We Tried the New Unwell Drink from Alex Cooper: Unwell Kiwi Pineapple

Back in January, famous podcaster person Alex Cooper launched Unwell Hydration, a line of hydration drinks in three flavors: Strawberry, Mango Citrus, and Orange Hibiscus. We taste tested and liked them all. The flavors are mild without being quite as whispery as most fruit-flavored sparkling water, they’re lightly sweetened with both cane sugar and stevia, and they’re the rare hydration drinks that include caffeine (a 75 mg dose from green coffee extract) to give you a little boost without giving you jitters. And there’s already a new Unwell drink to try: Unwell Kiwi Pineapple.

I genuinely like these drinks. I like the mild flavor profiles. What makes one Unwell flavor better than the other Unwell flavors? Well, I think it comes down to personal preference, how well or unwell the flavor would make you feel after a night of being rude to your body, and, lastly, how well the flavor works with the stevia, which does have a little bit of an aftertaste.

New Product!

Unwell Kiwi Pineapple

Unwell

Pros: If you, like me, are susceptible to the positive mental effects of drinking a mildly sweet, vaguely salty, non carbonated hydration drink (i.e. that feeling you’re doing something good for yourself whether or you are), you’ll like this Unwell drink. It has electrolytes and three B-complex vitamins, and the Kiwi Pineapple flavor profile is really well suited to the experience. It’s a little bit tart and tangy, but in a way that I think goes nicely with the subtle salinity of the electrolytes. The flavor of stevia does linger just a little bit on the finish, but all in all it’s nice. It reminds me of pineapple Haribo gummy bears. It’s tropical, refreshing, and I think it’s my personal favorite Unwell flavor yet.

Cons: If you’re super sensitive to the flavor of stevia (some people really hate it!), you may not like this. Likewise, this new Unwell drink might not hit the spot if you prefer hydration drinks with bold flavors—this isn’t going to hit like a Powerade hits, if that’s what you’re used to.

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

About the Author

Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks. Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction. Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home. Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.