This Legally Blonde Sparkling Ice Isn’t Bending Or Snapping

Raise your hand if your mom or grandma absolutely loves Sparkling Ice. I can’t see you, but I have a feeling a few million hands just went up in the air. I don’t know exactly how this specific sparkling water brand has infatuated all the maternal figures in my life, but Sparkling Ice has a stranglehold on a specific audience comparable to the almighty Diet Coke.

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Unlike that particular titan of soda fountains and coolers alike, Sparkling Ice isn’t under a major corporate umbrella you’d recognize at first glance. Outside the drink that brings us here today, Talking Rain Beverage Company produces Popwell prebiotic sodas and Talking Rain sparkling waters… and that’s it. From my perspective, Sparkling Ice is really keeping the lights on over there.

These lightly-carbonated drinks contain no sugar, no caffeine, no artificial dyes, and a host of approachable flavors at a reasonable price; my local Kroger regularly runs these 17oz bottles for a dollar each. I’ve tried plenty of the originals, plus their caffeinated and energy variants. (Speaking of approachable, their 16oz canned “Caffeine” line contains 50-70mg of caffeine per can while their 12oz canned “Energy” line contains 160mg per can–something for everyone.) The brand has even dipped into collaborative flavor packs based on Cuties mandarins or candies like Starburst and Life Savers.

Today, I’ve got my hands on what I believe to be the first Sparkling Ice flavor based on a film franchise… sort of. Prime Video produced a prequel series to Legally Blonde that I’m not sure anyone asked for. You know how Legally Blonde is this great, concise top-to-bottom story where Elle ends up in such a different place from the beginning of the film? Let’s find out what happens before all that character development. Here’s hoping the drink tastes better than the idea of the show.

‘Elle: From The World of Legally Blonde’ Guava Passionfruit Sparkling Ice Review

New Sparkling Ice Drink!

Pros: Like every other fruit-flavored Sparkling Ice I’ve had, this is very authentic. While you’ll come to find out my problems with this particular combination of fruits, my ever-willing taste-testers were all fans of this semisweet fruit refreshment.

Cons: I’m not the biggest guava fan, so the accuracy here is not the biggest positive for me. Adding (again, authentic!) passionfruit delivers a slight tropical funk that has me wondering why Sparkling Ice thought nailing this pairing would be as easy as getting into Harvard Law. It isn’t bad in the slightest; it’s just not really for me.

Like all Sparkling Ice flavors, I think you should follow your heart based on the flavor rather than the corporate tie-in. (Call me crazy, but Elle Woods deserved a Strawberry Bubblegum or Cotton Candy.)

Credit: Griffin Parker / Talking Rain

Rating:

6.5/10

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