Liquid Death’s Peanut Butter Cup Water Is Both Trick And Treat

Back in late 2024, I took a trip to New York City to check out a few tourist traps like the Krispy Kreme flagship store and Hershey’s Chocolate World. While I was in town, I ended up at a Van Leeuwen ice cream shop inside a bougie mall, where I found cans of their very limited edition collaboration with Liquid Death: Hot Fudge Sundae Flavored Sparkling Water. I paid way more than I should have for a couple cans and found myself exceptionally whelmed with the flavor. Yes, it was certainly a hot fudge flavored water… but why?

Regardless, that’d surely be the weirdest Liquid Death I’d ever drink, right? There’d never be a Fruity Pebbles Sparkling Water or a Strawberry Pop-Tart Iced Tea or anything like that. And even if there were, there wouldn’t be anything stranger lurking in the shadows… Unfortunately, back here in reality, the innovation wheels never stop turning. The scientists at Liquid Death Labs are always churning out unique beverages in their iced tea and water lines. This time around, I have their second-ever chocolate-related collaborative sparkling water (which isn’t a lot, but it’s really weird it’s happened twice).

Fittingly for Halloween, the gothic water brand has created a water inspired by an iconic Beggars’ Night treat… sort of. See, Liquid Death has made the somewhat controversial choice to partner with MrBeast’s Feastables for this Peanut Butter Cup water. (If you’ve got strong negative opinions on this particular brand, please read through the end of the piece for a little disclaimer.) Liquid Death was nice enough to send over a pack of this bizarre new Peanut Butter Cup sparkling water. Let’s find out whether this is more than just a scare or if I’ll be trying to pawn the rest of the pack off on neighborhood kids come October.

Liquid Death x Feastables: Peanut Butter Cup Sparkling Water Review

I’ve eschewed the standard Pros/Cons format because this peanut butter cup drink truly can’t be defined in such simple categories. Folks, here’s a tragic truth: Liquid Death’s Peanut Butter Cup water is absolutely worth trying. If you can split the cost of a case with a few friends or find a single tallboy at Five Below, you absolutely should.

Is it good? No, but it’s so interesting that it surpasses the need to be “good”. It’s exceptionally well done. Somehow, they have nailed down the flavor notes of a peanut butter cup (which actually leans far more towards peanut butter than chocolate–similar to how the OREO Coke tasted more like OREO creme than the chocolate wafers). There is a genuine peanut butteriness here, with an authentic underlying chocolate layer… just like the candy it’s emulating? It’s not something my brain really understood how to drink, considering I’ve enjoyed this combination of flavors in a very different sensory way for my entire life.

Additionally, this peanut butter cup drink is entirely peanut-free! Longtime readers of my coverage may know this was the very first question I asked Liquid Death representatives when this drink was revealed 10 months ago; while they didn’t have an answer at that time, I was thanked for bringing the question to their attention in the form of a nice hat I actually wear pretty regularly. At that time, the brand hadn’t finalized the formula or considered the value of promoting a peanut butter-flavored drink to folks who can’t enjoy actual peanut butter. Considering “Allergen-free” was the first bullet point in the press release I was sent, I think I made a good impression.

Credit: Griffin Parker / Liquid Death / Feastables

Ugh, why are you giving free promotion to MrBeast?

Whether it’s here on Sporked or on social media, I’ve gotten nasty comments every time I cover this particular collaboration. I appreciate the feedback, but if I start moral grandstanding about MrBeast’s dirty laundry, I’d be obliged to do that with all the other companies I cover. If I start digging into every corner of these multinational corporations, I’m not going to have anything to write about. If only there was a well-known phrase about consumption under capitalism…