The Worst Liquid Death Flavor Kind Of Tastes Like Lip Balm

Have you ever wished you could chug a hot fudge sundae? In water form? No? Who could have predicted this! Apparently, not Liquid Death and Van Leeuwen ice cream, the two brands that teamed up to create hot fudge sundae-flavored sparkling water. The official Liquid Death website describes the product as "the only 20-calorie flavored sparkling water that tastes exactly like a hot fudge sundae." Cool. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in our ranking of Liquid Death flavors, the brand's hot fudge sundae flavor fell to the bottom.

As our reviewer mentioned, "The first sip sent me spiraling back to childhood when my favorite lip product of choice was Lip Smackers' chocolate lip balm. No joke, that's exactly what this one tastes like. If you know, you know." Ordinarily, we're all about nostalgia-led eating, but this is another beast entirely. Beyond its confusing-bordering-bad taste, the other chief sin committed by Liquid Death hot fudge sundae is its lack of moniker creativity. The entire Liquid Death house is known for its edgy branding with the "Liquid Death" name and tough-sounding tagline "murder your thirst." Other flavors in its lineup feature horror-inspired names like Cherry Obituary (the flavor we named as our favorite), Mango Chainsaw, and Grave Fruit, among others. There's nothing scary about Liquid Death hot fudge sundae ... that is, until you taste it. It's fizzy chocolate water, way thinner than the mouthfeel of soda and wildly unpleasant on the palate as well as across the tongue.

Online, foodies are confused if not skeptical of the product. The comments section of one Instagram post by foodie @markiedevo holds such gems as "Love liquid death but I feel like they gotta stop with the iced teas and funky ahh flavors like dis," and "Has humanity gone too far with this one?" Other commenters mention the seemingly rising (and un-asked-for) trend in experimental flavors. As one person writes, "Van Leeuwen is always up to something wild lmao" (here's lookin' at you, mac and cheese ice cream), and another comment reads, "first Oreo [Coca-Cola] now this."

All of this leaves us wondering, "who is this for?" Liquid Death hot fudge sundae certainly isn't marketed towards kids. The brand seems to be targeting a super niche audience of sober grown-ups with a penchant for nostalgic flavors — kind of a peculiar combo for a canned bevy sold in barrooms known for its edgy branding and fight for respectability as a pioneering N.A. offering. As Greg Fass, Liquid Death's V.P. of Marketing, shared at the time of the product launch (as reported by Foodsided), "We're all about making healthy beverages more fun." Fine. The concept is, to be sure, nothing if not playful. Happily, the contemporary market boasts a kaleidoscope of creative alcohol alternatives like canned RTD mocktails and THC seltzers. Alas, while it might be a fun idea, Liquid Death's hot fudge sundae sparkling water misses the mark.