The Good Water Guide: The World’s Best Bottled Waters

The Good Water Guide: The World’s Best Bottled Waters
By Maureen & Timothy Green with Janet Long

Paperback: 200 pages
1994 Revised Edition: Rosendale Press Ltd., Premier House
10 Greycoat Place, London SW1P 1SB

When the package with The Good Water Guide: The World’s Best Bottled Waters finally arrived, I opened it with a little trepidation. Even though I had read about the book online, I was afraid that it might be a very technical tome on bottling water, minerals, standards, and so on.

Instead, it very much reflected the FineWaters philosophy – every water has a story and that story adds to the enjoyment and pleasure in drinking fine bottled water.

The real heart of the book is a country-by-country description of 250 specific bottled waters from 42 countries. Each section starts with a short history and overview of bottled water in that country followed by in-depth discussions of selected bottled waters from that country.

The descriptions are well researched and packed with interesting pieces of history, tradition, and information about the source and contents of specific bottled waters. The authors Maureen and Timothy Green along with researcher Janet Long have done their homework.

One of the highlights of the book is the artwork. The authors have included the colorful labels from the bottled waters they discuss – some of which are a work of art in themselves. Interspersed throughout are photographs of people and places related to fine waters and line drawings that graphically explain the earth’s natural water formation process.

The authors include a chapter on the origin of waters, what affects the mineral content, and how different climates and locations influence the quality and content of the water. The next two chapters discuss the tradition of drinking mineral and spring waters and how bottled water has become fashionable among celebrities, politicians and rock stars.

The authors’ interest in water “…arose from a number of long meals in France, where they noticed that the French drink a glass of water for every glass of wine and survive much better as a result.” Maureen and Timothy Green now drink more mineral water than tea or coffee, according to their biography on the book jacket.

The first edition of The Good Water Guide was published in 1985. This 1994 edition updates that information. Although the statistics on the growth of bottled water consumption are now more than a decade old, the information on the specific brands of bottled water and their history is more timeless.

The Good Water Guide is recommended for all fine waters drinkers. It is easy to read and peruse visually, and is a handy reference guide that can add to your enjoyment in being a fine waters connoisseur.