This was a case when I didn't really need to check the "Product of (whatever country it was made in)" section on the label. The overall name of the product, in clear, large letters told me that it was an import--"Clearly Canadian." I did check, later, just to make sure it wasn't a geographical ruse, but it wasn't: Clearly Canadian is indeed made in Canada. I tried a couple of their sparkling water beverages--their mountain blackberry kind, and the wild cherry one.
Clearly Canadian is neither an ancient company, nor a very recent one. It started in 1987, founded by Gordon Sim, Doug Mason, and a few other, unidentified folks. The original water source for their drinks was the Tillicum reservoir, located on Silver Star Road, in the Monashee Mountains, overlooking the British Columbian community of Vernon. Sim, Mason, and their cohorts decided to add some flavoring to their spring water, and they were off. Clearly Canadian beverages were a hit after only a short time, as the 1990's was a prolific decade for the company. Their wares were even featured (not in ads, but in the hands of the characters) on several famous television programs of the era, such as "Sex and the City," "Friends," and "Seinfeld." Alas, in the aughts the business began to falter due to mismanagement. This got so severe that Clearly Canadian shut down for a while, starting in 2010-11. The leader of an investment firm, Robert R. Khan, of 4N Capital Partners, acquired Clearly Canadian in 2012. Around the same time, a crowdfunding campaign was done, which attracted over 14,000 fans/investors, who pre-bought over 40,000 cases of the beverages. This money was used to get the business up and running again, and Clearly Canadian was active and successful once again.
Clearly Canadian just makes beverages, all based on Canadian spring water, although the sources have expanded from only the Tillicum spring. They make four basic sorts of beverage--the originals, zero sugars, the sparkling essences, and the Clearly sparkling line. These drinks are flavored with four natural ingredients. (Which they didn't reveal--I suppose they're company secrets.) All are fruit-flavored, but no actual fruit juice is used. Not shockingly, since their products are mostly made from water, all are vegetarian-appropriate, and free of GMOs and gluten. Some of their drinks do contain cane sugar as the sweetener, and not the common high fructose corn syrup. (Their zero sugar drinks don't use sugar, obviously, substituting stevia instead.)
Clearly Canadian sparkling water beverage, wild cherry flavor: Had a cherry-ish odor, and, as the name suggests, was a clear color. It was carbonated, i.e., sparkling. The taste was also noticeably cherry-ish. Or like a typical cherry soda/soft drink. It was good--fizzy and fruity. I would rate it good to very good, and would recommend it.
Clearly Canadian sparkling water beverage, mountain berry flavor: This one was also clear in color, and once again had the advertised fruit odor. Carbonated too, of course. It had a pleasant black berry-like flavor. Not a super strong taste, but pretty good. Maybe a tad less tasty than the wild cherry kind, but still respectable. I would also recommend this one. And I will try other Clearly Canadian beverages if/when I encounter them.
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