I recently discovered the joy of drinking sparkling water....perhaps as an alternative to beer, or just a pompous refreshment--not quite sure why. I think I actually like San Pellegrino sparkling water more than Perrier--they are similar though. Both come in green glass bottles, but San Pellegrino has a cool baby-blue label with a red star and has more of a manly-shaped bottle compared to the elegantly feminine Perrier bottle.

oh, one more thing....I HATE THE LEMON-FLAVOURED PERRIER!!! I accidently bought the lemon-flavoured since the bottle is almost the same as the non-flavoured, and after taking a sip I knew something was wrong: IT TASTES LIKE LIQUID FRUIT LOOPS! You will have to try it to find out for yourself, but let me tell you Fruit Loops is a sugary children's cereal not a refreshing beverage filled with Pomp&Prestige. I have a new favourite slogan, "Perrier tastes like Fruit Loops"....I have actions and gestures that go along with this...you can guess what they are.

I like sparkling water but I cannot discern between 'sparkling water' and 'club soda.' I lump the two together... but it has overwhelmingly been my drink of choice for more than a year.

And I also HATE flavoured waters of any sort!

The bubbles in Perrier are supposedly bigger than artificially carbonated water. I dislike "club soda" as it is far too fizzy and often has a taste I associate with soda. I can definitely taste the difference between Perrier and other sparkling water. San Pellegrino is acceptable, I just prefer Perrier. Probably because I met it first. I agree that flaourved Perriers should be avoided. What is really odd is that bottled water costs more than gasoline - but we complain more about that. The stuff out of the tap tastes quite nice - once it has been filtered.

I am not a fan of club soda either...totally different taste than sparkling water...I find it has a nasty bitter aftertaste. I have also been commenting for years on the fact bottled water is far more expensive than the equivalent volume of gasoline. Well, now they are close to the same price (about $1.20/litre), but even a couple of years ago gasoline was selling for 60-80 cents per litre. Tap water (in Canada at least) is very high quality due to relatively good water supplies and proper filtration and disinfection. In fact in some municipalities in Canada, the natural water quality is so high that the only thing added to the water supply is chlorine. A lot of municipalities also add fluoride to the water supply to help strengthen enamel in teeth....I have heard that kids who are raised on bottled water are having way more cavities due to a lack of fluoride intake. Tap water is my staple--sparkling water is my treat.

Hmm... I am glad to see a couple of opinions on how club soda differs. My new mission is to actually do a taste test -- maybe i may be able to see some of the differences mentioned too. I am surprised that people can actually differentiate between brands of water. I had thought it was mainly hollywood types that claimed to care about the brand. This discussion has opened my eyes to start thinking more of the taste differences, subtle or not. On a separate note, I think Vitamin water is a useless deal... that's pure marketing, I dont believe theres any real benefit for the consumer there.