Is Sprindrift even available in Paris? It's an American company, and from a few minutes of Googling, I doubt it's available outside the US.
Their 'Sabores' (flavored) line is nice too, even if I find it doesn't have that same bubbly-ness.
I always bring a six pack home when I’m in France.
US - Trader Joes - Surprisingly good bubbles, couple different flavours but I like the plain shit. I think they use different suppliers regionally, SW US is my jam, it seems to pack a lot more punch on the bubble front.
US - Topo Chico, technically this one is Mexican, but Coke bought it in 2017. It's great. Broadly available in the western US, but should be able to find it in specialty stores throughout the country.
Thailand - Singha in the stubby glass bottles is great.
Vietnam - Danh Thanh. In the glass bottles. If it's plastic bottles make sure it was bottled in the past 30-60 days at most.
These are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.
I'm lucky where I live. I think we have some of the best public water in the world. We have one thing right.
[1] https://www.oasishealth.app/search/item/38?name=san-pellegri...
yummybrainz•1h ago
I laughed, thank you.
Fun article, from someone who detests sparkling water (water shouldn't be spicy!)
DonHopkins•1h ago
I retired my Sodastream claptrap (for both practical, economic, and ethical reasons), and got a tank of CO2, a regulator, and an adaptor for standard PET soda bottles.
The important thing for getting a lots CO2 into the water is chilling it as cold as possible, and a good trick is to put a little bit of water in a bottle, setting it on the side in the freezer so you get long thin ice at the bottom, then whacking it to break up the ice and give it lots of surface area, then adding tap water to it. The trick is figuring out the right amount of ice to make for the size of the bottle and water temperature, but once you find the balance, you can get the water very cold this way, and get a lot of CO2 into it to make it extremely fizzy.
You can also boil the water beforehand and let it cool to room temperature before chilling, and that will remove most of the air dissolved in it, which allows more CO2 to dissolve. But that's a minor optimization (that takes time and energy and hassle) on top of the important thing which is simply chilling it to as close to 0 degrees as possible.
Then buy heavy glasses or mugs and put them in the fridge or freezer, so you won't need any ice (which makes it go flat quicker), and it makes it delicious and satisfying to serve and drink. A&W Root Beer drive-ins are famous for their frozen mugs, which freeze the root beer into slush, and they sell big thick A&W mugs to use at home. There used to be one in Mountain View near the railroad tracks, where I got mine.
I've been enjoying Darcy O'Neil's "Art of Drink" for tips and recipes. He has several videos about carbonated water itself, and many others about different flavors and formulas. He even shows how to make super spicy soda with Capsaicin!
Introduction to Carbonation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhsOFFYc-N0
Carbonating Water: The 2 Most Important Things To Do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBNJ7yzIvtw
Quick Carbonation Setup Soda Water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWkvNGQsOes
Seltzer, Club Soda, Carbonated Water, Soda Water: What's the Difference? Which One Tastes Better?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgTj-xWBXZw
Electrolyte Mineral Water Formulation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUS7qi6_xvQ
Soda Frequently Asked Questions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l9qC9E5qRc
Carbonated Water on Tap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un6_OXYiRZA
Capsaicin Hot Drops for Drinks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXHAypkueps