Water That’s Less Boring

Published on Tuesday, December 22, 2009, by James Norton / Edit Post

Metromint Chocolatemint Water

Metromint Chocolatemint Water

I Paid: $1.59 for a 16.9-ounce bottle (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 5 stars

Marketing: 2 stars

Chocolate seems like a stupid thing to add to water, which is already basically the perfect beverage. Adding mint on top of that seems like compounding the error. Yet even though Metromint’s Chocolatemint flavored water does exactly that, the result is startlingly tasty.

The healthy beverage has three ingredients: purified water, mint, and cocoa essence. Sidestepping the whole “bottled water is Satan” thing for a moment, that’s a pretty clean and simple way to doctor up one’s water. The mint lingers but isn’t aggressive or insistent, and the cocoa essence hovers almost beyond perception: It’s as though a light dusting of cocoa powder settled in the bottle just as it was being sealed. There’s no artificial sweetness (nor any sweeteners at all), no calories, and no hint of syrup or thickness.

The bottle claims a “chill factor” of “-2° (quietly cool),” part of a marketing gimmick wherein each one of Metromint’s flavored drinks claims a different peg on the Metromint cool-o-meter (or whatever it’s called). And it might be marketing working on me, but the drink does somehow taste colder than refrigerated water.

Laughable on the surface but deftly executed, Chocolatemint is a minor triumph of beverage engineering. It’s a drink worth exploring if you’re the type of person who’s bored by plain water but balks at consuming extra calories or questionable chemicals.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster column, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook. His wife, Becca Dilley, takes the photographs for Supertaster. She specializes in weddings and food photography, and is the coauthor of and photographer for the book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers.

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POST A COMMENT |19 Comments

COMMENT

  • Why did you delete my comment explaining that recycling a water bottle does little to alleviate the pollution associated with that bottle of water, since most of it is in travel?

  • JENN- it's not available in Canada- only peppermint and spearmint are: I buy cases from Nestor's in Surrey, but I think Whole Foods carries it as well. I LOVE Metromint and had a case of Chocomint shipped to a friend in Portland who brought it across the border for me.

    The taste of Chocomint is much like an After 8- but not nearly as sweet. Imagine eating an After 8 and immediately chasing it...+READ

    JENN- it's not available in Canada- only peppermint and spearmint are: I buy cases from Nestor's in Surrey, but I think Whole Foods carries it as well. I LOVE Metromint and had a case of Chocomint shipped to a friend in Portland who brought it across the border for me.

    The taste of Chocomint is much like an After 8- but not nearly as sweet. Imagine eating an After 8 and immediately chasing it with a big sip of water.-COLLAPSE

  • cool! where can you get this, though??
    i've never seen it anywhere here in vancouver!

    -jenn-

  • There's only one way to drink this beverage, and that's from the gold-plated skull of my enemies. Until then I'll just make do with a glass of cold tap water and a Hershey's bar.

  • I am a mint fan, so my mother passed Metromint to me last year, but the peppermint was WAY too strong for my taste. She loves it. The "chill factor" indicator is accurate, at least in my experience. The chocolate mint sounds like it may be milder, so I think I'll have to give this a second try.

  • If they made chocolate by itself I'd at least try it, since one of my favorite treats is chocolate accompanied by ice-cold water (I don't know, they're just good together). But mint? No way, hate the stuff. More for the rest of you guys, though!

  • "In that case, though, why not just drink some juice or tea?!"

    Or why not drink this? Juice has calories. I'm not a big fan of tea. I like this stuff. What's the problem? I drink "plain" water too. This is just a change of pace.

    Ratgirlagogo—great idea. I wish they'd get into the carbonation racket because whatever it is with their flavoring, it's so much better than that in flavored sparkling...+READ

    "In that case, though, why not just drink some juice or tea?!"

    Or why not drink this? Juice has calories. I'm not a big fan of tea. I like this stuff. What's the problem? I drink "plain" water too. This is just a change of pace.

    Ratgirlagogo—great idea. I wish they'd get into the carbonation racket because whatever it is with their flavoring, it's so much better than that in flavored sparkling waters, even the ones that don't also have artificial sweetener.-COLLAPSE

  • This sounds intriguing. Too expensive, but intriguing. When are they going to make chocolate mint seltzer? Because that I would buy, overpriced or not.

