Bottled Water Taste Test

Last week I started my rant about my fascination with bottled water. We all have pre-conceived notions on how good or bad water might be based on how that water is sold and packaged. We wanted to strip all that away and just have the taste to compare.

The taste test was of 14 different bottled water varieties. There was water bottled in both glass and plastic. We were blind folded, given a glass in front of us and asked to give our observations to the “tester” as they wrote each of our observations down.

This is our results:

Out of the 14 brands that were tested this is what we liked best:
1. Penta
2. Fiji
3. Aquafina
4. Ice Age

Out of the 14 brands that were tested this is what we felt were the worst:
1. Evian (Plastic Bottle)
2. Volvic (Glass Bottle)
3. Liquid Salvation
4. Dassani

I was surprised to find I did not like Volvic in a glass bottle. This has long been a favorite. It is a special brand and difficult to find. It reminds me of my first trip to Paris. I remember arriving home and wanting to find this brand, as it would help me somehow relive my trip. I also found it extremely interesting that we liked Aquafina as one of our top picks. This is such a common brand and is sold everywhere.

Penta and Fiji were agreed to be the best for everyday drinking water. Aquafina was close behind them in our findings. Our comments about these waters: “wet”, “clean”, “Doesn’t taste like anything-except a pure wet water”. We also commented that Penta’s packaging was never appealing and boring. But-the taste won us over. Fiji was also one of those brands we never considered but now is one of our favorites.

Dassani was agreed to be the worst in our findings naming it: “metallic”, “thick”, “definite plastic taste”, “dirty” and “has a strong after taste”.

We also found it interesting that out of our top four picks none of them were in glass bottles. Glass to me has always said quality. I believe this is still true to some extent, but not in our findings above. I encourage you to buy 3 or 4 brands that you seem to be drawn to or enjoy and have your own taste test. You might surprise yourself!