Aura Bora

Lavender Cucumber

Have you ever taken a ride on a cucumber flume? Or swung with a sloth off a vegetal vine into a sparkling waterfall?

Now, this may sound like some whimsical, Seussical bullsh*t, but we promise you, it’s not. If you’ve never gone on a mystical seltzer journey before, Aura Bora is your bubble shaman guiding you to sparkling water enlightenment. Let those violet-eyed sloths guide you down to a melon grotto where you shall split cucumber logs in two on a secret land, while lavender eyes peer at you from animist trees.

We’ve heard rumors that Lavender Cucumber is the most beloved of all the Boras, and it’s easy to see why: Lavender is the stuff of fluffy pillows and heavenly scents, aromas that take you off to dreamland. And cucumber is another herbal heavy hitter: slayer of puffy eyes and infuser of luxury spa waters. Put these two together and of course they’re running away with the prize.

It almost feels unfair that Aura Bora has also emblazoned these cans with sloths. Impossibly cute creatures that crush your heart with the mere sight of them. Look here if you don’t believe us. You will be powerless before them.

Anyway, let’s drink on, before we get lost in their perennially psychedelically-entrancing can art.

We adore that the nose on this lav-cuke combination is delicate, a fresh lavender field in Provence as the morning sun chases away the glistening dew.

It’s drifting off to bed at Los Poblanos, the dry desert air heavy with juniper and creosote.

But we want to stay awake for this one. What is it about this that keeps sending us off to another dimension?

Let’s take a sip before we drift off into a full lavender-induced dreamstate.

Tasting Notes

The rarified splendor only deepens on the palate. The cucumber is much more apparent on the palate than it is on the nose. This is a round, wet cucumber, freshly cut. It’s like the aforementioned luxury spa water, but carbonated, spilling from cracks in a cucumber cliff, a river of coolness trickling through the verdant forest of your mouth.

Here we find the fleshy, gooey center that holds the seeds together. We’re sure there’s a science name for that part of the cucumber, but around here we’ll just call it luscious perfection.

And as expected, the herbalmancy that’s at play is superlative. The lavender that’s expressed is bitter, fully floral. Aura Bora never shies away from an intense, herbal profile, and that’s why these flavors blend so well together. There’s no sugars or lab flavors possibly contradicting each other or going awry as certain aromatics dissipate and compete for attention.

The haiku written on the can says “Just rowing along / In my cucumber canoe / I eat my paddle”. Okay, so maybe sloths don’t make the best river guides after all, but after a few cans of these, you’ll be through the Looking Lavender and following the White Sloth down the Cucumber Hole. Basically, you won’t really care where you wind up, you just know that some deep healing took place.

A musing on the bubble quality:

Much like all their inexplicable sorcery, Aura Bora manages to pull off something truly marvelous: a tighter, denser bubble experience that still manages to be soft and soothing going down. No rough tight bubbles chafing the throat here. Maybe inside that can, the calming lavender is patting those bubbles on the head and just making sure everyone is on chill, because everything about the drinking experience is like mainlining delicious tranquility.

While there’s something about the beguiling flavor combination of Cactus Rose or the impossibly effervescent and creamy Watermelon Peppermint that have possibly edged this one out as masters of our hearts, we can’t deny this is truly a strong contender for the Aura Bora crown. And yes, the flavors are all competing amongst themselves. Aura Bora truly is in an arms race with itself for most exquisite sparkling water flavors on the market.

Much like those flume rides at a theme park, you’ll want to get back in line for this cucumber ride again and again.