A
Purposed Water
By
George Brozowski
It
arrived a few days ago, and when I saw the cylindrical plastic
packaging I knew it had to be another fine example of the
distiller's art. After all, I am the spirits reviewer for
these fine publications and web sites. I opened it and inside
was something called H2Orange. I stopped
reading right then and there and guessed it would be some
sort of flavor infused vodka or rum. So I opened the bottle
and took a small sip. My first impression was, "man that's
smooth". I waited for the subtle hint of orange to tickle
my taste buds and I waited and I waited. Either that was the
most subtle orange on the planet or my taste buds had imploded
and died or there wasn't any orange at all. Not only wasn't
there any orange flavor but I also couldn't discern any taste
of alcohol, neither vodka not rum nor gin, nothing, NADA.
Okay, so in my confusion I reached for the accompanying literature
and there was the answer. It had nothing to do with orange
flavor of any kind and it had nothing to do with alcohol,
it was water! Texas water! WTF!
I
initially thought the container had an interesting shape,
and it turns out to be a replica of the University of Texas
at Austin tower. This bottled water is a fund raiser for the
University, whose primary color is orange. The sale of this
purified Texas water funds academic scholarships and internships
with the goal of raising $1 million annually for the next
ten years and beyond. Their motto is; "Drink Water, Bleed
Orange, Fund Scholarships". The water is currently available
throughout Texas.
H2Orange
is "Texas Purified" to achieve optimum purity and
taste. Texas rainwater collects in three Texas rivers - the
Atascosa, Nueces and Frio - which flow into Choke Canyon Reservoir
and Lake Corpus Christi. The Corpus Christi Municipal Water
District purifies that water to exacting EPA standards, then
the Oneta Bottling Company further purifies H2Orange,
using a combination of activated carbon, ozone, ion exchange,
reverse osmosis, and deionization.
It's
pretty good in scotch and water and quite nice as "bourbon
and branch" (whiskey and plain water) and makes terrific
ice cubes.
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