The life of a water master.
As the official “water master” for the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition, Von Wiesenberger has the task of getting judges up to speed on what makes for a good water.
As the author of several books on bottled water, as well as multiple other books and articles on food and beverages, Von Wiesenberger is an internationally known print and broadcast presenter.
“We use tasting sheets that were designed for NASA to evaluate the acceptability of mineralization in water for space travel.
Bottled water doesn’t have that smell, or at least it shouldn’t.
Also, if something’s floating in the water, that takes points off.
Clear and transparent is the goal.
Then there’s an aroma check, which in addition to the aforementioned chlorine can also include a swampy smell, which might indicate the presence of algae, or iron, which gives a metallic smell.
“Then we move onto taste,” Von Wiesenberger explains.
“Sweeter-tasting water means certain minerals, like potassium, while calcium and magnesium provide hardness.