Sometimes Foodie: Bowl & Basket Shop Rite Seltzer Party! 6 different flavors!

6 Flavors of Shop Rite Bowl & Basket Seltzer

When compared to Aldi and La Croix, Bowl & Basket finds itself somewhere in the middle in terms of variety. La Croix opts for fancier, more exotic offerings, like Limoncello and Hibiscus, where Aldi sticks to citrus fruits for the most part. But what Aldi lacks in variety, they make up for in consistency. Of their main flavors, I don't think there is a dud in the bunch. I decided to grab a bottle of Bowl & Basket lemon lime, to have a better basis of comparison to my go-to Aldi seltzers, but otherwise grabbed new flavors I have yet to experience in seltzer form. I'm pretty excited to see how these taste (and to add a bit of variety to my bubbly sipping.)

Black Cherry - oof, this is exactly what I didn't want it to be. This tastes like Luden's cough drops. As a kid, cherry throat drops were something to look forward to, as an adult? Not so much. Very disappointed in this flavor, hopefully the others are better. I'll finish it, because I am cheap, stubborn, and hate wasting food, but I'm not happy about it.

Cherry Vanilla - The cherry flavoring is still not great, but it is significantly better here. It's less cough drop, more Dr.'s office lollipop, and the vanilla is pleasant and almost creamy. If this is any indication, Bowl & Basket does a decent vanilla. I don't think I would buy this particular flavor again, but it makes me want to try their plain vanilla version.
Watermelon - Not at all what I expected. When opened, it smelled awesome, like watermelon Gushers, with a hint of extra fakeness, but when I took a sip, it was kind of like.. fake watermelon rind? Which isn't as off-putting as it sounds. It's kind of refreshing, like a summery take on cucumber water, but a seltzer. Even so, it's not exactly great. I shared this one with a friend, and they cringed a bit at the flavoring, so I know I'm not alone in my disappointment. I'm starting to think buying all these Bowl & Basket seltzers was a mistake...why didn't anyone warn me?

Cucumber Melon - Taking a sip, the flavor is pretty much 90% cantaloupe and 10% cucumber, but I adore cantaloupe so I don't mind at all. It's a sweet, fairly authentic melon flavoring with a crisper finish than usual, it's probably from the cucumber, but it also tastes a bit like melon rind. So far this is hands down the best of the bunch and the only flavor I would willingly repurchase. (It smells great too!) I feel like cantaloupe isn't a flavor commonly seen in seltzers, so it also gets points for creativity.

Cranberry Lime - There is a decent amount of cranberry with a hint of lime but rather than being zesty like most lime seltzers I've had, this is a lighter, juicier, lime, which sounds great, but the combination tastes, for a lack of a better word, decorative. This tastes like it should be a smell. I really didn't buy these just to pick on them, I genuinely hoped they would be good and a fun change of pace from my go-to Aldi seltzer, but so far...these might be the worst house-branded seltzers I have ever had. And this is coming from someone who loves cranberry and lime! To sum this one up, it tastes like fizzy Christmas decorations. You know, the fake holly berries or cranberries (whatever they're meant to be) covered in that chunky fake glitter snow? This is the seltzer version of that. To it's credit, it was easier to finish than either of the cherry flavors.
Lemon Lime - The safest seltzer flavor in the world. It smells like a sugarless Sprite, and that's pretty much what it tastes like too. The citrus notes are light and juicy, not bold, mature, and zesty, and if you are a lemon-lime soda fan looking for a calorie free alternative, this pretty darn close! This surpasses cucumber melon as my favorite of the Bowl & Basket seltzers, which makes me a little sad because it's so basic. But it is certainly different than the Aldi lemon or lime flavors, and very drinkable.

I didn't buy these to rip on them, I really did want a change of pace from Aldi's delicious, but unimaginative, Vie line. Sadly, this was a pretty big disappointment. I have tried low price point house seltzers from Aldi and Lidl, and both were better and more consistent in quality than these Bowl and Basket ones.

Cucumber melon and lemon lime are the only ones I would ever consider repurchasing, but two good flavors out of six aren't great odds. I don't think I'll be exploring more Bowl & Basket seltzers anytime soon.