Sommoliers for... water

[exterous]

"Much like wine, different regions and terroirs have significant effects on the subtle flavor nuances that come through in each bottle. For example, a bottle of Vichy Catalan mineral water from Spain is extremely complex with an almost neutral pH balance, enabling it to pair well with the rustic, rural cuisines found in many European countries. Meanwhile, the crisp, clean water inside a bottle of Svalbarši is harvested from icebergs in the remote fjords surrounding a far-flung Norwegian archipelago. Its low minerality makes it a classic match for fresh oysters or steamed lobster because it complements the refinement of each dish without overpowering the flavors."

https://www.travelandleisure.com/food-drink/what-are-water-sommeliers

I think I'm good with the local tap water (assuming it's safe to drink)

[SunnyDays]

Apparently some people get paid to think too much.

[solon]

Sounds like the Onion.

[ysette9]

I used to live in a city that had well water. It was hard as heck and tasted awful. We got an expensive water softening system to spare our house and appliances which made the water improve in taste from Awful to Not Great. I used to fill up my water bottle at work to bring home with me because I found I was reluctant to drink much out of the tap.

Now I live in a city that is on water pumped from snowmelt in the mountains. It tastes fabulous and I sometimes drink a glass of water for the pure joy of it.

I do think what was quoted in the article above is nonsense, but let us not pretend that all tap water is created equal.

[joleran]

I used to live in a city that had well water. It was hard as heck and tasted awful. We got an expensive water softening system to spare our house and appliances which made the water improve in taste from Awful to Not Great. I used to fill up my water bottle at work to bring home with me because I found I was reluctant to drink much out of the tap.

Now I live in a city that is on water pumped from snowmelt in the mountains. It tastes fabulous and I sometimes drink a glass of water for the pure joy of it.

I do think what was quoted in the article above is nonsense, but let us not pretend that all tap water is created equal.

Quite.  In the city of Chicago, the water from the lake is extremely pure to the point where you add minerals to it to brew beer.  In some suburbs where water is pulled from wells, the flavor jumps out at you and is well past the "very hard" guidelines for water quality.

[Just Joe]

I've traveled the Italian peninsula many times years ago, the coffee flavors changed a little b/c (I'm told) the water changed north to south. I could tell a difference. Still, I'm not going out of my way to get special water.

[flipboard]

Water has tastes. Deal with it. Some people have hobbies that revolve around taste. Deal with it.

(I have to say US cities have some of the worst tasting water I've drunk, but the UK is also pretty bad. Living in a place with quality mineral water coming out the taps is rather nice.)

[Plugra]

I live in a city with excellent delicious spring water. When I visit other cities (ahem, Washington DC!) I find their tap water virtually undrinkable.

Large corporations get permits to suck up our groundwater and sell it in plastic bottles to dipsh*t consumers - many of whom live in our city and county and can be seen purchasing those plastic bottles in quantity at Sams Club.  Meanwhile other dipsh*t consumers in our county pay for expensive water 'purification' systems to purify the same water that the corporations are pouring straight into plastic bottles.  I find this astonishing.

It is truly a wonder of the marketing world that the water industry has convinced people that their own tap water is somehow undrinkable unless it comes from a disposable plastic bottle.

[KodeBlue]

"Much like wine, different regions and terroirs have significant effects on the subtle flavor nuances that come through in each bottle. For example, a bottle of Vichy Catalan mineral water from Spain is extremely complex with an almost neutral pH balance, enabling it to pair well with the rustic, rural cuisines found in many European countries. Meanwhile, the crisp, clean water inside a bottle of Svalbarši is harvested from icebergs in the remote fjords surrounding a far-flung Norwegian archipelago. Its low minerality makes it a classic match for fresh oysters or steamed lobster because it complements the refinement of each dish without overpowering the flavors."

Someone got paid to crank out that vapid crap? I'm in the wrong business.

[wbranch]

The first season of Penn and Teller's Bullshit tv show had a bottled water episode 15 yrs ago. It sounds like somebody got this idea from watching that show, the descriptions even sound familiar. They gave diners at a restaurant different waters with the sommolier describing all of them in detail. One water bottle had a dead spider in it. They were filling the bottles out of a garden hose using tap water.

[Alfred J Quack]

In our country there was a student project for a business school where the students sold basic tapwater as mineral water.

25 years later they still do and they still make a profit...

[habanero]

The big market for bottled water baffles me as well, but so does any claim suggesting that any drinkable water pretty much tastes the same. Whenever I go travelling I drink the tapwater as long as it's considered safe, but it also reminds me that it generally tastes better (as in less treated) at home and I pay the city's utility bill with pleasure. Not even to mention drinking straight out of a pristine stream when hiking on a hot day and the water is just barely above freezing temperature. In the latter case I do admit that the total experience, the sceneray and all may play a big part in the equation.

As a side note - the various local variations on the lager beer style (Czech, german, vienna lager etcetc) are historically at least in part a consequence of differences in the local water chemistry. These days one can easily brew any style pretty much anywhere by adding minerals, but water isn't created equal just because it's wet everywhere.

I pretty much always carry a plastic bottle and fill it when convenient. Paying top money for bottled water is way beyond me.