With summer coming, now’s the perfect time to cool off with a coconut water… Not sure which coconut water brand to pick? Nutritionist and GoodnessMe Box Health Editor Melissa Fine shares her coconut water criteria.
1) Taste
Not all coconut waters are created equal in the flavour department, try a range of bottled/tetra-pak coconut waters on the market and you’ll find that some are sweeter, some more bitter, some fresher, and some more coconutty.
Gourmet Traveller conducted a blind taste-test of 12 different coconut waters on the market, alongside a fresh coconut for control purposes; Here a wine writer, restaurant critic and staff writer gave each coconut water a score out of 30, based on its taste as well as texture, colour and aroma*. Coming in second to and close behind the fresh coconut was Nakula coconut water. Said wine writer Mike Bennie, “That smells like a coconut…It’s got a bit of texture to it that I quite like.”
2) Organic Certification
This will mean the coconut water you’re drinking comes from a coconut that hasn’t been sprayed with artificial fertilisers and that it’s packaging is free from synthetic chemicals…Better for you and the environment.
3) A Coconut with a Conscience
With the countless brands of coconut water on the market, why not choose one that cares about its place in the bigger picture? Nakula works with the Planet Water Foundation on a range of projects around Asia, supplying fresh drinking water to impoverished communities.
Says Tony Lemarseny, CEO of Nakula on the first project he attended (in 2011) at a high school in Cambodia, “This area is in one of the poorer districts of this beautiful country, but over the years the water table has become polluted by such chemicals as arsenic. The project involved the boring of a new well and the construction and implementation of a new water tower and filtering system.
“…Over a few days the system was completed and operational. At the end of our last day the students assembled and a number of local dignitaries arrived and thanked Nakula for its generous donation. A religious ceremony was then held at which I was blessed by Buddhist monks, [a very emotional experience. Then] the water was turned on. The kids surrounded the water tower and started filling their cups from the taps at its base.”
To find out more about Nakula Certified Organic Coconut Water go to: www.nakula.com.au
*Source: http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/food-news-features/2014/2/coconut-water-taste-test.