# The taste of mineral water

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-mineral-water/322342>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 19, 2005, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-mineral-water/322342 "2005-09-19T10:55:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Xarote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c67d28/32.png) [@Xarote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xarote)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-mineral-water/322342/1 "2005-09-19T10:55:18Z")

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Let’s say I have one liter of distilled water. I look at a bottle of Evian, for example, and see how much minerals there are here.  
I take these minerals in solid form, with the quantity indicated on the Evian bottle, and I dissolve them into my distilled water.  
I mix it well.

With the result taste like Evian?

This question is I think related to the existence or not of the “memory of water”. Does Evian taste like that because of what it has been through, or because only of the minerals in it?

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-taste-of-mineral-water/322342/2 "2005-09-19T11:01:46Z")

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Taste is subjective - even pure distilled water may be _perceived_ to have a flavour; what you’re probably tasting in this case is the inside of your mouth, plus there are contrast effects - like when sweet things taste sweeter after you suck a lemon.

If you make something that is chemically identical to Evian in every way, it will taste like Evian; why shouldn’t it?