305166 Wed Jun 28 00:37:24 -0700 2006 25 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1715713 Dunno where THIS would go...but what's your favorite water...both flat and sparkling? I really like Mountain Valley Spring Water for flat. Apolinaris for sparkling....some people can't tell the diff, I can for some reason. ..... Panna is great too.....the water in a glass bottle seems to be better....a bit better temperature..... Wed Jun 28 00:37:24 -0700 2006 10620 Xericx 1 1715926 I'm in LA. Water tastes horrible outta the tap. I did the Sparkletts delivery.....not bad. Wed Jun 28 02:40:52 -0700 2006 1715713 10620 Xericx 1 1716001 I drink tapwater here in NYC, but if I'm buying I buy Poland Springs for flat, and S. Pellegrino for fizzy. Remember a lot of water brands are regional, so some of us are going to have no idea what others are talking about. I've never heard of the waters mentioned above, as I'm sure people outside the Northeast won't know Poland Spring. Wed Jun 28 03:28:13 -0700 2006 1715713 11778 irishnyc 1 1716117 Everyone says water is tasteless. I thought so too, until I started paying attention to it. Sparkling water I steer away from. We have great tasting water in NYC right out of the tap. Yet, I still buy bottled. The brand I presently like is Appalachian Mountain Spring Water. It's better than Poland Spring with NO charcoal filtration taste, and no plastic jug taste. Sold only in gallons here in NY. (Source: Pa.) Image: http://www.wspringwater.com/gifs/app_collage.jpg Wed Jun 28 04:51:50 -0700 2006 1715713 10609 Cheese Boy 1 1716304 I go with Raccoon River Water. Not really available outside Des Moines. Cheap and good. Beats the bottled stuff every time I have someone do a blind taste test. Wed Jun 28 12:48:55 -0700 2006 1715713 10737 Bobfrmia 1 1716309 We like Deer Park or Poland Spring at our house in the DC area. When I lived in San Diego, the Sparkletts delivery service was good (they tauted their 7-step filtration process), and usually Arrowhead when I was on the go. Wed Jun 28 12:53:33 -0700 2006 1715713 12317 Lowbar 1 1716398 I mainly drink tap water that I filter with a Brita. For sparkling I really like La Croix. The bubbles are very fine like in a top notch champange. It comes in plain and several flavors. I find the lemon very refreshing especially when it is icy cold. Wed Jun 28 14:07:55 -0700 2006 1715713 10285 Candy 1 1716431 I usually drink local NYC water filtered through Brita as well and it tastes fine to me (as compared to water in central NJ which just tastes off) -- however all of our Swedish friends who visit say that our water is very heavily chlorinated and they can taste it right away for sparkling i like Gerolsteiner. Wed Jun 28 14:29:16 -0700 2006 1715713 14210 olia 1 1717499 San Francisco filtered tap water is mighty tasty, AKA "Hetch Hetchy's Finest". Solé is my favorite for sparkling, but we have a hard time finding it in restaurants. Pellegrino, while still enjoyable, has a hard edge and too-big bubbles for my taste. I find Panna to be a waste of money in cities where the municipal tap is fine. For higher-end, Ty Nant is great - nice and smooth, but mostly I think because I associate it with the French Laundry. Wed Jun 28 21:30:48 -0700 2006 1715713 11191 foodiegrl 2 1717530 Nuh uh. You don't know nasty until you've tasted the water here in LA. SF was actually rated as having the cleanest water in the country (I assume that's among cities). Try letting SF tap water sit out for awhile. After the chlorine evaporates, it's not that different from tap run through a Brita (if at all). Here, water tastes horrible no matter how long you let it sit. I come out of the shower smelling like I've been in a swimming pool, and the bathroom always smells like chlorine whether or not someone's just showered. It's wretched. What I really want to try is that Santa Clara Valley water, now that they've installed oxygen filters and gotten rid of chlorine filters for all tap water. Wed Jun 28 21:41:31 -0700 2006 1717499 11577 Pei 3 1717922 Sorry if I wasn't clear. The SF municipal tap water is pretty great. I totally have to agree with you WRT LA. On my very first trip there as a kid I remember being blown away and disgusted by the tepid softness and the nasty chlorine aftertaste. This was before the bottled water phenomenon, so I was dying for a clear cold glass of water for nearly 2 weeks. The minute I arrived home in Seattle, I remember running to the faucet and drinking it ice cold & clear straight from the tap. My parents thought I was crazy. Thu Jun 29 01:48:37 -0700 2006 1717530 11191 foodiegrl 4 1718623 No no, I apologize. You typed tasty; I read nasty. I need to get new glasses. Thu Jun 29 15:01:15 -0700 2006 1717922 11577 Pei 1 1717511 Volvic for flat...Badoit for sparkling...After years of water fickleness, I have settled