Originally Posted by
lost_in_translation
Perrier is kind of half and half, right? In that it starts as naturally carbonated, gets separated and then they add it back in again. Either way, I fundamentally agree with your point and personally find Perrier to be too aggressively carbonated anyway.
That's exactly right. They call it "reinforced by the spring's own carbonic gas". I never got a chance to try the natural state of the water (I believe you can if you visit the spring) so I don't know what the natural level of carbonation would be nor if I would like it, but like you, I find the available product way too aggressive. Badoit, by contrast, I can drink by the litre!
Pub quiz story of the day: historically, one of the most popular naturally sparkling waters was Chateldon, which used to be known as the preferred water of Louis XIV. It is indeed excellent. However, just before the second world war, the spring (and associated castle) was bought by a politician born locally which was to soon become infamous for the worst possible reasons: Pierre Laval, the ignonimious collaborationist and Petain's no2 under the Vichy regime. The disgrace that rightly followed led to the water largely blacklisted for 50 years until the mid-1990s when new owners tried to restart production and relaunch its reputation as the "Rolls Royce" of sparkling waters.