Carbonated Mineral Waters
Added 2023-06-24 18:28:34 +0000 UTCThe world is littered with bottles of carbonated water—and the empty bottles—but what makes good-tasting mineral water? Though there are many names, like seltzer, club soda, soda water, Vichy and sparkling mineral water, they are all pretty much the same, other than their mineral content. And humans can't necessarily detect small changes in mineral content. In fact it takes a roughly 150 mg change in mineral content for people to notice a difference. It is also complicated by the fact that salts mostly taste salty, with slight variations in bitterness. Some do have a metallic taste, but the four common salts (sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium) have a fairly narrow range of taste.
So then, what is good-tasting mineral water? Below I've listed some research papers that have tried to answer this question. Due to copyright, I can't publish the papers here but I do have them so if you have a question or want to take a look, let me know. But a quick summary of the research is below.
Summary of Preferred Embodiments of Mineral Waters
1. Mineral waters with between 200 mg and 800 mg of salts are preferred by most.
2. Waters with high levels of calcium and magnesium are preferred.
3. Sulphates and (bi)carbonates are also preferred
4. High levels of sodium, potassium and chlorides are disliked
5. The optimal pH for most people is in the range of 7.5 to 8.2
6. Low mineral content (less than 30 mg/L or distilled water) are generally disliked.
Books on Carbonation & Aerated Waters
Practical directions for the preparation of aërated waters
By Robert VENABLES (M.B.) · 1843
Carbonated Beverages: The Art of Making, Dispensing, & Bottling Soda-water
By Thomas Chester · 1882
Aërated Waters and how to Make Them
By Joseph Goold · 1880
Mineral and Aerated Waters
By Charles Ainsworth Mitchell · 1913
Research References
1. Predicting consumer preferences for mineral composition of bottled and tap water. Stefan Platikanova,c, Alejandra Hernándezb, Susana Gonzálezc, Jose Luis Cortinac, Roma Taulera, Ricard Devesa (Talanta, 2016)
2. Guidance for optimizing drinking water taste by adjusting mineralization as measured by total dissolved solids (TDS) R. Devesaa, A.M. Dietrich (Desalination, 2018)
3. Influence of minerals on the taste of bottled and tap water: A chemometric approach. Stefan Platikanov, Veronica Garcia, Ignacio Fonseca, Elena Rullan, Ricard Devesa,Roma Tauler (SciVerse: Water Research, 2012)
Comments
Thanks. Yes gypsum, Epsom and chalk seem to have the best reception taste-wise. Sodium bicarbonate is also helpful as the other salts don't affect pH much and people prefer alkaline water so sodium bicarbonate can increase the pH a bit easier. For saline, I've found sodium bicarbonate solutions to work well, though it can cause micro-bubbles when mixed with citrus juice, which isn't a problem unless you want a bright clear drink.
Darcy S. O'Neil
2023-07-22 13:12:54 +0000 UTCEnjoying the content, appreciate the thoroughness on the carbonation series ! I've done some mineral water clones in the past but I like your approach of just hit the average range using generally taste preferred salts. Sounds like using gypsum cas04 , epsom salt mgs04 and chalk caco3 to the average 400 mg of salts would hit it using taste preferred components ? My approach on kegging in past has been 30psi with a flow control on tap with just ok results. Liked the effect from deaerated water. Going to give the duotight stuff a shot I already use their lines. Also, I've used saline solution in cocktails for last few years, should we be trying one with something other than table salt nacl since its components least preferred, maybe epsom ? How about a baking soda component to soften the acidity of citrus like you mentioned, since saline mostly used in citrus cocktails. Cheers
Greg
2023-07-21 22:49:18 +0000 UTCThank you for the video! I've been experimenting with 9 different salts lately by doing 0,1 % solutions with them and then carbonating to 3 bar in a bottle. As an interesting note, the pH gets as low as 3,9 and highest as 5,0 with many of the salts, when it is measured straight out of fridge after carbonating. I'm guessing that the carbonic acid created while carbonating lowers the pH because the pH will rise back up if the soda is left in the glass and the bubbles (and the carbonic acid) gets driven off. I didn't like the taste of calcium chloride but I need to do more tests for the good combo. Sodium bicarbonate is my favourite so far.
Janne Goman
2023-06-24 20:07:41 +0000 UTC
