Review: Tap Water
Slovenian tap water will go down in history as one of the most underrated sources of hydration. Drawn from springs throughout the small nation, the water flows abundantly in taps spread amongst homes and city drinking fountains. It is a hydration that is unparalleled. Whilst some might think to reach for an Oslo 2023 or an Helsinki 2022, I will forevermore head straight for a bottle of Ljubljana’s finest.
The tap water has a light richness to it, an overwhelming sense of subtlety, a soft crispness and a palpable intensity as it seemingly disappears on the tongue after entering the mouth. Like a breath of fresh air, just in liquid form, this water transcends common expectations of what we should want not just out of a fluid, but also life itself. Drinking is no longer a primordial necessity, but a journey for the senses with unexpected twists and turns.
The water evokes undertones, and at times overtones, and sometimes just tones, of spring evenings spent lazily by Ljubljana’s dragon bridge watching the sunset over the river as it runs softly through the city. The water also has deep notes of citrus, although this tends to be the case more so when the cup you are using had orange juice in it beforehand and you didn’t really clean it out very well.
When visiting Ljubljana, for instance, this beautiful beverage pairs well with štruklji, a layered dessert of soft pancake-like layers bound by either white cottage cheese, a nut paste, or a range of other traditional flavours. My recommendation would be the buckwheat variety with walnut paste. The liquid holiday, daring to not overshadow the main dish (though still the true unsung hero of the meal), works well in melding flavours within the dish and highlighting textural discrepancies.
A refusal to compromise in the name of modernity is what further actuates this libation’s hallucinatingly refreshing powers. Unhindered by plastic constraints, this fluid fantasy stands proud, refusing bottling and only coming from the ubiquitous taps and water fountains found throughout Ljubljana. Though this does also reflect the city’s green attitude. As everyone knows, Ljubljana was Europe’s greenest capital in 2016, and what a year that was for green capitals. Thus the disdain towards plastic bottles is not only sustained towards our moist mystifier. Milk is also available on tap in the city, at a milk vending machine. Dairy desirers place their vessel under the tap, pay a euro or two, press a button and bam, milk on tap. In the same vain, I have tried to convince the city to change some of the decorative water fountains to spout milk instead of water but that is still a work in progress.
Ultimately, it is still Slovenian tap water that is king. It is the tap water which feeds the cows, which produce the milk. It is the tap water which quenches the thirst of an, albeit small, population. It is the tap water which pairs with a seemingly infinite selection of dishes not just from Slovenia, but from around the world.
Slovenian tap water, definitely worth a try. ★★★★☆
