The Olympics of Water Tasting: Berkeley Springs, West Virginia

About four years ago I wrote about my experience with water tasting for this site. Because so much time has passed since then, I decide to revisit the subject since I returned to Berkeley Springs this February to participate in the event for a third time.

For those who missed my first water-judging post, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia has been the site of the International Water Tasting event for 34 years now and is referred to as the “Olympics of Water Tasting.”

This might sound ridiculous, but for those in the industry it’s an important event, especially when it comes to the commercial viability of some brands, which use it as a calling card with distributors. It’s also an educational tool, with live-streamed seminars broadcast throughout the day on Facebook, where experts lecture on the importance of water for human health and the health of the planet.

This year, approximately 100 waters from as far away as Japan were sent to the water tasting headquarters at the Country Inn to be rated by 11 media judges that included representatives from West Virginia Public Broadcasting and various regional and national media, including newspapers, websites, blogs and online and print magazines.

Judge School

Prior to the tasting, water judges convene at the Country Inn to learn the specifics of the job is and how to do it. The educational session is always conducted by Arthur von Wiesenberger, who’s written several books on the subject, including H2O: The Guide to Quality Bottled Water. Von Wiesenberger’s knowledge about water has continued to grow over the years inspired by the work he’s done scouting out good water for Anheuser Busch and NASA. “They wanted water that wouldn’t wreck their systems,” said von Wiesenberger, who always manages to make the topic of water interesting and peppers his talks with anecdotes that always seem to elicit a laugh.

Von Wiesenberger explains that the most common tastes customers experience in tap water come from a variety of sources: chlorine, chemicals used in water treatment, iron from pipes and storage tanks and sulfur, which usually comes from warm springs. In his other book, The Taste of Water, which judges usually receive at the event, a glossary lists sometimes humorous tasting notes, like wet band-aid, wet dog, flabby and flinty. He explains how water, when left standing, can become stale. “It’s vapid, lacking freshness and sometimes tastes like old bread,” he said.

A Trade Show

Prior to judging, guests from around the area are invited to vote on their favorite packaging in a trade show atmosphere as water vendors display their wares.

(Wilderness Mountain Water Company from Bland, Virginia is
anything but bland. They won best packaging)

One year a distributor from Norway brought a water culled from a “virgin iceberg,” with a price tag that raised eyebrows. I believe it was $80 a bottle, or some such ridiculous figure. I guess it would be a good gift for the person who has everything. There’s a joke here about what you’re doing with your money, but I’ll refrain.

One by one, eleven media members worked our way through about 100 waters, representing five continents. That included humble municipal waters, along with sparkling and distilled waters. Each was rated for odor, flavor, mouth feel and aftertaste as we allotted points on an I-pad and a backup slip of paper.

At the end of the tasting, the winners were announced, and guests were permitted to approach the stage for the “water rush.” This curious event enables whoever desires to rush the stage and gather up as much water as they want. (I was surprised to hear later that some even brought along coolers.)

Winners

Winning their first gold this year in the Bottled Non-Carbonated Water Category was three-time Silver Medal winner Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Eldorado Springs, CO. First time entry Piney Plains Natural Spring Water, Little Orleans, Md took Silver and Peninsula Springs Spring Water, Doveton, Victoria, Australia won Bronze. Rounding out the category was last year’s Bronze Medal winner, Jano, Village-Blanchard, NB, Canada in fourth and former Gold Medal winner Theoni Natural Mineral Water, Karditsa, Greece in fifth.

“The consistency in winners from year to year with different panels of judges validates the choices,” said von Wiesenberger of the blind competition. “It also speaks to the impressively high caliber of the waters entered,” he adds.

Poking around Berkeley Springs

The judges usually take advantage of the time allotted the day before the event to poke around the cute, quaint, walkable town, which is known for its waters.

Berkeley Springs was once home to native Americans who used the mineral springs for healing purposes before settlers arrived. George Washington was even known to have frequented the area, forming the town of “Bath,” which was the original name.

Guests can also poke around in the cute little library located downtown or take in a show at the historic Star Theater which aired its first movie way back in 1928.

A shop that we usually visit on our various excursions to the area is Rocks and Glass. The kindly gentleman there may even read your palm. This time he invited me back to his workshop to see some of his unfinished art.