Ocean Spray PACt Cranberry Extract Water

When I was in Michigan a few weeks ago, I got my hands on a few of Ocean Spray's new Cranberry Extract Waters from a Target near one of the airports...can't remember which one. The odd name comes from the word proanthocyanidins, or PACs for short, which are a class of polyphenols found in cranberries, the main ingredient of the PACt waters...get it? Supposedly these waters are supposed to help cleanse and purify your body better than water alone. But all I want to know is - how do these taste?

Cranberry Mango Passion Fruit

The mango here is predominant in the aroma and in the taste. Right after the initial mango hit, you get a medium-rich cranberry flavor that fills the middle and end of each sip. The cranberry portion is just a touch tart near the end to give you a clean finish. The passion fruit is very subtle and I didn't get very much of it until near the finish.

Taste - 8.2/10

Cranberry Pomegranate

The pomegranate dominates the aroma and the finish of this flavor. The cranberry base is dominant at the start of each sip but quickly gives way to the tart pomegranate notes. Very  interestingly balanced taste. Both flavors are tart, giving this beverage a rather dry finish.

Taste - 7.8/10

Cranberry Raspberry

This one has a very nice sweet raspberry-heavy aroma with a good amount of cranberries. The taste is very similar with sweet, ripe raspberries upfront, followed by a moderately tart cranberry notes. The aftertaste has a medium sweetness and carries a raspberry-heavy tone.

Taste - 8.5/10

Overall Impressions

Unlike other flavored waters, all of these flavors were very intense and I would be more inclined to call them soft drinks...or whatever, but not waters.

The one disappointing thing about this water is the heavy sweetener presence in the aftertaste. Yes, these are waters and yes they are flavored, so in order to get some intensity, depth and flavor profile something needs to be added in addition to the natural flavors. I get it, but the sweeteners took the experience down a few notches for me.