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marmar

(76,984 posts)
Fri May 17, 2013, 08:18 AM May 2013

Americans’ main complaint about water is that it tastes too much like water


from Grist:



http://grist.org/list/americans-bored-with-water-turn-to-fakely-sweet-candy-colored-liquids/


Do you feel like your doctors and your more annoying friends are always telling you to drink more water? Well, they’re just trying to help. Water is so important for your health! Sadly, water tastes like, well, water. And since Americans eat like 100 pounds of sugar a year, the taste of water just isn’t good enough for us. Even though we are very lucky to have fresh water, we don’t get too excited about it — 20 percent of people say they just don’t like how it tastes (i.e., watery). What we do get excited about are artificially flavored, sugar-free water products.

This does not mean stuff like Vitamin Water, by the way. That has calories, which are almost as gross as water. It means new stuff, like a no-cal Vitamin Water spin-off called Fruitwater. And Mio, which is some tasty stuff you can squirt into water. (YUM.) And Dasani Drops. One of the selling points on the additives, according to the Wall Street Journal, is that they are “simpler to carry in a purse.” OK, next time I tell you I’ve purchased something because it’s “simpler to carry in a purse” please take me out back and shoot me.

Luckily, most Americans remain what the same article refers to as “water purists.” But the number of people who want water with flair is growing — hey wow, so is the likelihood of global apocalypse! Coincidence?



21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Americans’ main complaint about water is that it tastes too much like water (Original Post) marmar May 2013 OP
I wish my tap water tasted like water.... daleanime May 2013 #1
Message auto-removed Name removed May 2013 #18
Welcome to DU my friend! hrmjustin May 2013 #20
The good news is that both coffee and beer contain plenty of water (nt) Nye Bevan May 2013 #2
Water? Like outa tha toilet? RandiFan1290 May 2013 #3
LOL MuseRider May 2013 #8
Well, it doesn't have electrolytes! Newest Reality May 2013 #4
Brawndo's got electrolytes. Quantess May 2013 #12
Argh! Another illustration of how perverted American taste buds are. pink-o May 2013 #5
I think more people would be receptive if doctors just said, try drinking one glass of water a day. reformist2 May 2013 #6
Maybe because a lot of water tastes horrible cali May 2013 #7
So this piece claims flavoring water is some new craze? Has the author heard of tea? Tea is used to Bluenorthwest May 2013 #9
And Kool-Aide's been around how long? Lex May 2013 #10
First world problems. JaneyVee May 2013 #11
I like water. ananda May 2013 #13
As much as bottled water is disparaged gvstn May 2013 #14
Man, that's too bad. I love water. Robb May 2013 #15
I love our tap water (Portland, Ore. -- delicious water), but I know several older folks Arugula Latte May 2013 #16
Our water tastes of sulphur and chlorine. bunnies May 2013 #17
I love my tap water now, but the stuff I grew up with was just this side of drinkable. politicat May 2013 #19
I prefer my water hot and chai flavored. Apophis May 2013 #21

Response to daleanime (Reply #1)

Newest Reality

(12,712 posts)
4. Well, it doesn't have electrolytes!
Fri May 17, 2013, 08:35 AM
May 2013

Everybody needs them!

And I can't seem to get that watery taste out of my mouth after I drink it.

pink-o

(4,056 posts)
5. Argh! Another illustration of how perverted American taste buds are.
Fri May 17, 2013, 09:18 AM
May 2013

I love water. Nothing beats a fresh cold glass after a long bike ride. I can't imagine reaching for a coke or a frappuchino at that point. (However, I might go for a Pinot Grigio!) No matter what else we drink, humans need water to stay healthy, flush out toxins and keep our bodies lubed. It's a sad commentary on our processed food intake that we eshkew the most necessary drink that keeps us alive!

reformist2

(9,841 posts)
6. I think more people would be receptive if doctors just said, try drinking one glass of water a day.
Fri May 17, 2013, 09:23 AM
May 2013

When they're told they need eight glasses, people just throw up their hands and reach for a soda.
 

cali

(114,904 posts)
7. Maybe because a lot of water tastes horrible
Fri May 17, 2013, 09:23 AM
May 2013

My water is so delicious. The other day at the doc's office, I asked for some water. I could smell it before I tasted it. Town water in a small VT town and the chemical smell and taste was just horrid.

Now my water is town water too. Fortunately it's gravity spring fed. Cold and delicious and they don't add chemicals.

 

Bluenorthwest

(45,319 posts)
9. So this piece claims flavoring water is some new craze? Has the author heard of tea? Tea is used to
Fri May 17, 2013, 10:59 AM
May 2013

flavor water. Because the flavor of water on earth ranges from delicious to unpalatable. Because humans love variety.

gvstn

(2,805 posts)
14. As much as bottled water is disparaged
Fri May 17, 2013, 11:09 AM
May 2013

I have to say the convenience and widespread availability of it converted me from a soda/coffee drinker to a water drinker. I try to avoid drinking bottled water at home but am glad it changed my thinking about what I really wanted to drink when out and about. I just find water more refreshing then soda/juice/milkshake when I am thirsty.

 

Arugula Latte

(50,566 posts)
16. I love our tap water (Portland, Ore. -- delicious water), but I know several older folks
Fri May 17, 2013, 11:34 AM
May 2013

who say "water rusts my pipes."

I don't get it, but there you have it.

 

bunnies

(15,859 posts)
17. Our water tastes of sulphur and chlorine.
Fri May 17, 2013, 12:04 PM
May 2013

What I wouldnt give to have water that tastes like water.

politicat

(9,808 posts)
19. I love my tap water now, but the stuff I grew up with was just this side of drinkable.
Fri May 17, 2013, 12:11 PM
May 2013

My very earliest years were spent on a working farm with well water. Today, we would not give it to a baby -- all of the neighbors use nitrates and some seriously deadly pesticides. (In the 70s, we hadn't quite got that memo yet.) Our farm has always been non-chemical (Gramps was too cheap to pay for fertilizer or pesticide) but our neighbors weren't and everything got into the groundwater. My grandmother insisted on having a water cooler and 5 gallon bottle delivery. She was an early adopter of RO tech, too, and insisted on getting fluoride into our drinking water.

In my late childhood, we moved to Phoenix, where the water has to be heavily chlorinated to prevent cysts and bacteria. When it wasn't like drinking pool water, it was often muddy or rusty because Maricopa county poorly maintains its water infrastructure. In the late 80s and 90s, the hot small business opportunity was selling reverse osmosis water and ice from a storefront. People made fortunes selling municipal RO water at $.30 a gallon.

When I moved to Colorado as a young adult, I had to retrain my senses to trust tap water. It helps that our tap water is cold instead of bathwater warm, and that we're at the top of the stack, so ours is mountain spring water, but I understand why people say they don't like the taste of water.

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