That is such an insane waste of fossil fuels to transport that all that way. Water molecules are the same everywhere and whatever tiny traces of soluble salts are in it could be added back and pass a double blind taste test.
Buying bottled water is its own insanity anyway and I know the Fiji is marketing but still.
I did a two week backpacking/rock climbing trip in Wyoming years ago, and we camped at an area just a bit below the snowline. The water there was completely clear and far enough upstream that we didn't bother using iodine.
It was the most amazing, refreshing, delicious water ever. While there was almost definitely a psychological component to the initial taste (we were used to iodine flavor, were tired after about 3 days of hiking, and the area was beautiful/it looked like something out of a commercial for mountain water), we were there long enough and it continued to taste good enough that I'm positive there was something else going on. I think it had something to do with the rocks, a light amount of healthy bacteria(?) and it being fresh snowmelt.
I'm in no way advocating for shipping water across the planet, and I don't think you can bottle that up or recreate whatever was going on there at scale, but there's definitely a legitimate, big range of difference in water quality. I'd bet good money most double blind taste testers could easily distinguish between legitimately fresh cold mountain water and refrigerated water that's been sitting in an aquifer and then a plastic bottle for a while, even if you matched the salt content. But you'd have to go up a mountain to do that test properly. I think it has to be like right out of the stream to make the biggest difference.
Having tasted many mountain streams, I agree with what you are saying to an extent. I have my doubts when bottled that water would still taste the same. Gases, bacteria, etc. will change. But I don't think bottling it up and transporting it is a solution. My RO filtered water tastes awesome. If people want that mountain stream experience, they can hike to the water and kill two birds with one stone. :)
> Water molecules are the same everywhere and whatever tiny traces of soluble salts are in it could be added back and pass a double blind taste test.
waste discussion aside sounds like you have no idea what you are talking about. tons of waters taste differently and that comes fro the traces you find in it precisely because taste and smell work at the ppm level
A conservationist once told me that if I could just do one simple thing to help the planet, it would be to avoid buying bottled water whenever possible.
Sorry, let me be clear. It's better to get your water from the tap with a re-usable bottle than to buy bottled water. With a qualifier--filtered tap water if your water quality isn't great. Never mentioned soda...
What is it with this nonsense, Fiji has a peculiar taste people pay for. I don't care if they put it in a plastic or glass bottle, I will buy it.
Also, they don't have to (doubt they do) bottle it in fiji.
By your logic global trade itself is a waste of fossil fuels. This sort of utopian impractical thinking does more harm to the cause of reducing climate change than actual fossil fuels. Can you not transport goods with renewable energy powered ships and trucks? Can you not use glass or tin cans for bottling like some brands do? Of course you can! Yet you and others want the burden to be on consumers or the actual product people want and you're surprised when people don't give a shit about climate change.
The specific taste of fiji water could be replicated without too much effort by analyzing and replicating the mineral content, but people aren't buying the taste they're buying the romance of the idea of tropical water.
And yes, much of global trade IS a colossal waste of fossil fuels.
Buying bottled water is its own insanity anyway and I know the Fiji is marketing but still.