October 2013

A lot of the world seems to love sparkling water, and I don’t guite understand. According to one source, “sparkling water usage averages 27% (vs. still), but Germans prefer it at a rate of 97%, the French at 13%, and the US at 16%.”* In 2009, a small town south of Milan installed sparkling water fountains, or “houses of water.” This was soon followed by Paris’ first sparkling water fountain in 2010, with Perth following suit this year (on a three-month trial basis).

Throughout Central and South America, sparkling water is ever present, with one needing to order “agua sin gas” if they prefer still water, and looking for “sin gas” on bottles and caps in shops (or “con gas” if they prefer bubbles in their water). You do have to look for this distinction, as it’s surprisingly not apparent just looking at the bottles. Even shaking the bottle a bit doesn’t always help. The only sure fire way to tell otherwise is opening the bottle and listening for that revealing release of fizz to inform you that you’ve purchased the wrong kind of water again.

On a recent trip to the Yucatan Peninsula, a German girl on our tour couldn’t understand why anyone would want to drink still water, as it was just so plain. Ironically, I see just the opposite. Admittedly, right or wrong, I associate carbonated water with soda, so I’m expecting something extra to go with the bubbles. I figure, if you’re going to go through the trouble of putting bubbles in your water (or searching out water with bubbles already in it), you should also put in some syrup or fruit juice, or at least some Scotch. Am I crazy?

*Source: http://www.armchairfrance.com/waters.htm

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