Unlike Joan Juliet Buck, the former French Vogue editor,
who famously enjoys mineral-water cocktails of several
brands at a time, I have never been big on water. When
absolutely necessary, tap water will do, and, although
purists shudder, I don’t care. When eating at the River
Cafe and asked if I prefer sparkling or still, I request
tap water with ice and lemon. And no marketing on earth
could have persuaded me that bottled water was anything
but a con. Then I discovered Blue Water, a “naturally
detoxifying water” from Austria.
Blue Water is taken from a deep mountain spring, 200
metres below ground, where it has been filtered through
alpine rock, picking up natural minerals as it goes. So
far, so standard. What makes it different is that the
water then undergoes a “revitalisation” process invented
by Johann Grander, an Austrian naturalist and scientist.
The exact nature of the process is a closely guarded
secret, but in essence, it creates a charge that splits
the molecular clusters of the water into many smaller
ones, causing them to repel against each other and
produce energy. Smaller molecule clusters also mean a
greater surface area, which reduces surface tension and
increases the water’s ability to dissolve other
substances.
Well, that’s the science — but, like me, you could be
forgiven for thinking, so what? Which is where the lemon
test comes in. I am as sceptical as the next person, and
am not convinced by hype, but seeing — or tasting — is
believing.
Take one lemon. Cut it in half and squeeze each half
into two identical glasses. Place one next to a bottle
of Blue Water, the other on the opposite side of the
room. Wait five minutes, then taste.
I tried it — and the results were astonishing. While
the juice in one glass remained wincingly sharp, the
lemon in the other, placed next to the Blue Water, was
noticeably softer and less tart. Even through glass, the
effect of the water is enough to change the taste of the
lemon juice.
There is also anecdotal evidence (from users, not
Blue Water itself), some of which admittedly sounds more
like science fiction than science. Some say that simply
having a bottle next to their bed makes them sleep
better, others that plants flourish on the stuff. There
are colonic irrigations who claim that using Blue
Water gives far better results — although I can’t
personally vouch for that one.
Even if you find this a bit hard to swallow, there
are more straightforward reasons to give it a try. One
of Blue Water’s claims is that it is naturally
detoxifying — which, of course, is the case with all
water. But scientific research has shown that it has a
superior solvent capacity, which means a greater ability
to hydrate the body and flush out toxins. Those of us on
a mission to detox can only be grateful. And because our
bodies are about 70% water, and our brains 90%, if Blue
Water naturally “energises” whatever it comes into
contact with, the effect on our systems should be
dramatic.
But what about the shock of the £13.95-per-litre
price tag? The good news is that you only need to add
10ml to a glass of filtered, mineral or even tap water.
It’s wonderful in herb teas — and I have it on very good
authority that it brings out the flavours of a blended
malt whisky like nothing else.
