Waterloo – Pi-ño Colada

Another in the new(ish—again, this was last summer!) Waterloo non-alcoholic series (I don’t want to say “mocktail” or cocktail—neither accurate). It’s best to just be specific—this is a non-alcoholic sparkling water flavored to emulate a cocktail, specifically the Piña Colada—traditionally a mixture of pineapple, coconut, and rum. One of my favorite high-school-age drinks—I especially enjoyed them at the beach! Another excellent maximalist can—yellow, white, and metallic tan—images of pineapples, coconuts, sliced coconuts with a cocktail umbrella, palm trees, some kind of flower, and cocktail glasses with umbrellas. They’re totally overdoing it, but I like it (along with the cute name). Also, a couple of badges boldly proclaiming: “NON Alcoholic.” I was, however, literally dreading tasting this one. Why? Because I’ve had some dreadful pineapple coconut concoction waters in the recent past (don’t remember which). So, imagine my surprise—totally delicious! It really is. And it really does remind me of a Piña Colada. It’s the closet I’ve come since I quit drinking last century. I’m starting to think Waterloo is king of the complex flavors. All three of these new (again, last summer) ones are fine. My quick estimation of what they did right is: underplayed the rum (I don’t know if I taste any rum, but maybe a hint—yeah, must be) and then the coconut is much more prominent than the pineapple—it’s real coconutty—and it’s a good coconut flavor. But it’s the right proportions of all the flavors—a real triumph in the fake cocktail world.

No. 120 – 8.28.25