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Here's Better Homes & Gardens (me: "That's still a thing?") with one of the most important articles of this or any other century: What's the Difference Between Seltzer, Club Soda, and Sparkling Water?  Pour yourself a bubbly beverage and study up on the difference between these popular fizzy drinks. You might just find your new favorite! I always looked at it like this: Seltzer is Yiddish, club soda is WASPish, and sparkling water is French. Hm. Maybe I'm not all that far off. Soon after being led to your table at certain sit-down restaurants, you’ll be approached with a question: “Still or sparkling?” Somehow, I've never gotten that question at dive bars. While this seems like a straightforward ask, it’s a deceptively layered query. No. No, it really isn't. Do you want bubbles in your water or not? I'm not judging either way. Still, is it tap or bottled? Bottled water is tap water, for the most part. The only difference is how far away the tap is. I remember people joking about Evian a while back "hurr hurr it's 'naive' spelled backwards." But no, it's worse than that. No one cares about spelling backwards, otherwise no one would ever go to that pretentious Erehwon place. What's worse is that one word for "spigot" or "faucet" in French is "evier." Which would make the associated adjective Evian. Okay, no, the French would probably be like "eau d'evier," for water from the faucet. My point, though, is that it's far more amusing to me that the water is named similarly to a spigot than it's "naive" backwards. They look exactly the same, but “the main difference between seltzer, club soda, and sparkling water is the actual ingredients,” explains Allison Kafalas... Water and vodka look exactly the same, too. Just saying. ...Pradhan summarizes it beautifully for us: “Sparkling water (or soda water) is naturally carbonated and often contains natural minerals, while club soda has added minerals, and seltzer has none.” See that? That quoted part? That could have been the article. That could have been the whole thing. But no, they have to phrase the headline in the form of a question to get clicks and please advertisers. Joke's on them. My ad-blocker works well. If you’re looking for a blank slate, seltzer is it. That bubbly you make in your SodaStream? It’s seltzer. Since it doesn’t contain any other minerals or sodium beyond the hydrogen and oxygen that make it water, seltzer has a very mild flavor, Kafalas tells BHG. Quibble: it may not contain added minerals (though I really do appreciate the acknowledgement that water is, itself, a mineral). But most water has trace minerals, usually calcium, magnesium, and other elements that get picked up from rocks and soil. Water without these trace minerals is called "soft" for historical reasons, and these naturally occurring minerals are generally good for you and make the water taste slightly better. So, mineral water? Either it's a hard water source, or they add the minerals later. Nothing wrong with either one, though hard water can be tough on plumbing. Point is, if you're making seltzer in your SodaStream or whatever, its mineral content will depend on your local supply. We like to use seltzer to stretch full-octane cocktails into low-ABV drinks... You do you, but to me that defeats the purpose. Club soda is also carbonated water, but unlike seltzer, the “recipe” contains “added minerals like sodium bicarbonate or potassium sulfate, giving it a slightly salty taste,” according to Pradhan. Oooooh, scaaaaaary cheeeeeeemicals. Both seltzer and club soda are sparkling, too, but when it comes to a beverage specifically branded as “sparkling water,” the carbonation is natural—as are the minerals in the water. Pro tip: Before a trip to France, learn how to properly pronounce Perrier. Hint: there are no sounds in that word that resemble what Anglophones think of as "r." The article goes into which to choose for what, and that's fine; I do like to enhance my mixological knowledge. Still (pun intended of course), if you're just drinking it for hydration, I think it's a matter of taste. |
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