Water, water, water. Everywhere and not a drop to drink.
Life’s essential substance is often a subject of debate.
I sometimes wonder about these questions: Why does water taste better at 3 a.m.? Why do some people like eating ice cubes? Or even, what does water actually taste like? Sour? Sweet? Or is it just tasteless, as some would argue?
As it turns out, water contains minerals that influence its taste (not to mention how pure and free of contaminants and chemicals it is, too).
The hardness level depends on the content of calcium and magnesium. According to most experts, the water with the best taste is moderately hard water, which doesn’t have too many minerals affecting the taste and is not as irritating to the tongue as soft water.
As a dedicated water drinker who has been consuming water all my life, I noticed that each of my everyday plastic bottles of water, whether it was Arrowhead or Aquafina, had a distinct taste, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what the flavor was. Hard water tastes noticeably sharper than soft water. I’ve noticed some stark differences after trying numerous brands throughout my life.
Sometimes, depending on the minerals, there is a sour and tantalizing taste. Other minerals produce a more metallic taste, which you might not have even realized is the water you’ve drank all your life. Usually, hard water is in the form of a more carbonated beverage, like Perrier. Soft water, like Dasani or Pure Life, on the other hand, tastes flat and neutral. The tastelessness almost creates a taste — though not a very good one — and you’ll always feel like something is lacking.
There’s also a feeling of drinking different temperatures of water.
Warm water tastes round and smooth, almost like a hug. Its texture is viscous like honey, and sometimes, I can sense a hint of sweetness on my tongue. The flavor of cold water, however, is more easily masked. My taste buds, numbed by the cold, cannot easily pinpoint the exact flavor of anything. Still, cold water tastes perfect and clean. Though less flavorful, the nothingness adds to the refreshing quality water is supposed to have.
Whatever the true taste is, water is truly the best drink on the planet, especially in the middle of the night. You wake up to take a massive gulp of that icy, crisp water and spend the rest of your sleep thinking about it. For the rest of my life, I suppose I’ll just keep drinking water and chasing the taste until I pinpoint its exact flavor.