  • I thought it was pretty silly myself before I actually tried it. I was (figuratively) dying of thirst while walking around. The corner store was running a promotion, so MetroMint Peppermint was the cheapest water they had. I really enjoyed it. It was more refreshing and satisfying than plain water.

    Having said that, I don't buy it on even a semi-regular basis. When it goes on sale in a market...+READ

    I thought it was pretty silly myself before I actually tried it. I was (figuratively) dying of thirst while walking around. The corner store was running a promotion, so MetroMint Peppermint was the cheapest water they had. I really enjoyed it. It was more refreshing and satisfying than plain water.

    Having said that, I don't buy it on even a semi-regular basis. When it goes on sale in a market I'm already in, sure, a bottle or two. Otherwise, plain filtered water is enough.-COLLAPSE

  • I've never understood why anyone would want to make water taste like anything. I love water just the way it is. I guess my prejudice really just has to do with definition of terms. If you called it tea, or called it juice, I wouldn't think twice. But when I hear flavored water, I just picture someone with a very whiny voice saying "I'd be more hydrated if only water wasn't so... boring!" But...+READ

    I've never understood why anyone would want to make water taste like anything. I love water just the way it is. I guess my prejudice really just has to do with definition of terms. If you called it tea, or called it juice, I wouldn't think twice. But when I hear flavored water, I just picture someone with a very whiny voice saying "I'd be more hydrated if only water wasn't so... boring!" But people are probably drinking it for flavor and not hydration. In that case, though, why not just drink some juice or tea?!

    Apologies for that rant.-COLLAPSE

  • I'm going to join the camp of "I LOVE this stuff!" Mint is a great way to perk yourself up without caffeine. I try to have a bottle of it with me during long, boring classes.

  • When no calorie fresh minty water replaces a suger-laden soda also in a bottle, I don't see the fuss about bottles! I recycle! Metromint makes wonderful products that contribute to my health and well being. Can't get enough!

  • I love the spearmint and peppermint waters - very refreshing, and not at all sweet. (And not at all like what I can make myself with plain water and mint leaves, fresh or dried, so IMO it's worth paying for -- I buy them by the case from the MetroMint website.) I'm not so fond of the chocolate or fruit varieties, though.

  • I would agree that this product isn't boring, it's ludicrous. $1.59 for 16oz of water of any flavor, estupido!

  • I wrote about this stuff on my blog nearly 2 years ago...it's been around for awhile. This, to me, is the best flavor, so subtle and refreshing.

    Yes, LAfoodie, the chill factor has to do with the mint kick. I don't find Spearmint too strong. I don't find Peppermint too strong either—you just have to be prepared for it! But it's not like mouthwash; that stuff has artificial sweetener in it. This...+READ

    I wrote about this stuff on my blog nearly 2 years ago...it's been around for awhile. This, to me, is the best flavor, so subtle and refreshing.

    Yes, LAfoodie, the chill factor has to do with the mint kick. I don't find Spearmint too strong. I don't find Peppermint too strong either—you just have to be prepared for it! But it's not like mouthwash; that stuff has artificial sweetener in it. This doesn't.

    There's also cherry, orange, and lemon.-COLLAPSE

  • I see my constant campaigning has had a positive effect as supertaster Steve Norton has given a non-Nabisco chocolate product five dots for taste.
    I am satisfied...for now.

  • I've had the Spearmint variety and for me it was waaaay too minty.. overwhelmingly so in fact. I was disappointed because I was SO intrigued, but now that I see other, less offensive offerings, I might return to the "mint" watering hole! It seems to me the "chill factor" MetroMint speaks of is a rating system for the level of mint strength, not the temperature of the water. WOW! Peppermint rates...+READ

    I've had the Spearmint variety and for me it was waaaay too minty.. overwhelmingly so in fact. I was disappointed because I was SO intrigued, but now that I see other, less offensive offerings, I might return to the "mint" watering hole! It seems to me the "chill factor" MetroMint speaks of is a rating system for the level of mint strength, not the temperature of the water. WOW! Peppermint rates a 9 on the scale.. I'd imagine it might be like a swig of mouthwash! LOL-COLLAPSE

  • I will be looking for this! Sounds like a treat.

  • I always worry that flavoured water, without being sweetened, turns awfully bitter. As if this hint of flavour grabs the back of your tongue, and tries to yank it from your throat. However, this sounds neat, and worth a shot!