It seems like my local Shop-Rite has been stocking a greater variety of waters in the past couple of years. Anyway, recently I noticed a new-to-me one. When I read the label and saw that it was from Italy, I decided to give it a try. It was San Benedetto artesian water, to be more exact.
The spring source for this water is presumably hundreds, or thousands, or more years old, but our story picks up much more recently. The Scattolin family owned the property where the spring is, in the small Italian commune (town) of Scorze. Scorze is located a bit to the north of Venice. In 1956 Bruno and Ermenegildo Scattolin began selling the water from the spring, naming the company San Benedetto. In 1959 the Zappas family acquired 33% of the business. By the end of the 1960's the Zappas family controlled San Benedetto. Over the next few decades, San Benedetto hatched deals with other beverage companies, and started to distribute them. In 1984 they did this with Schweppes, and in 1988 it was PepsiCo, and in 2002 it was Coca-Cola's turn. In the 2000's the company diversified into manufacturing other drinks, many of which were not just water. These were iced teas, chamomile teas, flavored waters, fruit juice drinks, vegetable drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, tonics, and carbonated soft drinks. San Benedetto also distributes some other regional waters, from other spring sources, and even a line of water intended especially for babies. There's even a non-beverage water, a "skincare water," for use as a beauty and bathing aid. As for their flagship product, the water, it originally comes from the glaciers in the Venetian Dolomite mountains. This water then drains through some layers of limestone, where it picks up mineral salts, chiefly calcium and magnesium. Eventually it ends up in a spring, about 300 meters (about 1000 feet) below the original source. Some folks claim that this water has special body purification powers or medicinal benefits. But, as usual, these claims haven't been proven scientifically. (I mean, it's clean water, so it's obviously a substance that's needed for humans to live. and keep hydrated and all. But it hasn't been proven to be more special than other clean waters. And don't think it's a substitute for real medications and such.) San Benedetto is exported to 105 countries around the globe, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, the U.K., Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, Israel, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. It's also reported to have over 2000 employees working in 12 factories, 8 of which are in Italy.
San Benedetto artesian water, natural (uncarbonated): It had a typical water clear color, and no odor. I had mine chilled, since that's the way I drink pretty much every beverage. The taste was pretty normal, I guess. It had maybe a slightly odd aftertaste, but it was very subtle. I don't know if I could have detected a difference between this and most other waters I've had, in a properly double blind taste test. Overall then, it didn't taste any better than my regular tap water. So I won't be buying this again. Unless you're unusually picky about water taste, or you live in an area with unsafe tap water, like parts of the Midwest U.S. (from field runoff of fertilizer chemicals into water supplies), Flint, Michigan, or mining towns or something, I don't see the point in paying relatively expensive amounts for your water.
No comments:
Post a Comment