on these two... Wed Jun 28 21:33:58 -0700 2006 1715713 11069 fauchon 2 1721484 Ditto on the Volvic. Fri Jun 30 19:23:57 -0700 2006 1717511 12873 OCAnn 1 1717524 I like Brita Tap Water myself. For bottled, Fiji... I don't like sparkly waters like Pellegrino... bleh! --Dommy! Wed Jun 28 21:38:05 -0700 2006 1715713 10659 Dommy 1 1718045 The buildings I lived in in NYC gave the lie to the claims about its great tap water (the piping and storage tanks can make a huge difference), but it was fine run through a Brita filter. My local East (SF) Bay water is pretty good straight from the tap. If I'm out and buy a bottled water, I prefer Volvic or Fiji. I'm not a big sparkling water drinker. Thu Jun 29 03:07:23 -0700 2006 1715713 10074 Caitlin McGrath 1 1720539 NYC does have pretty good tap water...except that some days the chlorine smell is unbearable! For the amount of good fresh water I use for Taiwanese tea I stopped getting bottled water over 10 years ago while still in Houston, TX. My solution has been the Multipure water filter (solid block of carbon) that works much better in getting rid of chlorine smell than Brita. Usually i run the tap water..(do the dishes) until it turns ice cold, then run it through the filter, fill using cups made of mineral-rich Mu-Yu rocks. Tastes great plain or for tea and coffee. If i had to get bottled water when I'm away from home, I probably get Fiji. Poland Spring uses that flimsy plastic that I can't help tasting. ugh. Fri Jun 30 06:52:58 -0700 2006 1715713 10422 HLing 1 1720709 I like Brita water too. I purchased my own pitcher so I could have it at work. I like the convenience of not having to schlep a water bottle from home to work. My water's already there! For sparkling, I like Gerulsteiner (sp?) for it's extra fizzy qualities. Fri Jun 30 13:45:49 -0700 2006 1715713 14963 hbgrrl 1 1722308 Brita-filtered NYC tap water. I'm fussier about still water and I've never drunk a still one that wowed me -- it's either neutral or has an obvious defect. For sparkling? Cheap stuff. I love White Rose, the house brand for Gristede's (and sometimes available elsewhere). It's ridiculously highly-carbonated. About a penny an ounce if you buy 5 at a time. Sat Jul 01 03:15:18 -0700 2006 1715713 10031 Dave Feldman 1 1723056 I know what I HATE---Evian. I swear that stuff tastes like 'water gone bad' to me. For bottled....I think I am just used to Poland Springs so everything else tastes funny but I typically drink Seltzer so I don't bother with sparkling water. Sat Jul 01 22:24:36 -0700 2006 1715713 12237 L_W 2 1778352 I actually like Evian, but then again I like a little mineral taste -- the worst thing possible to me is Aquafina or Dasani, water that's just two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Like drinking air -- can't stand it. Another I really like is Zephyr Hills, don't know if that's common outside Florida. When I lived up north I liked Deer Park. Don't care for sparkling -- tried Perrier once and thought it was gross. Mon Jul 31 19:10:36 -0700 2006 1723056 12858 Covert Ops 3 1781347 I like Evian too - to me, it is the perfect water. Fiji Water not so much. I was at the BlogHer conference this weekend where they were handing out samples of high-mineral French "Contrex" water that was seemingly universally hated. No one drank a whole bottle and it was rapidly dubbed with an obscene moniker that stuck. I like Pellegrino for fizzy. Tue Aug 01 22:51:35 -0700 2006 1778352 13564 Snackish 1 1725316 Flat: A tie between brita-filtered, refrigerated Boston tap water, and Fiji water. Fizzy: Gerolsteiner. Then Badoit. Then Appolinaris. Mon Jul 03 22:42:12 -0700 2006 1715713 10574 Notorious EMDB 1 1775959 I usually drink NYC tap through a Brita filter, but if I had to buy my water, it's usually a toss-up between Volvic and Fiji (never done a side by side), then Poland Spring (since it's available everywhere). I also love Badoit. Badoit was one of the things I brought back from trips to France before it made an appearance in the US. But I haven't found it for less than $4 a bottle here in NYC. For those who get Badoit, where do you buy it? Sun Jul 30 02:41:54 -0700 2006 1715713 10509 E Eto 1 1776567 There is a regional brand in the Midwest called Buffalo Don's. The spring variety is my favorite. Dumb name, good water. Sun Jul 30 18:20:03 -0700 2006 1715713 11708 fryrose 1 1790641 I went to a conference this past week where they were giving out samples of the high-mineral "Contrex" water. Said it was the second-most popular water in France. It was universally hated for the flavor and the strange texture. People would not finish a bottle, despite it being the only water around. They would take one or two tastes and leave it...each table was left with a round of almost-full bottles on it. Sun Aug 06 14:43:56 -0700 2006 1715713 13564 Snackish