Can a bottle of water ever be worth a one thousand dollars Canadian asking price? That’s surely a question for the bottlers of Singapore’s just-launched Ô water… soon to be found on the riders of Donald Trump, Kanye West et al.
It’s called Ô Water ?
The slogan is “Water Is Luxury”?
And it costs (approximately) one thousand dollars Canadian for a single 750ml bottle of water?
You have got to be bloody kidding me?
That’s exactly what I said to the Singapore-based PR firm that are pushing this obscenely-priced bottled water when they contacted me last week.
I mean, I honestly could not give the proverbial monkey’s arse if it comes in a fancy matt-black bottle à la 80s cliché after shave Drakkar Noir.
Nobody, I repeat, NOBODY should ever have to pay $1,000 for a bottle of water. It’s as simple as that.
Whilst I can somewhat understand the inherently dodgy/scammy business model behind luxury branding, $1,000 for one bottle of water is seriously taking the piss… and then some. It’s truly disgusting that anyone should have to pay that much for a bottle of water.
After a bit of back and forth I somehow convinced the PR company to courier me a sample bottle of Ô Water to the place I am staying in Scotland this week.
So, the question is, how does this sickeningly-priced stuff taste?
Well, I’m no Water Sommelier *cough*, but to be quite honest with you I had trouble distinguishing it from bog-standard municipal water. Usually being a bit of a Badoit boy, I could find absolutely none of the subtly salty tang that I crave in bottled mineral waters, but more of a flat and decidedly neutral flavour profile. I went on to try it alongside some food, and found little or no difference in the water’s taste when accompanying a piquant roasted tomato-based sauce (with capers and lemon).
So who the hell is this Ô stuff aimed at? Who on earth would shell out so much for something that may as well be tap water? Well, I can see it populating the grossly oversize custom-built fridges of those with way more money than sense (read: Donald Trump, Kanye West, Martin Shkreli et al.)
A sure case of Emperor’s new clothes syndrome.
It’s seriously beyond a joke.
Zero apples out of a possible five.
Edinburgh-born/Toronto-based Sommelier, consultant, writer, judge, and educator Jamie Drummond is the Director of Programs/Editor of Good Food Revolution… And that was truly ridiculous.
Thank you and goodnight 🙂
Well people are paying for “air from Banff”, which is sold in a cannister…go figure..