Expert flogging ‘iconic’ bottles of WATER for £236 – but at least he’ll teach you how to drink them too
AN EXPERT is charging customers a whopping £236 for a ‘virtual water-tasting experience’ that will take them two hours to complete.
Fine Liquids sells a ‘Heilwasser BOX’, a selection of at least six specially selected “iconic” waters, but customers have to sit through a lengthy virtual meeting to properly appreciate them.
The German company is selling these bizarre sessions to help clients create awareness of tasting water, and they’ll even get a ‘water sommelier’ to help them.
The Fine Liquids website broadly defines the odd term water sommelier as someone who is “trained to taste even the finest nuances in water”.
Pat Eckert, a certified water sommelier and owner of Fine Liquids, claims that in the sessions, him and the client “drink and explore together” and he tells his paying customers about “the unknown things in water”.
He said: “Whenever a client books a tasting through us they receive a box with curated international fine waters – selected by me as a certified international working water sommelier.
“We then schedule the virtual call and drink the water together, followed by some specific rules.
“As we both have the same waters on our table we drink and explore together the amazing colours of water.
“It then helps them to find their best fitting water for all day hydration, special circumstances in sports, fasting or re-mineralising the body instead of using supplements.
“I talk about the unknown things in water, and the very unique stories of my provided fine waters.
“We talk about each water, looking for words how to describe such basic taste experiences as you know we never built a vocabulary for water.
“For individuals, they can pick what they prefer, have a meeting with us before hand, or leave it up to us completely.
“And each box usually includes around six waters.”
The description reads: “Natural mineral water is enriched with a wide variety of flavors – these are what you need to taste…cThat is exactly the work of a water sommelier.
“[Pat] explores the fascinating world of water and has the necessary expertise to taste the mineral content, hardness and many other characteristics of water.”
As a self-proclaimed water expert, Pat guides customers through the experience of tasting the different types, which can take from 90 minutes to 120.
Fine Liquids even has the endorsements of Hollywood celebrities, including Zac Efron, who sells his own box on the website.
Pat is keen to help customers “build a vocabulary for water”.
He believes that a greater knowledge of water can help people find the best type to suit their hydration needs.
This can include hydration for sports, fasting or re-mineralising the body.
A variety of different brands of water are available to be experienced, including Orezza, Hirschquelle, Schiller Quelle, Staatl, Fachingen medium, Gerolsteiner medicinal water, Römerquelle, Radenska, Rogaska Donat MG, Paradi sulfur water, Vytautas and Ferenc Jozsef bitter water.
Each tasting includes still and low or high mineralised, lightly sparkling low mineralised, and highly sparkling high mineralised.
According to Pat, the business is highly successful, and he often gets customers returning to stock up on their favourite waters.
He commented: “When you find one you really like, it’s really easy to drink it and when that happens that is the key to getting old in health.
“Water tasting is getting more and more popular, I’ve taken boxes to incredibly rich people to school classes.
“It’s very valuable to our company and I really like to do it
“It’s enjoyable and cool.”
Fine Liquids has been operating since 1987, and Pat took over in 2018. and water tasting sessions were launched in 2020.