Want Coconut Water? Skip Vitacoco, O.N.E & Zico—find a Coconut, or “Harmless Coconut.”

Vita Coco? Red Bull. Zico? Coca-Cola.

Recently, I took my first vacation in a long time—in Maui. It was my first time journeying over an ocean. And…I opened up my first coconut, and learned how to drink it. I’d had a few, of course, in the past, that had been opened for me—but something about drinking it (practically) right off the tree reminded me, a la Michael Pollan, of the vitality that is in local, organic, raw, unprocessed.

And so I found it little surprise to see our friends at Yoganonymous (link below) report that the unrecyclable, over-packaged Zico and friends—the instigators of the yoga-happy coconut-water-crazy of the last few years—were selling healthy hype.

And we’ve been buying.

Via elephriend Karen Solomon (who even now is on her way to her first Burning Man):

“Vitacoco and O.N.E. all have been hit with class-action lawsuits. Honestly, the products aren’t as fresh as real coconut water since every single company is required to pasteurized their product before it can enter the US to make sure that there aren’t any dangerous living organisms. I’ve taken to purchasing my coconut water straight from the coconut at Whole Foods, with some of the top taken off.” ~ Karen Solomon

“Personally, I’ve pulled way back on buying coconut water. It’s one of those occasional treats as I’ve been reminded just how good simple pure water is for keeping me hydrated. And should I really need a boost of electrolytes, that’s what sea salt is good for!”