Bottled water is overrated.
Unless I’m in a foreign country or it’s the only thing available, I drink tap water. Yes, people get concerned about trace pharmaceuticals and who knows what else being in our water, but the point is that U.S. water is clear, clean and available to everyone. Part of my vendetta against bottled water is that I’m too cheap to buy something I can get for free. I’ve known people who grew up drinking water that was visibly dirty, so I consider myself lucky to have what I do. I’m not easily lured in by taglines that claim a water product to be the best, cleanest, and tastiest.
But every once in a while, I buckle and try something new. Call it incurable curiosity, or a weakness for novel and innovative products. So when I saw a skinny bottle with a retro label and several small words: Real mint. Unsweetened. All-natural, well, I decided to try it. Because if there is anything I dislike more than bottled water, it’s artificially flavored bottled water. Purifying water then adding artificial flavoring seems counterintuitive. I was hopeful when I checked out the back label and noticed that this water was filtered with reverse osmosis, bottled in the U.S., and has two ingredients: purified water, mint.
Metromint is produced by Soma Beverage Co., a San Francisco based company that seeks to be eco-friendly as possible. They are committed to buying renewable energy and operating efficiently in their plant and offices, working with local vendors and sourcing greener materials. Metromint bottles are recyclable, and Soma supports Aveda’s cap recycling program, which takes hard plastic caps that most recycling programs don’t accept.
In the end though, my approval comes down primarily to taste. Metromint is flavored with organic mint, along with other natural flavorings like lemon, orange, cherry, berry and chocolate essence. Crisp and refreshing, Metromint leaves you feeling like you just brushed your teeth and went ice-skating. Well, that might just be me. At any rate, it tastes fantastic and is definitely one bottled water I can pay for, and feel good about.
