I'm not a water snob. A water snob, in my book, is a person who is very particular to which brand of water their allegiances lie. A water snob may in fact not drink any water out of any tap, regardless of how much fluoride may be in said tap water. Water snobs also probably don't accidentally drink any water in the shower, ever.
Now again, I'm not a water snob. I drink tap water if need be, and like it. New York City's water is actually pretty decent, but I've been known to drink tap water in other countries (except for Mexico; I was very careful to be a water snob there due to overwhelming concerns about bacteria in their water supply). I'm generally not picky about Pellegrino or tap at restaurants. And yes, I'm that person who chews on ice chips, well aware that they probably didn't use the filtered water for those.
When it comes to buying bottled water, however, I've become aware that some of it is better than others. Now, I'll preface this by saying that I try to avoid purchasing bottled water. I think the excess plastic is terrible for the environment and the PUR filter on my tap at home does the job pretty well.
That said, sometimes you need to buy bottled water. Normally, I stick with Poland Spring; usually, that's the only thing that's sold by the street vendors or underground subway vendors in New York City. Though apparently (shockingly!) it isn't available on the west coast, at all. I'm going to pretend (and who knows, maybe I'm right?) that its limited availability on the west coast is due to the company wishing to keep a small carbon footprint.
Then, there's the stuff bottled by big business — Dasani (bottled by Coca Cola), Nestle Pure Life, Smart Water. These are all okay. They aren't terrible, and will do okay in a pinch (like, for example, when you need more water than what can fit in your re-usable bottle). I have to say that Pure Life is pretty much like Poland Spring, but with a blue label; tastes fine, though, with the Nestle name, you would have expected it to have a chocolate flavor to it (not that we should aspire to have chocolate-tasting-water, gross!). Or maybe that's just me. I think about Nestle Toll House and Nestle Crunch when I think of their brand.
Finally, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I'll start with the good and the bad: Fiji water. Fiji water comes in wonderful looking containers (more square than cylindrical) with beautiful flowers on the label. You imagine a lush island with the most amazing water you've ever tasted. What you don't imagine are military juntas selling off the region's most precious resource to us abroad while their own people have no access to it. Not a pretty picture. Great water, but it makes my heart hurt. I really don't want to be stressed when purchasing a bottle of water.
And lastly, there's the ugly — Evian. It's "naive" spelled backwards, which should be evidence alone that there's something not quite right about this water. I can't put my finger on it, but one thing is true, this water tastes like someone sucked the life out of it. I recently bought two large bottles because they were on sale; clearly, there was a very good reason for this.
So, in short, I think I'll just stick to re-filling my Camelbak BPF-free water bottle with what comes out of the tap and, unless I'm on the west coast, buying good old reliable Poland Spring water bottles as needed.
(Oh, and don't get me started on Propel and Vitamin Water – which is more sugar than water – and all the other "flavored" varieties. That's a blog post for another day.)
Posted on July 17th, 2011 | Tags: commentary, food, opinion, taste, water, water snob | No Comments
I'm not a water snob but…
I'm not a water snob. A water snob, in my book, is a person who is very particular to which brand of water their allegiances lie. A water snob may in fact not drink any water out of any tap, regardless of how much fluoride may be in said tap water. Water snobs also probably don't accidentally drink any water in the shower, ever.
Now again, I'm not a water snob. I drink tap water if need be, and like it. New York City's water is actually pretty decent, but I've been known to drink tap water in other countries (except for Mexico; I was very careful to be a water snob there due to overwhelming concerns about bacteria in their water supply). I'm generally not picky about Pellegrino or tap at restaurants. And yes, I'm that person who chews on ice chips, well aware that they probably didn't use the filtered water for those.
When it comes to buying bottled water, however, I've become aware that some of it is better than others. Now, I'll preface this by saying that I try to avoid purchasing bottled water. I think the excess plastic is terrible for the environment and the PUR filter on my tap at home does the job pretty well.
That said, sometimes you need to buy bottled water. Normally, I stick with Poland Spring; usually, that's the only thing that's sold by the street vendors or underground subway vendors in New York City. Though apparently (shockingly!) it isn't available on the west coast, at all. I'm going to pretend (and who knows, maybe I'm right?) that its limited availability on the west coast is due to the company wishing to keep a small carbon footprint.
Then, there's the stuff bottled by big business — Dasani (bottled by Coca Cola), Nestle Pure Life, Smart Water. These are all okay. They aren't terrible, and will do okay in a pinch (like, for example, when you need more water than what can fit in your re-usable bottle). I have to say that Pure Life is pretty much like Poland Spring, but with a blue label; tastes fine, though, with the Nestle name, you would have expected it to have a chocolate flavor to it (not that we should aspire to have chocolate-tasting-water, gross!). Or maybe that's just me. I think about Nestle Toll House and Nestle Crunch when I think of their brand.
Finally, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I'll start with the good and the bad: Fiji water. Fiji water comes in wonderful looking containers (more square than cylindrical) with beautiful flowers on the label. You imagine a lush island with the most amazing water you've ever tasted. What you don't imagine are military juntas selling off the region's most precious resource to us abroad while their own people have no access to it. Not a pretty picture. Great water, but it makes my heart hurt. I really don't want to be stressed when purchasing a bottle of water.
And lastly, there's the ugly — Evian. It's "naive" spelled backwards, which should be evidence alone that there's something not quite right about this water. I can't put my finger on it, but one thing is true, this water tastes like someone sucked the life out of it. I recently bought two large bottles because they were on sale; clearly, there was a very good reason for this.
So, in short, I think I'll just stick to re-filling my Camelbak BPF-free water bottle with what comes out of the tap and, unless I'm on the west coast, buying good old reliable Poland Spring water bottles as needed.
(Oh, and don't get me started on Propel and Vitamin Water – which is more sugar than water – and all the other "flavored" varieties. That's a blog post for another day.)
Posted on July 17th, 2011 | Tags: commentary, food, opinion, taste, water, water snob | No Comments