Volvic is what I like. I really didn't like how Vittel tasted when it was no longer cold.

But generally, I just buy Dasani when I'm on the go, or I'll pick up a 2-4 of Loblaws' President's Choice (or is it No-Name Brand?) water.

Everyday Arrowhead, Fiji once in awhile.

In NYC, tap water.

Redbeard's Private Reserve aka Colorado Tap Water ^

I love Borjomi -- any Georgians looking to export to Japan have a buyer!

You've never seen a "street urchin" with a simple capper and a supply of "fresh" plastic closures. The "crack" doesn't guarantee the source of the water as i've found in my travels and experience working in the bottling industry. A dead giveaway is whether the bottle has a "pssst" sound when the seal is cracked for products from bottlers that use nitrogen to pressurize the contents. It's much harder to have a nitro-doser when you are filling bottles from a street tap.

1. Evian
2. Volvic


At the very bottom: Aquafina

for a guy in the bottling business, my personal opinion is that if the bottled water is "safe" for consumption, then it's basically personal taste preference that determines how much you want to be ripped off for the bottle and the source.

By "safe", I mean that the water should be free of microbial or organic content, have a low TDS, and metals concentrations below your typical North American water quality standards (i.e. as close to zero as possible). I'd also look for something that is disinfected by UV and has a shot of ozone in the process as I don't like critters growing in my water as it travels from plant to my mouth.

For those of you who have sensitive taste buds, keep in mind that the "purest" waters (those that are either processed through steam distillation, or else RO filtered) have no inherent taste. What you are picking up is probably organic residue left over in your mouth that is "activated" by water contacting your salivary gland (sour-mouth).

Mineral waters (re-mineralized or naturally mineralized) can obviously impart a slight but noticeable taste and mouth-feel, but i'd be shocked if more than 0.1% of the general population can differentiate between mineral waters.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the PET bottle is porous... the age of the bottled water can slightly alter the taste of the contents. Glass bottled water is better at weathering age, but most of these are capped with a metal closure that isn't truly airtight.

In a nutshell, remove the crap and pretty much every serving sized bottled water is worth about the same - about 15 cents for the processing and PET costs. Anything above that is just profit in the pocket of a very shrewd marketer.

Pe�afiel carbonated mineral water in Mexico. Nobody is going to be refilling those with dirty water.

At home, Mendota Springs lime sparkling water. It keeps us off the soda pop (no more sugar or aspartame).

FIJI at room temperature. Its so smooth.

Heh, I don't like Aquafina either, but I can't figure out why that should be especially given the bottling description above. I mean, Aquafina and Dasani, purified tap water, same thing right? But every time I get a Dasani around here it tastes fine, and every time I've had an Aquafina ever since it came out it always has had an off taste to me.

One thing I noticed just tonight is they have Volvic in the local chain supermarket, at least in the location I go to most often near the house. (Evian is everywhere, but Volvic at least around here is somewhat rare as far as I've ever noticed.) It's in an odd spot though: their international/ethnic foods aisle! More and more things seem to be turning up that way, almost as if they're getting requests from expats or something. It's kinda odd to see the British candy bars, for instance, in the ethnic food aisle.

I agree. Dasani is fine. Aquafina has the taste of softened water to me - like the Culligan man got to it. Maybe it's because I prefer Coke products to Pepsi products!

Anything less than purified tastes gross.

Aquafina tastes like pure tap water. How can anyone think it compares to Dasani?

I'm going to carry Dasani now so there's no regret when I throw it out on my way through security.

Timothy

I mean, I was going to throw it out, anyway.

Aqua Panna is my favorite - thanks to starwood...

No Water for you!
http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/threat-change.shtm