Water is making waves in the dining world. With restaurants now offering curated Water Lists and trained water sommeliers to guide you through taste profiles and food pairings, water is no longer just a table essential, it’s a sensory experience.

Drinking two litres of water a day has long been drummed into us for good mental health and physical wellbeing, and that drinking water from single use plastic bottles is bad for the environment, but this is the first time that a light has been properly shone on appreciating drinking water in all its forms – natural, spring and tap. 

This trend goes hand in hand with the decline in drinking alcohol across the generations, cited for multiple reasons – addiction, increasing health consciousness, cost, not wanting to drink drive and more.

The improving quality of low and non-alcoholic alternatives are also certainly playing a role with brands like Sentia popping up, Guiness Zero sales doubling year on year and alcohol-free pubs like The Lucky Saint in London becoming well-established. And let’s not overlook the public discontent with sewage leaks into rivers and reservoirs…

Hydrated households

But what does this have to do with the home? Looking at lifestyle trends, what consumers experience outside of the home, in spas, hotels and restaurants, they then want to recreate at home. Bathrooms have the luxurious, ‘spathroom’ makeover, and kitchens are the theatre of all things dining, socialising and family time. 

In fact, the kitchen is one of, if not the most important room in design terms. Banks of appliances and spacious prep areas to recreate recipes from around the world, cosy cafécore corners to sip your barista-style coffee from a gleaming gadget, or a bespoke drinks bar for your very own pub quiz over (low or non-alcoholic) beers, wine, cocktails – and now water. 

This brings the choice of tap in the consumer home into greater focus. Once seen simply as a tool for washing up or filling the kettle, it’s now a far more considered product choice in many homes. Consumers are increasingly opting for filter taps, which offer cleaner, better-tasting water while also reducing their reliance on single-use plastics. 

Touch-free electronic models are also gaining popularity, dispensing pre-set litres of water to help conserve both energy and resources. 

The tap segment that should definitely benefit from this growing awareness of water customisation and taste is the 4-in-1 instant boiling water tap that includes filtration and multi-functional 6-in-1 taps that offer this and more with options such as carbonated water. 

Having “water your way”, as we call it, goes to the heart of the trend for customisation that has become so popular. The Bearded Water Sommelier – the creator of the water menu launched at La Popote – explains that there are four levels of carbonation to appreciate:  effervescent, light, classic and bold. Who knew? 

Just as with wine, when drinking water, it’s all about the mouth-feel, taste, smell and minerals that distinguish one water over another. And for the residential kitchen tap this is where the quality of the water filter is going to be a distinguishing factor because they are not all created equal. 

Instant boiling water and multifunctional taps undoubtedly offer a lot of sales opportunity for retailers, moreso with what promises to be an increasing awareness of water taste, mouth-feel and minerality.

Retailers are our front-line ambassadors with consumers, and being aware of this trend and sharing some knowldge on water quality, better still offering a taste test in a wine glass, might be an interesting way to engage and convince purchasers.

Not forgetting, enjoying high-quality filtered and carbonated water at home means you can skip single-use plastic bottles entirely, making a healthier choice for customers and the planet.