Category: classes

Amanda Paul wrote a review of one of my Water Tasting Classes in San Francisco, for The Daily Pour.

The Daily Pour will be sponsoring a water judging called the Water Choice Awards later this year.

I quickly realized our host was one of those rare people who moves through the world like an almanac, collecting knowledge that may seem trivial to some, but to those who care is deeply valuable. English has spent years investigating the overlooked corners of drinks culture: niche spirits, ice, water and cocktails. He does it with a rare intellectual curiosity, pursuing knowledge not for profit but out of genuine interest. He brought up the library in the building several times, almost like an undercover cheerleader for it.

Over the course of the evening, a handful of strangers and I sat in a tiny office tasting 19 different waters: still and sparkling, artesian and well water, local bottles and imports from far away. We tasted Evian, a classic mineral water that’s the real deal — dare I say, holy grail. We tasted Topo Chico, which English recommended as one of the best sparkling waters for cocktails (though he noted the brand has been reworking wells in Mexico, leading to supply shortages). We tasted FIJI Water, which may not win sustainability awards but stands out for its unusually high level of silica.

We tasted Vichy Catalan, the No. 1 water in Spain, which has a distinctly salt-and-limestone character, a profile that, it turns out, works beautifully in a country where the climate is hot and the cuisine leans heavily toward seafood and salty dishes. Have you ever thought about that — a certain type of water being popular in a certain climate? It had never crossed my mind.

Read the whole story here – and join me for a water tasting class sometime!

Soleil Ho, the former SF Chronicle restaurant critic, attended one of my Water Tasting Classes in San Francisco and wrote up an awesome review of it for Coyote Media.

The class was a particularly fun session, with two very opinionated bartenders in attendance.

I don’t usually consider water in my daily life. I drink good ol’ tap water to wash down medication, hydrate during a hike; if I’m feeling wild, I’ll toss in an electrolyte tablet. Any emotional attachment I might feel to water has to do with context: the bracing quality of a cold, 20-peso Mineragua on a humid tropical afternoon, or the glass of room-temperature tap that I grab when I randomly wake up at 3am. I’m probably not the only person who looks at the ever-expanding array of branded bottles of water on grocery store shelves and thinks it’s all a scam.

But that Tuesday night, I set aside my cynicism and tasted 19 different types of drinking water: still and sparkling, artesian well and tap, local and imported from far, far away.

And you know what? He convinced me, once and for all, that being a water nerd is a completely rational behavior.

Read the whole story here, and join me for a water tasting class sometime!