this sounds like an ad, but I seriously have tried every coconut water and I'm just spreading the information. Cheers

My family owns a coconut plantation in Fiji and we've been in the copra business for over a century.

I've never seen pink coconut water.

I live in the Philippines. Drink coconuts every day. If the coconut is really young the water can have a pinkish beige hue. You usually want to drink the coconut a week or so after that though (when there's a bit of young coconut meat/gel formed inside), but by then the water is clear again.

So does the pink hue mean the coconut water is super fresh from young coconuts? (maybe too fresh?)

Go to Whole Foods when you have a chance and you should see some in the Harmless Harvest bottles.

Do you know where the pink coconut water comes from?

I drink it most every day straight from the coconut or poured into a plastic bag, and it always looks clear as water.

Harmless Harvest explains it on the bottle and their website. They suggest that it shouldn't be pink when harvested, but if it turns pink later that's natural and okay. http://harmlessharvest.com/results/coconut-water#pink

In freshly cracked coconuts, pink water can be a symptom of spoilage. This is not the case with Harmless Harvest which is completely clear when bottled.

All of our coconut water is clear when bottled. However, some bottles turn pink with time due to varying levels of antioxidants, or phenols, interacting with light. We could use additives to hide the color change, but the pink bottles are just as delicious and safe to drink as the others. Variation is a part of nature. It’s ok to be pink.

> Now, here's the deal breaker, all of the above coconut waters are total trash compared to RAW coconut water.

Can anyone tell me how it's possible to transfer coconut water from a coconut to a bottle without contaminating it with bacteria/yeast from the air? I'm a bit skeptic about it actually being raw, but I hope it's true.

Is Copra available in the US? So far the best I've had is Vita. Unfortunately sometimes it tastes great and sometimes it tastes pretty bad. For some strange reason, the smaller bottles of vita always taste bad.

I bought mine from FreshDirect. Not sure where they sell it retail but it looks like they have an email hello@coprawater.com, facebook, google+, etc so just holler at them.

Thanks for responding. I guess that its a good thing that they don't deliver to my area, ~$3 for 10 fl oz. (When you buy in bulk) is pretty steep.

Wal-Mart carries Vita Coco @ $4 for 33 fl oz. Again, the freshness seems to vary so its not as good of a product.

Right, the price is steep. The thing is that the coconut water expires much quicker because it is raw, so I'm sure that is factored into the price. Compare the price of fresh fruit to canned fruit, I'm guessing the markup will be similar. Maybe not as high since coconut water can be marked to yuppy types. Still, buy one and have a taste when you can; it's a flavor experience.

thanks for the tips! i've also sampled all the coconut waters i can find. 2 things i've come to notice...

- coconut water from thailand has a better (sweeter?) taste than from brazil.

- drinking out of steel/aluminum vs plastic containers somehow makes a difference. that could just be in my head though.

Amy & Brian's is the brand i get around here that satisfies my criteria.

will have to checkout the raw stuff though :)

Perhaps that's also why the raw ones tasted sweeter and better, they were both from Thailand. I know glass is the most inert but it doesn't seem like any of the brands sell glass bottles - pretty sure plastic would be the next best. Yeah, definitely try the raw when you can, I can't believe how awful the non-raw stuff taste in comparison - it's eye opening

Some "ethnic" (ex. Asian) stores will sell small glass bottles of it (they look like miniature coca cola bottles), sometimes the come in with chunks of coconut.

Not sure how fresh/healthy/pasteurized/sweetened they are but I seem to like those best out of the ones I tried.

Can't even tell you the brand. There were two that had the same packaging and one tasted better.

And yes, it was sweeter.

Another vote for Amy & Brian brand, FWIW.

Don't miss a chance to taste raw coconut water, it is awesome. None of these packaged stuff (at least the ones I've tried) is anything close to the raw one.

Drinking out of clay cups - that tastes even better than steel :)

Aluminium cans have plastic lining. The difference that you notice could be smell from the outside of the can as your nose is in close proximity to it. Do a blind test with the drinks poured into glassware.

Blue Monkey coconut water is the best IMO. Haven't had ONE though.

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