Key Concepts

Minerality +

Super Low <50mg/l
Low 50-250mg/l
Medium 250-800mg/l
High 800-1500mg/l
Very High >1500mg/l

Balance (carbonation) +

Still
Effervescent
Light
Medium
Bold

Orientation (pH) +

Acidic pH 5-6.7
Neutral pH 6.7-7.3
Hint of Sweet pH 7.3-7.8
Alkaline pH 7.8-10

Hardness +

Soft
0 - 17.1 mg/l

Slightly Hard
17.1 - 60mg/l

Moderately Hard
60 -120mg/l

Hard
120 -180mg/l

Very Hard
180mg/l & over

Virginality +

Superior 0 - 1mg/l
Very Good 1 - 4mg/l
Good 4 - 7mg/l
Acceptable 7 - 10 mg/l
Potable10 -50 mg/l

Added Carbonation +

Most artificially carbonated waters have 1 to 10g/l of carbon dioxide. Current carbonation techniques involve pressurizing carbon dioxide before adding it to the water — the pressure increases the amount of carbon dioxide that will dissolve.

Natural Carbonation +

Certain rare geological conditions can produce naturally carbonated water. The origin of the CO2 is either organic matter degradation, interaction with carbonates, metamorphic devolatilization, or magmatic degassing (volcanic activity).

Sources of Water

Spring +

More bottled waters claim springs as their origin than any other type of source. Spring waters vary widely in their mineral composition and TDS level, both of which are influenced by the geology of the local area. What all true, free-flowing springs have in common is that they're gravity-driven.

Artesian +

An artesian aquifer is under pressure. The aquifer is usually surrounded by impermeable rock. The pressure built up in an aquifer will push water to the surface and create a permanent fountain when an artesian aquifer is tapped.

Well +

Non-artesian wells need mechanical pumps to bring water from the aquifer to the surface.

Rain +

Recently, companies began bottling rainwater falling in remote, unpolluted parts of the world. Several of these waters come from Tasmania and Chile, where air pollution is exceptionally low.

Hardness +

About 20,000 years ago, the Earth was one-third covered by glaciers, the remains of which are now being tapped as a source for bottled water.

Iceberg +

An exciting new source for bottled water is melted ice from icebergs. Most icebergs in the North Atlantic Ocean come from the major glaciers of West Greenland.

Clouds +

We also have water from condensation bottled and sold. In Chile, fog forms on the shore and then moves inland in the form of cloud banks. The locals call it "camanchaca." Fog is basically tiny drops of water that are so light they don't yet fall as rain.

Deep Sea +

As they do today, icebergs near Greenland melted thousands of years ago, and the water produced was of a different temperature and salinity than the surrounding seawater. This difference kept the water separate from the surrounding water as it sank to the ocean floor. It now circles the Earth every several thousand years.

Condensation +

The production of drinking water from humidity is an innovative water extraction solution that tackles the growing problem of access to clean and safe drinking water in remote areas. Entrepreneurs have used the technology to bring us exotic waters from remote and pristine regions of the planet.

Curated +

Probably as old as winemaking itself is the idea of a cuvée. We can now also have water cuvées. Nevas from Germany is probably the first water cuvée, with two mineral waters blended and carbonated, in a stunning champagne bottle with a wire-cork presentation.

Latest Additions

Famous YES | Water Menu NO

Water menu in restaurants

We could easily list almost all the famous restaurants in the world in the category "Famous, YES | Water Menu, NO". Famous chefs and restaurants discover, innovate, create and curate experiences with food, and sometimes equally famous sommeliers' do the same with wine.

When it comes to water, no one seems to care about providing their guests with the same level of experience and only givie us the choice of "Still or Sparkling?".

Why is that, you ask yourself?

The answer is easy: Greed, laziness, and some stupidity. Let me explain.

Many famous restaurants are getting paid to serve you water that you can get at a gas station for a fraction of the cost. The water companies want their water in the flagship restaurant, and the restaurants are happy to take the money. This is in addition to charging you $10 for a bottle of commodity water that you can get for less than a dollar at Costco.

A water menu would require change, and many restaurants are unwilling to change. It would require paying attention and learning something new. The usual response to change in a restaurant is resistance and denial. It's hard, we know, but we made it easy at the Fine Water Academy, where we train Water Sommeliers and provide training for staff in a restaurant to properly serve water following the Finer Water Etiquette.

A water menu can be a revenue center, Martin Riese has shown this repeatedly in the restaurants where he implemented the Water Menus by Martin Riese. An increase in revenue from water sales of up to 400% is documented. Increasing revenue, higher customer satisfaction, and higher visibility on social media are all reported in restaurants with a proper water menu. Not doing it is stupid.

Crossing arms across the chest is a classic gesture of defensiveness. Have you noticed that many famous chefs are portrayed with arms crossed across their chests?

We value the chefs and restaurants, and we know it's a hard business. We are here to help and want a better dining experience for all, especially the many who do not drink alcohol and currently have nothing to look forward to in our glasses. We need some change and want a choice of waters in restaurants. Chefs, don't resist, embrace.