[mortenjorck]

I know expecting rigorous science from an entertainment program is always asking a bit much, but the Penn & Teller gourmet-water prank always struck me as flawed given the social dynamics at play. Most people in that situation are going to feel some social pressure to acknowledge some sort of qualities in what they are being served, whether from fear of appearing unsophisticated or simply out of a desire to be polite, even if what they're drinking does consciously taste like tap water to them.

Personally, while I don't buy any branded, single-serve waters, I do actually buy gallon jugs of house-brand "drinking water" from my local grocery store for the taste. Whatever minerals they add "for taste," I prefer it to tap or even spring water.

[smacktoward]

True, but that's really no different than the dynamics around bottled water -- if everyone around you is drinking bottled water, and they all insist it tastes better than tap water, it creates social pressure for you to drink it and say that too, even if you don't believe it. The easiest thing for people to do is always to go along with the crowd.

[sandollars]

Except you can taste silica, which is available in much higher quantities in bottled artesian water than regular tap water.

Ask someone to help you double-blind taste-test FIJI water and your tap water. There is a big difference.

[breischl]

It's been pretty well documented that presentation affects the perception of taste. Adding some fancy adjectives (and possibly a fancy price) to the menu can make people perceive the food as tasting better. I believe it's been shown to work with wine too. So it's not surprising that the same thing can happen with water.

[yzzxy]

Also, wine is barely better than water in terms of taste perception. Even wine "experts" can't differentiate wine in a blind test - they've been known to confuse red and white wine, give wildly inconsistent ratings to a single wine over multiple tests, and correlate high ratings with high price - even if the "expensive" wine is really a cheap on with a fake fancy label and price tag.

[mortenjorck]

I've actually assimilated this effect and consciously appreciate how certain craft beer labels affect my perception of the taste. There's a local brew I explicitly enjoy more from a 12oz bottle than on tap because of its package design.

[jameshart]

In my experience, much of the pleasurable taste of gallon-jug-water comes from the fact that it's refrigerated, rather than from any intrinsic properties of the water's chemical composition. A glass of tap water left in the fridge for a while will also come out tasting 'fresher'.