Water

[Jon.McGregor]

Hello Fellow Canadians,

Who adds a few drops of water into their single malts when tasting?
I have yet to try it, but I'm thinking about it to "unleash hidden aromas"
If you use water, whats the best?
a bottle of Bowmore i picked up states to use still mineral water.
and i heard people recommend Fiji water.
doesn't the plastic from the bottle ruin the taste of the whisky?

thoughts?

[TimWhalen]

I put water in to mostly everything. Maybe more on the Ralfy side (a decent amount) rather than the drop or two recommended. I would use bottle water if I have it but I don't lose any sleep using regular tap water.

[Megawatt]

I think almost any whisky can improve with a bit of water. I usually use a small splash of filtered tap water. I also like to use small ice cubes sometimes; as the ice melts the whisky gets progressively more fragrant. The last sip may be more diluted than the first but it still tastes good.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Use any water that doesn't bother you.

[C57]

I also use filtered tap water.
Adding water is a matter of taste. Many members won't do it whatever the strength.
I add a little to almost all whiskies. How much depends on the individual whisky. Experiment!

[ca_aok]

Filtered tap water is the best you can get. If you go with bottled water, the stuff with the least dissolved minerals is Dasani, since it's just tap water run through a reverse osmosis filter.

If you want something less neutral, the "ideal" is supposedly the water the distillery uses, but it'd be hard to get .

[portwood]

Filtered tap water is the best you can get. If you go with bottled water, the stuff with the least dissolved minerals is Dasani, since it's just tap water run through a reverse osmosis filter.

If you want something less neutral, the "ideal" is supposedly the water the distillery uses, but it'd be hard to get .

... which is ... filtered Glasgow tap water as most distilleries do not have bottling lines.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Distilleries use lots of water other than for diluting for bottling.

[Jon.McGregor]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!
I'm honestly shocked with the suggestions, I would have never thought of using tap water in my whisky. With all chorine and fluoride. But I guess filtering makes quite the difference.

P.s. I thought the distilleries use water in their area for production and not tap water. Or are you just talking about how they add it to bring down the ABV down when bottling?

THANKS GUYS!

[ca_aok]

I did a study of 40 varieties of bottled water v.s. tap, tap + Brita filter, and river water a few years back. Tap+Brita was far superior for low levels of dissolved minerals and other contaminants, with a slight increase in levels of dissolved silver. Essentially all of the chloride/fluoride is removed.

Several bottled waters had levels of things like mercury that exceeded federal regulation levels here. Gotta love the unregulated industry that is bottled water

[Pete Smoke]

Filtered tap water would be better than plastic bottled water by a mile. Some places here in the UK still sell glass bottled spring water, but not really worth considering if it's not sold locally.

[Kyle]

I have experimented a lot with water in my whisky, and the sweet spot for me seems to be between 1 - 3 teaspoons of water, depending on the type (obviously cask strength will tend to need a bit more).

For something light, like an Old Pulteney, Glenmorangie or Glenlivet, I would use 1 teapsoon. For something heavier like Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Springbank or Jura, I would use upwards of 3 teaspoons. It all comes down to experimentation.

If you insist on drinking your whisky straight out of the bottle, at least add a few drops of water to help disrupt the congeners and allow the esters and other flavour chemicals to precipitate out of solution. This can make a big difference in the taste and smell of a whisky.

[Jon.McGregor]

I have yet to have added any water to any single malts I've adventured with. I always take it neat in a glencairn. But I've been interested in trying it with water.
To keep you guys updated I bought a bottle of Fiji water and I always use a bobble water filter (something like Brita--look it up)
I'm excited to try it.

I'll follow the guidelines of the previous post 1-3 tablespoons. But I'm first going to try just a few drops as I'm nervous to ruin such a fine drink. :p

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Three teaspoons seems like an awful lot of water to me. Actually, one teaspoon does. Then again, you don't say how big your pour is.

[Kyle]

Three teaspoons seems like an awful lot of water to me. Actually, one teaspoon does. Then again, you don't say how big your pour is.

My pour is up to the widest part of the glencairn bowl, which is about 1.5oz.

[mfurman]

I have been only using Fiji water. I am not sure if it makes any sense but that has been my reference for the last few years. I also (in contrast to most on the board) dilute to the same % of alcohol (I measure it).

[Zunak]

When I use water, which is very seldom, I like San Benedetto which is available to me locally in glass bottles.

[Lawrence]

Filtered tap water is the best you can get. If you go with bottled water, the stuff with the least dissolved minerals is Dasani, since it's just tap water run through a reverse osmosis filter.

If you want something less neutral, the "ideal" is supposedly the water the distillery uses, but it'd be hard to get .

... which is ... filtered Glasgow tap water as most distilleries do not have bottling lines.

I'll trot this one out next time a distiller from Islay tells me his water runs through peat to the distillery where it's used for steeping and mashing....

[Jon.McGregor]

The two members that stated they used Fiji and San Benedetto. If you don't mind me asking, what was your reasonings behind your selection.

[portwood]

If you want something less neutral, the "ideal" is supposedly the water the distillery uses, but it'd be hard to get .

... which is ... filtered Glasgow tap water as most distilleries do not have bottling lines.

I'll trot this one out next time a distiller from Islay tells me his water runs through peat to the distillery where it's used for steeping and mashing....

I see you added a smiley, but at the risk of sounding (too) dumb, I don't get your comment.

We all know that the water used in production DOES come from local sources. However, what we are talking about in this thread is water added after bottling. AFAIK:
- water is added to most whiskies to bring them down to bottling strength,
- most distilleries don't have bottling lines,
- most bottling is done far from the distillery - using water local to the bottling plant not the distillery.
Therefore, looking for the water local to the distillery to add to the whisky before drinking is irrelevant since the bottle already contains tap water.

[mfurman]

The two members that stated they used Fiji and San Benedetto. If you don't mind me asking, what was your reasonings behind your selection.

I always liked Fiji and felt that it tested "natural" (and neutral). Now, I just do not want to change anything

[Mr Tattie Heid]

I like any word that has three dotted letters in a row.

[Pete Smoke]

Ujiji.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Oh, thanks, now I have to change my underwear.

[Pete Smoke]

I have noticed Fiji water on shelves over here and was surprised that water being shipped from the other side of the world was viable, both financially and environmentally. For anyone wondering the same --


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthn ... laims.html


Oops, back on topic -- carry on.