Details On Bottled Waters
Hey there! Here are the details on the waters I picked for the Water Matters / Green Tea experiment.
Looking for the experiment itself? Click here for the post.
Selection
I picked the top 6 best-selling waters in the US, as ranked by the following report:
From that list, I substituted Poland Spring spring water for Arrowhead, as we don’t get Poland Spring here on the West Coast. Arrowhead is the company's West Coast equivalent. I also added Evian, to include a European water to better compare with our European friends. Finally, I added my own tap water, to represent city tap water in general.
About TDS, and "light" vs "heavy" water
These aren't technical terms, but I use the words "light" and "heavy" to describe how the tea feels, mostly based on texture and a little bit of taste. This is caused by the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) in the water, which is a measurement of how much itty bitty mineral stuff is dissolved in the water. You can see the TDS for each water listed below.
You can imagine that water from a rocky, mountain spring might have lots of TDS, because of the rough, rocky environment, while water purified through reverse osmosis would have almost no TDS.
"Light" waters taste light, crisp, and refreshing. Overly light water sometimes can feel thin, empty or lacking. In my experience, lighter waters are good for lighter teas, and bring out more bright, fresh flavors.
"Heavy" waters taste full and satisfying. Sometimes, heavy waters will also have a mineral taste (imagine the rocky environment again), which can either be good or bad for the tea. In my experience, heavy waters are good for darker teas, and bring out more bold, well-balanced flavors.
TDS is a great tool! If you know your water's TDS, you can compare it to one of these waters, and see if your water creates a similar result. TDS meters for home use are pretty inexpensive, and while they're not as accurate as laboratory equipment, they're enough for what we need.
Just remember that even two waters with the same TDS can taste slightly different, because of the different specific make-up of the water. You can imagine that a mountain spring in the French Alps will taste quite different from a mountain spring in Hawaii, because of the drastically different environments. This is not a new concept. In Chinese tea theory, it's said that the best water for a tea is the water in the tea's natural environment. The minerals are said to be complementary for the tea, since the tea grew up with that water all its life.
Some of China's legendary tea personalities are said to have been obsessed with water, going to great lengths to collect the right water for specific teas. After conducting so many water experiments, I can see why - just a small change in the water's character can make a huge difference in the tea...
Water Details
Dasani
Type: Purified water
Listed TDS: 36 TDS
Measured TDS: 23 TDS
Price Per Liter: $1.69
Source: Various municipal tap water, purified & treated (locations undisclosed)
Company: Coca-Cola
Company Reports: http://www.dasani.com/reports/water-quality-report_EN.pdf / http://www.dasani.com/reports/water-analysis-report.pdf
(Hold on, what does “various municipal sources” mean? Translation: Dasani, and may other famous bottled brands of water, is simply tap water that's been purified at a treatment plant. Then, for some brands, minerals are added to enhance the taste.)
Aquafina
Type: Purified water
Listed TDS: 5 TDS
Measured TDS: 2 TDS
Price Per Liter: $1.99
Source: Various municipal tap water, purified & treated (California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, and Texas)
Company: Pepsi Co.
Company Reports:
https://www.aquafina.com/pdf/bottledWaterInformation_en.pdf
Nestle Pure Life
Type: Purified water
Listed TDS: 50-86 TDS
Measured TDS: 55 TDS
Price Per Liter: $0.33
Source: Various municipal tap water and/or wells, purified & minerals added (locations undisclosed)
Company: Nestle
Company Reports:
https://www.nestle-watersna.com/asset-library/documents/pl_eng.pdf
Glaceau SmartWater
Type: Purified water
Listed TDS: N/A
Measured TDS: 26 TDS
Price Per Liter: $0.33
Source: Various municipal tap waters and/or wells, purified & minerals added (locations undisclosed)
Company: Coca-Cola
Company Reports: https://www.drinksmartwater.com/water-quality/
Arrowhead
Type: Spring water
Listed TDS: 39 - 300 TDS
Measured TDS: 227 TDS
Price Per Liter: $0.99
Source: Various mountain springs (USA - California, Colorado; Canada).
Company: Nestle
Company Reports: https://www.nestle-watersna.com/asset-library/Documents/AR_ENG.pdf
*Specific batch in experiment is listed as a California source.
Fiji
Type: Artesian water
Listed TDS: 222-230 TDS
Measured TDS: 140 TDS
Price Per Liter: $1.66
Source: Artesian aquifer (Fiji)
Company: The Wonderful Company
Company Reports: http://www.fijiwater.com/content/dam/fijiwater/base/CA%20Water%20Quality%20Report%20June17_Eng.pdf
Evian
Type: Spring water
Listed TDS: 330 TDS
Measured TDS: 292 TDS
Price Per Liter: $2.19
Source: Mountain springs (France)
Company: Danone
Company Reports: http://evianwebsite.s3.amazonaws.com/website/files/evian-2014-AWQR-CALIF-ENG.pdf
Tasting Notes
Aquafina
Pros: Sweet, crisp, clean, and refreshing
Cons: Lacking fullness in the texture, slight plastic / synthetic taste.
Arrowhead
Pros: Full, round texture, satisfying. Pleasant mineral taste. Pleasant lingering feeling.
Cons: Slight drying sensation.
Dasani
Pros: Slight pleasant mineral taste
Cons: Thin, harsh, not refreshing or satisfying. Sour, puckering sensation. Rough finish
Evian
Pros: Complex taste & texture. Full, smooth texture. Complex. Pleasant mineral taste.
Cons: Flat finish, not refreshing or satisfying
Fiji
Pros: Sweet, gentle, smooth. Pleasant mineral taste. Easy-drinking. Refreshing and satisfying.
Cons: Slight sourness
Smartwater
Pros: Complex
Cons: Complex, but in a bad way. Imbalanced taste, sour, bitter. Uncomfortable to drink. Dry, bitter finish.
Pure Life
Measured TDS:
Pros: Sweet, refreshing
Cons: Thin texture. A little bitter. Not much taste. Rough, dry finish
Tap Water
Measured TDS: 500
Pros: Full texture
Cons: pool water. Strong chlorine taste, tastes terrible.
My favorites were Arrowhead, Evian, and Fiji. Aquafina and Pure Life were alright. I really didn't like Dasani and smartwater.
Interestingly, all of the non-purified "natural" waters from spring and artesian sources were my favorite. This wasn't a blind test, so maybe this is a psychological effect from the perceived value of these waters. However, I still think I really just like the taste of mineral water. Also, the two waters I really disliked were both purified, treated waters from the same company, Coca Cola.
I guess I have a type...
Based on my tasting notes, I guessed that Fiji would perform best for the Chun Mei green tea. I thought that Fiji’s light, gentle taste would bring out the tea’s sweetness, and reduce bitterness. Then, I guessed that Pure Life, smartwater, and tap water would perform the worst. I felt like the thin, drying taste of Pure Life and smartwater would make the tea too bitter, while the chlorine taste in my tap water would weigh down the tea.
Was I right about my guesses? You can see the results of the tea & water experiment back on the Water Matters / Green Tea post here.