They all taste fine when cold. But my test is when I wake up at night and have a sip of warm bottled water.The alkaline taste comes through. I had some Fiji once and it seemed really good although it is expensive. I buy Giant Eagle water most often and can’t tell the difference between “drinking”, “spring” or “filtered” water. My wife uses distilled which tastes like crap.
If you can, watch the episode of Penn and Teller’s “Bullshit” where they do an expose on bottled water.
I would say they can taste absolutely different depending on the mineral content. You are not going to mix up Yessentuki and Evian in a blind taste-test.
it tastes like… water!
I’ve had the same brand of bottled water taste different. Most of the Nestle water in my area is bottled in Hope, BC. Some of it is bottled elsewhere, where they filter it through a dirty sock before bottling it. I wish the source wasn’t in such small print so I could make sure I never get one of those swamp water cases again.
I tend to find there are two basic tastes for bottled water. The most popular brands I noticed were Dasani and Aquafina. The latter has a slightly sweet taste to it that I much prefer to the more dull taste of the former, that tastes like tap water. The slightly sweet taste is the taste you’d get from the reverse osmosis filter.
I note that at Walmart, both their Great Value water and the distilled have the sweet taste, while the spring water has the dull taste. And, yet, the Great Value water has a couple minerals in it.
So I can’t tell you what causes the difference.
Check the list of ingredients on each; it should say how much of what is in it (e.g., bicarbonate, calcium, magnesium, chloride, nitrate, sodium, silica, potassium, fluoride, sulphate, also the pH, …)
Dasani and Aquafina. one from Coca-Cola, the other from Pepsi, are just filtered tap water from wherever they are bottled at. Maybe some minerals added back in.
My point is that they generally don’t. Go read the ingredients in Dasani and Aquafina. Both either just say water or even just don’t mention ingredients at all, here in the US. It seems they may have tighter restrictions in the UK, but it’s not clear they’d be the same.
As long as it’s “gluten-free” I don’t care what else is in it.
I bought some homeopathic water once, but the bottle was practically empty.
In the US, anyway, the FDA says that anything labelled “mineral water” has to have a minimum level of minerals (250 ppm). They are not allowed to fortify it with extra minerals, either:
The name of water containing not less than 250 parts per million (ppm) total dissolved solids (TDS), coming from a source tapped at one or more bore holes or springs, originating from a geologically and physically protected underground water source, may be “mineral water.” Mineral water shall be distinguished from other types of water by its constant level and relative proportions of minerals and trace elements at the point of emergence from the source, due account being taken of the cycles of natural fluctuations. No minerals may be added to this water.
If you are buying random bottled tap water (so not “mineral water”), there is apparently no need to label it with a chemical analysis, but when you buy a bottle of something like Evian they will have it in any case as a selling point.
I live in an area with abundant natural spring water, so I just buy store brands of bottled water (or jugs) which come from different sources – sometimes the same store brand will label a different source at different times – but it all tastes very good and basically the same to me even though the mineral analysis varies with source. I absolutely cannot stand chlorinated tap water. I only use it for cooking and for coffee.
Distilled water isn’t really meant for drinking. The absence of any minerals gives it a flat taste that isn’t really enjoyable, though it’s certainly better than most tap water!
I’m not that picky when it comes to drinking water, but Dasani and Aquafina (around our house we call it, “Aqua-not-so-fina”) both have … industrial(?) … flavors that are unappealing to me. If I’m at a convenience store looking for some water, I’d rather grab the locally branded, “spring water,” which usually tastes just fine.
My wife is a water snob, particularly if the water’s not going to be ice-cold. If she thinks she’ll be drinking it close to room temperature, it has to be Evian, Fiji in a pinch. I admit that I can taste the difference between those and something like Poland Spring, it just doesn’t matter that much to me.
They can sell you certified gluten-free water, but you’ll pay an appropriate premium price for it.
I recently bought some bottled water advertised as ‘real spring water’ and to me it had a weird, slightly unpleasant flavor from the minerals. But then, we have a reverse osmosis filter for our well water, so I’m used to the taste of highly filtered water.
In my opinion, most of them taste like the plastic they’re packaged in. Any other distinction for large brands is complicated by the fact that they usually are bottled in different locations, with different water sources.
We don’t waste money buying bottled water at home – tap is fine.
When we went to Turkey and stayed in a seaside apartment, it was a different story. The tap water was so full of minerals it tasted like rusty iron (I imagine). Water from a public tap in a nearby village was a lot better and okay for cooking, but for drinking and tooth cleaning, we paid for two-litre bottles.
Evian has a distinctly greasy taste to me. I really don’t like it. Otherwise, they’re all pretty similar to me.
My favorite is Ice Mountain, which is pretty much all I buy. Artesian well water has a unique flavor that is totally distinguishable from any other water.
I don’t buy bottled water except rarely for convenience or have a stock of Costco (Kirkland) bottles in the garage as an emergency source. Tap water is fine, or nothing a Brita pitcher can’t fix.
You can pay a premium for fancy water like Fiji, there’s an internet-based hatedom for Dasani which is Coca Cola’s brand (also anything Nestle) but at the end of the day it’s still water.
The US company BlueTriton is pretty good, they have regional brands that are not necessarily exactly the same, but only available in their regions.