It’s unofficially known that all yogis drink coconut water. Well maybe it extends to all others who are engaged in any form of exercise and require rehydration but instead of electrolyte and sports drinks, yoga people usually reach for coconut water because it’s natural and yoga people tend to follow diet trends like raw, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, paleo and basically everything which advocates clean eating and sans processed food. Even if the yogi is not on any special diet, their fellow yogis would somehow introduce them to coconut water between yoga classes. Most yoga studio stocks coconut water and even when priced exorbitantly, they fly off the shelves, especially after hot classes.

Dehydration is dangerous and can lead to high fevers among many possible consequences so please do not act smart and have the common sense to hydrate well before and after every hot class (definitely more than you would drink on a normal day), especially if it’s Hot Flow or Bikram Yoga.

Keeping it cool with a cooler bag and ice packs I bought from Daiso. It actually worked very well to chill room temperature drinks to refrigerator kind of cold.

While the real deal is no doubt the best, you can’t deny that it can be tricky to chop open the coconut without a parang and a lot of courage. For sure I will be helpless when given an unopened coconut and may resort to using a drill instead. Therefore, I decided I can compromise a bit of the taste and settle for packaged coconut water. Definitely the taste of a fresh young coconut is unparalleled but the packaged sort isn’t too bad either. Besides, the purpose of drinking it is not entirely for the taste so a little compromise won’t hurt!

Coconut water is most well known for being a good choice of beverage for rehydration and it’s way better than other commercial drinks because it doesn’t contain added sugar, colouring and those evil stuff. It is also rich in minerals like potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium, and calcium (which you would want to replenish after sweating buckets) and is suitable for all kinds of diet as it’s gluten free, fat free and cholesterol free.

Some people would think that coconut water is too “cooling” to the body and shouldn’t be consumed often. My personal experience is that I do not consume it unnecessarily. As mentioned, the primary purpose for the intake is for rehydration so if I’m not dehydrated I try not to have it (even though it’s so delicious…). Also, the flesh of coconut is actually “heaty” in nature so you should try to consume both. This can be in the form of ondeh ondeh and putu piring I suppose! Like everything else in life, a coconut has equal balance of yin and yang so you can’t just only have one. A balance is always good.

I shopped around for the best packaged coconut water and have since stocked up in bulk. I made sure I read the ingredient list and picked the ones which only reflected 1 ingredient – 100% coconut water. I do not consider those with added sugar as a contender.

1. O.N.E Coconut Water

This was the first packaged coconut water I tried as it used to be sold at my yoga studio. My impression of this wasn’t that good. The taste was just not fresh. The good thing though, is the Tetra Pak packaging.

*Since we have established that coconut water is taken for health purposes, it is only logical to use the safest packaging for it. Tetra Pak is better than plastic bottles or cans because it’s BPA free and yoga people advocate being BPA free.

2. Wong Coco

I first tried this after the hottest Bikram Yoga class in my life at BYK. I needed coconut water badly and this was what they sold. It is packaged in a can which wasn’t too ideal but taste wise it’s pretty good, really flavourful. Coconut flesh bits are also included in this one.

3. Just Picked CoCoWater

My yoga studio sells this and while I think it does taste more pleasant than ONE coconut water, the taste was too bland. The tetra pak packaging is ideal but being 330ml only, it’s barely enough.

4. Coco Max

This one can be easily found at convenience stores and everywhere. It is the most readily available one among the 5. The taste is quite strong which is good. However, it’s sold in plastic bottles.

5. UFC Refresh

I first gave this a shot because a promoter was at my usual supermarket promoting it with samples and after a sip I found that the taste was actually pleasant, and the price was unbeatable! It was so good it’s hard to believe it’s 100% coconut water especially since the product name sounds kind of suspicious to me. The packaging was in the perfect size, in Tetra Paks. They have a bigger 1L version too which is good to keep at home. I wouldn’t bring that out for yoga because it’s too heavy and who drinks 1L of coconut water at once?!?!

Here’s an easier comparison of the 5:

While Wong Coco and Cocomax are good price and taste wise, the packaging is less ideal. Just Picked CoCoWater and O.N.E Coconut Water has good packaging but not so ideal with the taste and price factors. UFC emerges as the overall winner for me!