Target Unboxed: Vitamin Water

I drink approximately 5 bottles of vitamin water a week. Basically, I have one bottle a day as part of my breakfast in lieu of coffee. Even though I do add some non-fat milk and sugar to my coffee, it has fewer calories. Vitamin Water has, well, vitamins, so even though it does have some sugar and carbs, it's still better overall. I have also tried the SoBe Life Water, but it tastes way too sugary for me to drink regularly.

Price : Vitamin Water costs $1.39 and the Market Pantry Vitamin Enhanced Water Beverage costs $0.99, so Market Pantry is 29% cheaper. That doesn't seem like a lot, but with all the Vitamin Water I buy, that is a savings of $100 a year. Then again, Vitamin Water does go on sale every now and then for $1 a bottle at Target, Gelson's and Ralph's.

Nutrition :Vitamin Water is my breakfast drink and so I do care a little about the nutrition here. I take a Centrum everyday though, so it's not going to be a huge deal.

I was actually surprised there was so much difference here. If they are going to copy Vitamin Water, you think they would care about the nutrition. Calories, fat, sugar, and carbs are the same, but Market Pantry does have a lot of sodium. I say a "lot" because it is more than Vitamin Water, but only about 2% of the recommended value for a bottle.

The biggest nutritional difference is in the vitamins. Vitamin Water packs twice the B vitamins, although the Market Pantry showcases some other vitamin additives. Overall I'm guessing the differences between one or the other is not going to have any sort of impact on my over nutrition.

Taste : This is always the biggest challenge with generic brands, and this is also no different. It's clear market pantry didn't try to emulate the taste of Vitamin Water for very long. I tried both the lemonade and citrus flavors of Market Pantry, and there is not that much difference between the two. It tastes like they both started life as lemon-lime Gatorade and mixed with that not-freshly-squeezed lemonade-ish drink some restaurants and gas stations serve.

Intangibles : Vitamin water does have a nifty little story on the side of their bottles, but the novelty wears off after the first or second bottle.

Overall : The winner in this battle is...Vitamin Water. The biggest thing here was the taste, which is of course a matter of preference, but I hate the aftertaste of that fake lemonade stuff. I would still try Market Pantry if they could pull off the Fruit Punch ("Revive" in Vitamin Water parlance), but Citrus ("Energy") and Lemonade are just not very good.