As a water and tea sommelier I am probably thinking and living water and tea more than the average person is. My goal is not covert you into super experts, I want to find a way into your heart and give you ideas on how water and tea can enhance your life and give you a better experience.
You can look at water from different perspectives. For the normal person in the developed world, if you get thirsty, you get a glass of water and move on. But water can be so much more. I hope that the following thoughts can create a spark of inspiration in you to see water in a different angle. If I get you to think a few minutes about water – mission accomplished.
Water as the most essential component of life
As a child growing up in Germany, I did not pay much attention to water. It came out of the tap, it was in the fridge, I just had to say the word and water would appear. I did not realize that it is the most essential liquid on the planet. You only miss something, if it is not there. Fast forward a few centuries and here I am sitting in Yangon, Myanmar, one of the least developed countries in the world. Suddenly my relationship to water changed on so many different levels.
Water is a valuable commodity, something to be appreciated and to be grateful for every single day. We need to pump water into a tank every day to make it available and then it can only used for the bathroom and for washing the dishes. I cannot even brush my teeth with this water and I have to use bottled water for that. We have water filters around the house and have to spend a lot of time every day to ensure that my family and me has clean drinking water.
And I am one of the lucky ones in Myanmar. A large part of the population cannot even afford to by the purified water sold here in big 5 gallon bottles. The have to drink the poor quality water just to survive. Some of the people will get sick and some will even die on diseases from bacteria in this water. Providing access to clean drinking water to the people of Myanmar is one of the missions of the UN here in Myanmar.
Water for hydration
About a year ago I changed my approach to hydration drastically. I started to carry water bottles around with me and take a sip every once in a while. The change in my well being has been dramatically. It contributed (together with diet and exercise) to my 75 pound weight loss. Proper hydration (constant sipping with up to 2 liters a day) is like the oil for an engine. It will help your body to perform more efficiently. While easy to do and a game changer, still very few people pay attention to proper hydration. If you really want to help your body, use good quality mineral water. The minerals will help your organs to function better and assist in proper digestion of food. It also promotes vital brain functions.
Water as a culinary experience
Water can be so much more than just proper hydration. Since there are so many different high quality mineral available,each with their unique terroir and story behind them, making such waters part of your meal experience, will allow you to learn about cultures, and makes you appreciate the different tastes around the world. There are some waters I am deeply connecting with and it is always a joyful experience doing so. The Cottorella water or Aqua Morelli water from Italy are such examples. Drinking them is a unique experience , one that adds a bit of pleasure to my daily life and is a piece of affordable luxury to add something positive to our day. Pairing water with different foods is an art by itself, but will create a wow factor to your next dinner party. See the fine water facebook site for some amazing inspirations.
Water in a futuristic dimension
I would like to leave you with another dimension of water, which I strongly believe in, but a lot of people dismiss as nonsense. Water has memory. Watch the documentary here and you will understand. It was amazing to see the experiments where water was played sound of a genetic blueprint and then was able to recreate building blocks based on that memory; just incredible. We are still in the beginning of this journey, but I strongly believe that water will play an important role in medicines in the centuries to come. I love the fact, that the water brand 10,000 BC, which bottles 10,000-year-old glacier water, plays inspirational music during the bottling process.
I hope these thoughts made you stop and think about water in a way you might not have before and maybe one or two things can be useful to improve your daily life. Feel free to reach out to me in case you have further questions, I am always happy to answer them.
Stay Thirsty!