Maple Water Hits Market, Raises Eyebrows

Coconut water may have just met its match in a sweet beverage from the Great White North.

Maple water, a drink made from the raw sap from sugar maple trees, has debuted in Quebec and British Columbia, according to Beverage Daily. And yes, the drink apparently tastes faintly of the popular pancake pairing.

The drink is similar to coconut water in that it is a mid-caloric beverage and may be beneficial to health said Paul Rouillard, deputy director of the Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup Producers to Beverage Daily.

"The research is still going on in that. But we have identified 46 bioactive compounds. It has a variety of vitamins, minerals, organic and amino acids, polyphenols and phytohormones," Rouillard said. "In antioxidants it is better than tomatoes."

The market is still small for the drink, with 400,000 liters produced, but reactions from the two companies packaging the product have been positive and according to Beverage Daily, they have asked for production to be increased threefold.