Ever get water-paralysis at 7-Eleven? All these bottles claiming to contain the exact same thing but with different labels and prices…but do they really? Is there a difference between them? We decided to get to the bottom of this slippery issue with one of our legendary taste tests (blind tasting by a panel, seven experts strong) on eight bottles of the most essential, most life-sustaining, most indispensable element: H20.

Namthip

Price: B5.5 / 0.6L
The label: “A quality product of The Coca-Cola Company” reads this yawner (complete with the usual consumer hotlines and stereotypical blue wavy watery designs).
The taste: Relatively low marks all around. It had a funny smell, and the taste wasn’t much better. Maybe yucky water is their way of getting us to drink more Coke.

PureLife

Price: B5.5 / 0.6L
The label: The label on this one is very busy—there’s a big “0.6L” box, two consumer hotlines, a website and a lot of chat (“Did you know your brain is 85% water?”). Hey, no need to be insulting.
The taste: It tastes “pure,” in one expert’s words, and we swear this was a blind test. All in all, it garnered no complaints.

Singha

Price: B6 / 0.5L
The label: Not much going on. Fine if you like lions, we suppose.
The taste: Just like the label, there’s really not much to this water. We tasted, then tried and tried to think of something, anything, to no avail. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. No taste = perfect for whisky.

Aura

Price: B8 / 0.6L - Most Expensive!
The label: Tipco’s water is “100% Natural Cold Spring Mineral Water” from Mae Rim mountain. There’s a whole speech on what a great, natural place that is. But read the find print: close inspection of the list of minerals (no amounts here either) reveals no zinc (which is good for you), but it does have silica (pretty harmless), chloride (chlorine) and nitrate (a common and potentially harmful water contaminant).
The taste: Slightly sweet, but otherwise OK.

Green Fresh

Price: B5 / 0.5L
The label: It has a slick diagram with Green Fresh’s four-step purification process.
The taste: Green Fresh may be a bit too purified (if that’s possible). Tastes like what you’d get from a water dispenser.

Minere

Price: B6.5 / 0.5L
The label: It’s a Nestle product that looks imported but is only “guaranteed by Perrier Vittel France.” The source is in Pho Sam Ton. Eight minerals are listed, but, again, no amounts.
The taste: A full-bodied, mineral taste that was very satisfying. This water could even stand up to Isaan food, one taster claimed. - Best Tasting!

Crystal

Price: B5.5 / 0.6L
The label: Giant “Crystal” logos with splashing water make it clear this product is water, period.
The taste: Melted ice with a touch of swimming pool.

TOPS

Price: B5 / 0.6L - Cheapest!
The label: There’s a fancy picture of a leaf with fat drops of water on it. The use of green is a nice break from the usual blue and white, and the fonts are pretty slick. Processed by ultraviolet and ozone, whatever that means.
The taste: It’s cheap, it’s pretty, and it’s by far and without a doubt our least favorite—bitter, tap-like, and similar to those milky six baht bottles. You could just see our experts’ faces scrunching up at the very first sip. -Yukkiest too!