The Traveler's Journal  
Travel Articles by David Bear
Versions of these articles and columns have appeared in newspapers around the county. Please enjoy them for your own use, but if you want to reproduce or publish them in any form, please let us know first by emailing us

Tasting the waters at Berkeley Springs

03-05-2000

The tension was palpable as I lifted the goblet to my lips, cameras flashing and the audience sitting on the edge of its collective seat. After sniffing twice and snuffling once, I took a small sip of the water, swirling it over my taste buds, letting its delicate flavor expand and fill every nook and cranny of my mouth.

 
 

 

   
 

As one of eleven judges in the finals of the 10th Annual International Water Tasting held last weekend at Coolfont Resort near Berkeley Springs, W.Va., I was charged with detecting differences and determining preferences among dozens of different bottled waters, both noncarbonated and sparkling. We also tasted samples drawn from municipal water systems across the United States.

What began in 1991 to attract attention to this venerable spa village, tucked in West Virginia's northeastern corner, a three-hour drive from Pittsburgh, has become a premier event in the world of water.

Berkeley Springs' reputation as a place notable for its water dates to 1748, when George Washington arrived to survey the land, which was part of Lord Fairfax's vast American holdings. The mineral waters, which flowed at a constant 74 degrees from five adjacent springs, were said to have healing properties for those suffering from gout, sciatica, lumbago, eczema, psoriasis, digestive ailments, nervous disorders and even polio.

Twenty-eight years later, the area around the springs was incorporated as the town of Bath, after the English watering spot. Washington, along with his family and friends, founded America's first spa.

President Washington used the home he built in Bath as a summer escape, and during the first half of the 19th century many other notable Americans flocked there. The Roman-style bathing house built in 1815 has been used more or less continually since then, and its medicinal benefits notwithstanding, it also became known as a fashionable meeting place for men and women.

Even though the village was greatly damaged during the Civil War, the waters continued to flow. Though officially still called Bath, it assumed the post office name of Berkeley Springs and gradually rebuilt itself, supplementing the income its waters brought by growing apples and mining sand.

In 1928, West Virginia made the four springy acres in the center of the village a state park, renovating the bath house in the process. In addition to soaking in the heated waters, bathers could avail themselves of a variety of other therapeutic treatments, and the public spa became the center of a community based on relaxation. The tradition continues, and these days Berkeley Springs boasts having three times as many massage therapists as it does lawyers. In addition to the village's historic baths, soothing treatments are also available at the adjacent Country Inn, the Bath House Massage and Health Center, and the new Atasia Spa. Coolfont, a down-home, holistic health and fitness resort, took root in the 1970s on 1,200 acres in a secluded glen a few miles from town, attracting stressed-out visitors from Washington to its chalets and vacation homes studded on the flanks of Cacapon Mountain.

To bolster the year-round attraction of its waters, Berkeley Springs evolved several annual events. For 28 years, the Apple Butter Festival has filled the village square with sweet smells and smiling faces. A decade ago, to provide excitement during the long winter months, Travel Berkeley Springs, the local tourism organization, created the Festival of the Waters, and its centerpiece, the International Water Tasting.

This year's assembled waters came from 28 states and countries as distant as Bosnia. Some 46 municipal water systems had sent gallon jugs of their best product. There were 43 different noncarbonated bottled waters and five sparkling waters. Significant bragging rights and more were on the line. Previous Gold Medal winners had trumpeted their triumphs.

The tasting finals were conducted in two sessions on Saturday of last weekend.

We were given an hour's briefing on the many subtleties of water and its tasting and instructed on how to check each sample for clarity, odor and taste, being alert for any hint of chemicals or other offensive components. The rating sheets called for evaluations of one to five points for appearance, odor, mouth feel and aftertaste, one to 10 points for flavor, and one to 14 points for overall impression, for a maximum possible total of 44.

Thus instructed, we were paraded out to the tasting.

The afternoon session was devoted to the municipal waters. Twenty-one glass goblets were arranged in front of each judge and filled with a sample of water from an anonymous decanter. Then the sipping began.

We evaluated each water, swishing in thoughtful silence, marking down points in each category and then, after munching on a saltless wafer to clear the palate, going on to the next sample.

I think of myself as a fan of water, having diligently quaffed eight or more glasses a day for many years. I've tasted a fair spectrum of the world's potable possibilities, from woeful to wonderful. But line up two dozen selected samples without labels, and it is exceedingly difficult to distinguish much difference, let alone establish a consistent system of preferential rankings.

Most of the municipal waters had hints of the chemical combinations that made them safe for mass consumption, but none so noticeable as to make my mouth pucker. And it was even more difficult that evening when it came to evaluating the 23 noncarbonated bottled and five sparkling waters in a similarly conducted tasting.

Yet, somehow, distinctions were drawn and winners selected. The top three finishers in the municipal category were all from California, with the Gold Medal ironically going to the waters from Yucca Valley. Though a sample from Pittsburgh had finished third several years ago, this time there were no Pennsylvania municipal entrants; the closest finisher was Sandusky, Ohio, which took fifth place.

In the commercially important noncarbonated, bottled category, bragging rights went to the waters from Halstead Springs, Tenn. Incidentally, the sole local entry, Le Nature's Water, which is bottled in Latrobe and certified bacteria-free, placed in a tie for third, with McKenzie Mist, from Blue River, Ore. Le Nature's also copped a People's Choice Packaging Design award. The most sparkling carbonated water was from Calistoga Springs, Calif., while there was a tie for second place between Mountain Valley Sparkling Waters from Hot Springs, Ark. and Oaza, one of the two Bosnian entries.

While I was happy for all the winners, I found myself wondering whether the results would have been the same a second time around.

Probably not, considering the subjectivity and difficulty of differentiating between so many similar samples. And yet the decision of the judges is final and as clear as, well, water.

Take my word for it, evaluating H2O is an exercise in subtlety, not to mention bladder control, but now that I'm a world expert, I'd like to have another try again next year.


[Back to Articles Main]