I've not quit drinking (yet), but have thought the same thing. My go to just to get a nice fizzy drink has been the absolute best carbonated water around, Topo Chico. It's from Mexico and has a cult following down here in TX and isn't quite ubiquitous all over the USA even though they were bought by Coke a while back, but the carbonation is like 2x of any soda I've ever drunk and is extremely refreshing when consumed super cold.

Their lime flavor is my favourite:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61lzGXV15AL._SL1500_.jpg

Heads up, Topo Chico has the highest levels of PFAS of all carbonated water drinks tested by Consumer Reports:

https://www.consumerreports.org/bottled-water/whats-really-i...

PPT PFAS for various brands:

1.1 - Perrier Natural Sparkling Mineral Water

1.16 - La Croix Natural Sparkling Water

1.24 - Canada Dry Lemon Lime Sparkling Seltzer Water

1.66 - Poland Spring Zesty Lime Sparkling Water

2.24 - Bubly Blackberry Sparkling Water

6.41 - Polar Natural Seltzer Water

9.76 - Topo Chico Natural Mineral Water

(brands that are <1PPT in link)

Thanks for the link. Interesting that PFAS are so much more common in sparkling water vs. flat water. It must be leaching from the equipment used to carbonate or otherwise process the water - possibly facilitated in part by the fact that carbonated water is slightly acidic.

Makes me also remember that there is PFAS in all kinds of food processing equipment that we know very little about. For example, in the US pasta extruders are coated with Teflon and who knows how often or how well that coating is maintained. (In Europe the pasta extruders are not Teflon-coated by regulation)

What I don't get about the article is if there is a difference between glass, plastic, and aluminum cans. I would assume the article is going over plastic bottles but around here most TopoChico options come in glass.

Aluminum cans have a polymer liner.

Topo Chico is simply the best. If you haven't tried it, go get you some as soon as possible. I buy it buy the case as does my workplace.

I usually have a couple cases in my place at any time. I just wish it was cheaper. It's a bit stupid that a 24 pack of Coke costs ~$8, but 24 Topo's cost ~$20.

On the subject of carbonated water, does anyone know why all the Mediterranean lunch restaurants I went to pre-pandemic had plenty of San Pelegrino Blood Orange, but I can never find it at any store? Is there some worry about “blood” in the name that prevents stores from carrying it?

Doubtful. I've seen it in most Californian supermarkets.

Just an FYI, these have as much sugar as a regular ol' can of Coke at ~30g.

Data point: here in Boston suburbs every supermarket has it.

But their grapefruit flavor is numero uno... it's always sold out as a result. If you can find it, buy it. Drink it.

the lime flavor is good, I swear you could be fooled thinking it was a corona with lime in a blindfold taste test

For anyone that's interested in how to make a transition to sparkling mineral water without all the single-use plastic waste, the answer is to DIY.

Making a DIY force-carbonation rig is trivial and costs around $100 upfront: https://www.seriouseats.com/pros-cons-diy-carbonation-rig

Cloning mineral waters is also easy enough to do: https://khymos.org/2012/01/04/mineral-waters-a-la-carte/

I've been doing this for a while and have had great results. Even if you're not tee-totaling, it's still a fine investment for cocktails and DIY alcoholic seltzers.

For those that don't mind paying a bit more there's of course non-DIY solutions that do the same. We went all out and bought a Quooker with our new kitchen: boiling water, cold and filtered water, and carbonated water. Of course it helps that here in the Netherlands, the tap water is basically mineral water.

It's a luxury, but we really love it.

Depending on your exact location it's only like mineral water if you don't mind the limescale.

For the articles above making your own hop water is very easy as well. Just soak some hops in room temp water and throw in fridge overnight. Toss in a little lemon juice, and carbonate. Could even use tea.

Will need to play with the amount of hops, but it's cheap.

Do you not have SodaStream in the US?

A larger tank (filling a 5lb tank off a 50lb tank) uses less time and money than exchanging 1lb canisters. It also has the ancillary benefit of supporting local welding supply companies and brewing stores than foreign corporations and big box stores.

I don't know if I'd want to consume anything from a welding shop.

This is a valid concern. I did years of homebrew beer before I learned there is food grade and non-food grade CO2. You should not be using non-food grade to carbonate water or beer. It can have oils and other residue in it.

you can also wrench open a sodastream canister, buy a 3lb block of dry ice from a grocery store for $4, crush it, and pour the crumbs into the canister. Youtube has tutorial videos.

The article alleges that sodastreams produce weaker fizz than commercial carbonated water.

I personally haven't found that to be the case, but it seems like there's dozens of sodastream models and maybe I happened on a good one.

My experience is the opposite across a range of models, I always go relatively conservative otherwise it feels like drinking nails.

I've found that I prefer tonic water and lime over every NA beer I've tried so far (which all have an overpoweringly dull bitter aftertaste). Currently looking for a less sugary tonic water and considering quinine or tonic syrup.

You should try tonic syrups. I love them as you can adjust the water:syrup ratio to your taste, and mix and match syrups and waters. My impression (correct or not) is also that there's more tonic syrups out there than bottled tonic water, so a lot of choice (at least last time I looked). Finally, the syrup concentrates take up a lot less space in the refrigerator.

The only tricky part for me was figuring out what ratio of water:syrup to go with for any given brand, but that isn't too difficult.

I've thought about making my own syrup, as I'm a lifelong tonic water fan, and make a lot of other things myself, but haven't wanted to mess with it.

There's relatively dry tonics on the market now too, but nothing will get you to quite the same place as the syrups.

Thanks, if you have any recommendations on tonic syrups or bitters to try out I'm interested to hear them.

I liked this site:

https://www.onlybitters.com/tonics/

I'm probably not the best person to ask for favorites as I tend to like almost all the tonic waters and syrups I've tried (except for diet ones).

When I'm out I drink 'Alton Browns' - soda water with bitters.

The next step is to drop sparkling water for regular water. There is no particular difference when you are thirsty, and bubbles have some adverse effects, some say.

That "some say" is doing a lot of work. Any sources?

No sources beyond pseudo-sciences... according to my first page of googling.

I don't know about adverse effects, but I've always considered the environmental impact of sparkling water. I still don't get why some people are unaccustomed to the taste of just water.

For me it's not so much about being unaccustomed to the taste of pure water, as much as it just looking for variety in life.

What environmental impact?

AFIAK bubbled water is acidic and it can hurt mucous membranes.

People drink more than just water for the same reason they don't eat the same thing for every meal, every day.

No thanks. I like my water spicy.