Jon Drinks Water #8996 The 15 Best Designed Water Bottles

"Jon Drinks Water #8996 The 15 Best Designed Water Bottles" is a bottle-design ranking video (no tasting) from Jon Drinks Water, episode #8996 of the series.

The 15 Best Designed Water Bottles: a bottle-design ranking only. No water was tasted in this video.

Featured waters

Aqua Carpatica, Blk, Boulevard Sparkling Natural Spring, bubly Canned Sparkling Water, Fred, Icelandic Glacial, Liquid Death, Mister Flav Peach Mango (variant note), Reusable Simple Bottle, Starkey Spring Water.

What Jonathan decided

design-only ranking (no tasting): Liquid Death's thick aluminum can ("rock solid... feels like a baseball bat... luxury product"); Boulevard "very high-end bottle... feel fancy just carrying this around"; Aqua Carpatica "feels like a big fancy vodka bottle"; BLK "very black... enjoy the dark side"

Aqua Carpatica

Menchie's beat it in round three, and Hawaiian Springs won the whole round. In the design episode, he never tasted it at all. He just liked that it "feels like a big fancy vodka bottle."

About Aqua Carpatica

Aqua Carpatica is a premium Romanian mineral water from protected springs in the Carpathian Mountains, founded in 2010 by Jean Valvis. It is virtually nitrate-free, very low sodium, naturally alkaline, and has won over 53 international taste awards. PepsiCo bought a 20% stake in 2022.

Blk

The FulHum matchup was a taste tie, and he gave it to blk for less sodium, lower price, and FulHum's dented bottles. Then Blue Can beat it in round three because the aluminum taste was less strong than the sweet fulvic acid taste. In the design episode he never tasted it, just said "very black... enjoy the dark side."

About Blk

blk. was founded in 2011 in Southern California by sisters Jacqueline and Louise Wilkie. The black color comes from fulvic acid minerals infused into spring water through a patented "Fulvic Fusion" process. It is alkaline at pH 8+, with zero calories, sugar, or carbs.

Boulevard Sparkling Natural Spring

Jonathan is a still-water guy at heart, and that is what decided this one. He gave both waters two thumbs up, then handed the win to the still LYTph simply because he prefers his water without bubbles. His other note was the price tag, and at $25 a bottle you can see why that stung.

About Boulevard Sparkling Natural Spring

Research could not pin down a standalone Boulevard sparkling water brand. The closest match is Quirk Spiked and Sparkling, the spiked seltzer line of Boulevard Brewing Company's side-hustle in Kansas City, Missouri. It is possible Jonathan's bottle was a misremembered or obscure local label, so the brand record is a bit of a mystery.

bubly Canned Sparkling Water

Nothing to sip in this appearance, just a design review. The episode crowned Liquid Death's thick aluminum can as the champ, with BLVD, Aqua Carpatica, and BLK earning praise too, and bubly was part of the 15-bottle lineup.

About bubly Canned Sparkling Water

bubly, with the lowercase branding, is PepsiCo's sparkling water line launched in February 2018 to take on LaCroix. It is just carbonated water plus natural flavors, no sugar or artificial sweeteners, and it is famous for playful packaging with a greeting on every tab and little personal messages on the cans.

Fred

A funny little Brooklyn water sold in flat pocket flasks, and it beat the sparkling stuff because I just prefer my water still. Both got a sideways thumb from me, which is my way of saying neither one blew my mind, but Fred edged it out. It also showed up in #8996 as one of the best designed bottles, because that flask shape really is a looker.

About Fred

Fred Water was an indie natural spring water brand out of Brooklyn that sold its water in flat, pocket-friendly flasks you could carry like a phone. They even sold empty flasks and encouraged people to refill them with tap water to cut down on plastic waste, which is a pretty cool idea. The brand peaked around 2014 and is not widely available anymore.

Icelandic Glacial

I called it the clear winner against Eternal, which I found a little dirty and plasticky. It then won rounds three and four before finishing third in round five behind Starkey and Summit Springs. In #8996 it was judged on bottle design only, and I never tasted it there.

About Icelandic Glacial

Icelandic Glacial comes from the Olfus Spring in Hlidarendi, Iceland, formed over 4,500 years ago and shielded by lava rock. Founded in 2004 by Jon Olafsson, it is bottled at a geothermally powered facility and was the world's first CarbonNeutral-certified bottled water. Naturally alkaline at pH 8.4, it won Best Water of 2007 from BevNET. Anheuser-Busch InBev took a 20% stake in 2007 and became its exclusive US distributor.

Liquid Death

This one was judged on bottle design only, he never tasted it here. And honestly the can earned its spot: thick aluminum, rock solid, feels like a baseball bat. A luxury product. It looks like a beer and murders your thirst, or at least that is the pitch.

About Liquid Death

Liquid Death is canned water from Supplying Demand, Inc., founded by former Netflix creative director Mike Cessario and launched in January 2019 out of Los Angeles. The still water comes from the Austrian Alps, the branding is heavy metal ("Murder Your Thirst"), and the mission is #DeathToPlastic. It hit a $1.4 billion valuation in 2024, and 10% of profits go to anti-plastic-pollution and clean-water nonprofits.

Mister Flav Peach Mango (variant note)

This one was judged on bottle design only, he never tasted it here. It made the 15 best-designed bottles list on looks alone.

About Mister Flav Peach Mango (variant note)

Mr Flav is a flavored aerated water from Flav, Inc.: triple-filtered reverse-osmosis carbonated water with fruit essences, sweetened with levulose and acesulfame-K. The 12 oz Peach Mango has about 80 calories and 20g of sugar. It is a small, regional brand sold at specialty and exotic soda shops.

Reusable Simple Bottle

This one was judged on bottle design only, he never tasted it here.

About Reusable Simple Bottle

Not a water brand at all. The entry was just him drinking from a reusable Simple bottle during the design episode.

Starkey Spring Water

This was one of the great tournament runs. Starkey won five straight comparisons, including round 6 in the 5,000th episode, where he gave it ten thumbs up and had already predicted it might make the finals. In the #9000 final it finished runner-up to Hawaiian Springs, with Table Rock third.

About Starkey Spring Water

Starkey comes from an ancient single-source geothermal spring in Council, Idaho, rising from two miles deep through basalt fractures, protected for 11,000 years. It emerges at 132 degrees, is treated with UV light only, and has a pH of 9.6. It is sold at Whole Foods nationwide in glass and BPA-free PET.