Fiji Natural Artisan Water

Fiji Natural Artisan Water is a bottled still water, sold here in the mixers category, and its most useful trait behind a bar is how little it interferes. The brand is Fiji. The details supplied for this listing don't include a mineral analysis, pH or bottle size, so check the label for those. Bottled still waters in this style usually taste soft and round with very little aftertaste. Expect a smooth, slightly weighty feel on the palate, not a sharp or mineral-heavy one. That neutrality is why people use it for dilution. Add a small splash to whisky, either at room temperature or over a large cube, and it loosens the spirit and brings out aromatics without adding any flavor of its own. Water with a steady, low mineral profile is a good choice for this because it changes the whisky's strength and not its character. A few drops at a time is the usual method: taste, add, and taste again. Reach for it too when you stir a cocktail such as a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned. The ice you stir with melts into the drink either way, so bottled water mostly matters when you're making ice. Serve it well chilled, around refrigerator temperature, when you're drinking it on its own or alongside a meal. At that temperature it works as a palate reset between courses, between different spirits in a tasting flight, or between rich and salty foods such as cured meats, aged cheeses and fried snacks. For ice, freezing this water in a large mold gives clear-looking, slow-melting cubes that suit neat pours of whisky, rum or aged tequila. Boil and cool the water first if you want clearer ice. In mixed drinks, still water belongs in recipes that call for plain dilution or a long, light finish. Examples are a whisky and water, a spritz-style highball where you want less fizz, or a pitcher of punch that needs to stretch without going sweet. For carbonated highballs, choose a sparkling mixer instead. Use a tumbler or rocks glass for water served with spirits, a highball or Collins glass for long drinks, and a stemmed water goblet at the table. A small dish or pipette beside a dram glass lets guests adjust their own whisky.