Rambler

Lemon-Lime

So in the time since we first reviewed Rambler’s original sparkling mineral water, it’s become something of a staple for us.

It’s just so damn refreshing! The mineral content is relatively light but still makes it feel like you’re actually drinking something substantial. It feels actually hydrating in a way that sparkling waters generally don’t.

Or sometimes you just want to drink something sparkling, but you’re tired of all the flavors, but you also don’t want some weak-ass Pure LaCroix.

Rambler rambles in to fill the void.

Sometimes, at least. Where we are, we can only find it at Whole Foods, so we grab a case or two of Rambler when we make the occasional trek. If you’re reading this from the great state of Texas: you’re lucky.

Well, we’re not sure we’d trade easy access to Rambler for electricity, but you know, relatively lucky.

But speaking of flavors, turns out that Rambler makes flavored sparkling mineral water, too! We couldn’t find any near us, so Rambler was kind enough to send us some.

Today, we’re saddling up some Rambler Lemon-Lime.

Lime is a rodeo with a lot of clowns running around, if you know what we mean. Every sparkling water brand has a lime flavor, and they really span the spectrum from terrible to citrus heaven.

Lemon-Lime is a rarer breed: Waterloo only recently released theirs unto the world, replacing their basic lime flavor. There’s a handful of discount brands out there doing lemon-lime, like Kroger, Schwepps, and Arrowhead.

But as far as we can tell, Rambler’s Lemon-Lime is the only lemon-lime sparkling mineral water out there, making it a Rodeo Unicorn. So let’s crack open this precious gift.

The nose on this one is light & aromatic, a subdued, sophisticated Sprite. The lime is zesty, while the lemon is slightly more artificial, soda-like, detergent-y.

Tasting Notes

🍋☯🍋

Oh man, this is good. Rambler brings the same light touch to the flavor as they do to the minerality: it’s pretty perfectly balanced both between the lemon and the lime, and the flavor to the water.

The lemon-lime is clear and distinct, a bright, citrus-y note, without being dominant.  It’s definitely still in the Sprite-realms, it’s not the most true-to-life lemon or lime that we’ve come across, but there’s something airy enough about it that it’s not cloying or overly artificial tasting.

It’s l’air du Pledge, not a snootful of cleaner hammering your face. This is refined artifice, refined like the mineral crags of Barton Springs itself.

Rambler does manage to create this weird sensation of being both insanely refreshing and frustratingly too balanced, we’re like: this is perfect and this is too restrained at the same time.

Not that we want more of anything in particular! It’s more that everything is balanced so perfectly that the sip disappears while our brains are still grasping for something to latch on to.

There is a lingering lemon-lime aftertaste that persists, though, and that’s where you can really dig in and consider the lemon-limeyness of it all.

This is a solid entry in the Rambler canon.

We’re super bummed these flavors seemed to be confined to Texas state boundaries at the moment, and haven’t moseyed on to the far flung pastures of Whole Foods across the nation.

But these cans are doing the boots-on-the-ground lord’s work in their home state, and during the snowstorms that recently wreaked havoc on Texas soil, Rambler was out there with palettes of donations for all those in need, hydrating the good folks of the Lone Star State.

Refreshing, ecologically conscious, and helpful in times of crisis?  Ramble on.