[imagesource: Instagram / @watersommeliersa]

South Africa has actual water menus available in restaurants and this is primarily thanks to Candice Jansen.

She calls herself a water sommelier – like a wine sommelier, but, you know, for the liquid that is a right in life.

Candice is not only creating water menus for top restaurants across the country, but she’s also informing the masses about its varying tastes, as well as the difference between bottled water, filtered water, and tap water.

Across her social media platforms (Instagram and TikTok) she speaks about wanting to impart knowledge that water needs to be understood better by all, including herself, reported The Citizen.

Honestly, bottled water is already a troublesome concept. Then you add a person building a professional career around helping restaurants add water tasting to their menus, and the whole situation starts to feel a bit strange.

I am still not flushing the toilet after every use, letting the yellow mellow, and thinking about the near-devastating water crisis from 2017 that we Capetonians suffered through.

Candice is out here telling people what bottled water is the tastiest.

 

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A post shared by C A N D I C E J A N S E N 💦 (@watersommeliersa)

While it feels a bit cringe to treat and talk about water like its an exclusive luxury item, Jansen does add in conservation awareness, mentioning how if we see water differently, we will use it differently:

“I’ve always been passionate about water. I’ve always been sensitive to running tap water, wasting water unnecessarily and how people misuse water. There is an economic value to water but there is no emotional value to water, and I want that to change.”

I am just not sure that idea is teased out enough because the water sommelier’s main contribution is changing people’s experiences with water in a restaurant setting.

Jansens believes this is a one-of-a-kind experience, as “education meets the fine dining table”. On a daily basis, she has discussions with restaurateurs about implementing water menus, dealing with local water suppliers, having a variety and choices of water and importantly serving the right water.

Different sources of water will be used depending on the location of the restaurant. The water is then paired with food, in the same way that courses are paired with wines.

“It is an art, there is a lot that goes into it…I want you to feel in love with water and understand that water is a beverage, if your wine list is extensive, why do you only have one water?”

The water influencer gives good advice about not buying “purified filtered water”:

@thecitizen_news How serious are you about your #water. Here are some tips from @watersomm to make sure you understand the #value behind your bottled water. #fyp ♬ original sound – The Citizen

Did you see that? If I am not mistaken, an 888-millilitre glass bottle of one water brand goes for R245 on that menu she was showing off. No man.

She mentions how some companies are basically selling lies and that it is important for consumers to read labels to understand what they are buying:

@watersomm #stitch with @arianators.ag Be Water Smart! #water #h2o #watersommelier #tap #bottledwater #restaurants #bottlewater #universalstudios #movies #moviedrama #actor #besmart #smart ♬ original sound – Candice Jansen

So the idea is not to cut back on bottled water, but rather, buy the right brands, which are often more expensive, and in some cases outright unaffordable.

On the plus side, she adores what she does.

 

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A post shared by C A N D I C E J A N S E N 💦 (@watersommeliersa)

Great, but there are millions of people who have to walk kilometres to fetch often slightly polluted water.

Perhaps instead of partnering with Skyy Vodka (which she boasts has a “softer texture and far more rounder, all thanks to minerals added back”), she could devote some energy to bringing attention to that cause.

There’s a lot of real work to do if you’re getting into the business of water.

[source:citizen]