I convinced myself long ago that I can’t tell tap water from bottled, nor different bottled from each other, if all are chilled and served in identical glasses.
And I was really trying.
My sister, who made the challenge, flunked it, but still insists on the most expensive brand of water she can get.
So, have you taken such a test, or would agree to?
I would really love it if someone would do a series of blind taste tests. You think the bottled water controversy gets people heated up? Try 1% milk vs 2% milk. There are a number of things that people are snotty about that I don’t think would be noticable if they didn’t know what they were drinking.
Bottled water vs. distilled water vs. tap water
Mountain Dew vs. Mellow Yellow
7up vs. Sprite
1% milk vs. 2% milk vs. whole milk
I took a few scientific taste tests from testing companies. They pay you a little, so you become an “independent contractor”, for some legal reason. I guess if you’re allergic to some ingredient.
But the fun part is the test. For one, I tested fruit drinks, some obviously too watery and some too pulpy.
They never told you what was what however, so I still wonder which had more real juice.
A taste test between bottled water and the tap water where I live? I can certainly tell. Our tap water could be bottled and sold as bleach (some days as paint stripper). Even the “Hey, it’s tap water from someplace else” bottled brands taste better. I often can’t tell those apart, or from distilled or spring water. I’m no water snob–I’ve consumed hot hose water and been grateful for it–but given the choice, I’ll take bottled.
Mountain Dew vs. Mellow Yellow? Please…no…anything but that…<gag>
Don’t tell your sister, but “Evian” spelled backwards is “naive”…
Yes, I do drink bottled water. Why? Because where I live, all I’d have to do is smell it to know that it was from the tap. Hell, I have to be careful to not let too much get into my eyes when I’m in the shower–else it burns.
I’m not too picky 'bout my water–I usually hit the local warehouse club and buy it by the case for a decent price, and recycle the bottles.
I can definately tell the difference with the water we have here. It is very hard and has a chalky almost dirt-like taste. Ewwww. We used to get bottled water, but it got to be too expensive and too hard to lug up 4 flights, so now we use a Brita Filter. It works great, and costs us maybe 4 dollars a month.
Where we used to live, the tap water tasted pretty dang good. I’d just buy bottled water when I was out and wanted something non-caloric to drink. I do have a fondness for Ty Nant (sp?) water, it just tastes so good! Not two dollars worth of good, however.
I’m with tatertot. We use a Brita filter, and I can definitely tell the difference between the filtered water and tap water. Not that our tap water comes out green or anything, but after drinking the filtered water for a while, if I drink an entire glass of tap water, I can perceive a chlorinated taste. Not strong, but perhaps after drinking the filtered water, my palate is more virginal.
BTW, we finally used up all the bottled water we had stored up for Y2K. whew! Glad we averted tragedy there!!
The water in my neighborhood is undrinkable. This can be easily confirmed by the chemical build-up on my dish drainer. I’m just a little uneasy about showering in it.
Every week or so I get 2 5-gallon bottles of water from on the many, many water vendors that cropped up in Southern California.
Yep, I can tell the difference where I live now - on the gulf coast in a town with smelly, pale-yellow water where EVERYONE drinks bottled to avoid the nasty municipal stuff. But when I lived in the Midwest there was no detectable difference in taste.
Well, I live out in the sticks and yes, if you want to compare bottled water to my water, I could tell in an instant… I drink my own water at home but buy bottled if I’m out or grab a pop… and now that I’ve lived out of the city for so long, I believe I could discriminate there, too… city water smells like a big freaking pool…
And the 1%, 2%, whole milk thing? Not a problem… whole milk is just plain thick, and 1% tastes watered down… I drink 2%, obviously… but we have three people in our little band that drink milk and if I get the wrong kind I know it immediately…
The others, I would never know because I don’t drink that stuff…
The only thing I care about with water when I buy it is that it’s spring water… otherwise it could just be filtered and if I wanted to drink Detroit’s recycled water, I’d move there… blech…
Like so many others, my tap water is disgusting. I have to use CLR on my showerhead every month or it gets so clogged with mineral deposits the shower won’t run above a trickle.
But, I don’t think I would be able to tell the difference between different brands of bottled water. I’m loyal to the brand that’s on sale.
3 brands of bottled water available to me locally:
Evian
Ozarka
Naya
I can notice a difference between all three of these. I’m not sure if I could pick out the exact brand in a blind taste test, but each of these brands of water has its own vaguely (semi?)unique taste.
1% vs 2% milk
There is a difference, but not much. I might or might not notice depending on how sleepy I was when I crunched down my cereal. Skim vs anything else - yecch. Skim is like water.
I drink distilled water. There is no way i would drink my well water. It has dirt and rust in it and we have no filter installed. Our pressure tank is old and rusted, we need a new one badly. If we ever replace the tank and get a filter system it may become drinkable.
In middle school i was part of a milk taste test. They had me taste 4 samples. I easily put them in order from skim to whole.
The New York Times did a taste test a few years ago. I remember that I was very excited because my favorite brand, Volvic, won (which allowed me to tell doubters that yes, it DOES taste better than other brands). IIRC, NYC tap water came in somewhere in the middle of the pack, and Poland Springs was at the very bottom.
I don’t drink a lot of bottled water, and often when I do it’s because I’m very thirsty and have no choice, so I just take whatever brand is available. But if I can get Volvic, I do. I’d love to try a taste test to see if I really can recognize it.
Yes, i can tell tap water from bottled water. Most places tap water tastes crisp and clean, while all bottled water tastes like a plastic bottle. Ick.
I’ll take my Brita any day…
Like jayron 32 said, bottled water tstes like plastic. My city’s tapwater tastes like bleach and looks quite cloudy. I left a glass of it on the counter for a few days…it got clearer, but there was 1/8 of an inch of mud in the bottom! I drink only rainwater and pure grain alcohol…
I live in Portland, where, from what I’ve heard, the tapwater ie reputed to be better than in most other cities. I can’t easily tell the different between tapwater and bottled water, but whenever I travel to other cities, I usually can.
I can tell the difference between Slice and 7-up/Sprite, but probably not between Sprite and 7-up. I know 7-up tastes more fizzy and carbonated with less flavoring added, though.
As for 1%/2% milk, I’d probably be able to pick it out in a blind taste test where I had to compare, but if someone gives me a glass and says “drink this, it’s milk,” I probably couldn’t tell if it was 1%/2%. 1% tastes slightly more watered down than 2% (which I kind of like), but it probably varies depending on the brand.
Call me crazy, but I haven’t even heard of Mellow Yellow (maybe they don’t distribute it here. Or maybe I’m just not “with it.”) but if it tastes anything like Mountain Dew…ugh.