A bottled water tasting and food pairing event was recently sponsored by Sweetwater LLC at Joe’s Restaurant in Venice, CA on Aug. 12. The event featured a three-course dinner menu paired with six different bottles of water.

According to an article in The Earth Times, “Water is not just water.”  Like wine, water has different characteristics that it picks up from the land it travels through. Premium bottled water is not the same as purified water. Purified water is nothing more than municipal tap water processed through reverse osmosis, while premium bottled waters are meant to “enhance a fine dining experience,” an experience labeled by Sweetwater’s Jim McMahon  as “epicurean.”

McMahon also claims that they are not promoting the daily consumption of bottled water. Filtered tap water is for hydration and daily consumption.  This type of event, however, teaches patrons to pair premium fine botttled waters with various foods on rarer occasions.

This practice of enjoying bottled water is nothing new, but dates all the way back to the Roman Empire. But do you buy the claim that premium bottled water pairs with food in a manner similar to wine?