Bottled water is hot. How hot? Sales growth is cascading at 30 times the rate of soda. It's expected bottled water will surpass coffee and milk, and grab the number-two beverage spot -- just behind soft drinks.
It's no surprise then, that there are now "designer" waters, and dozens and dozens of alternatives from around the world vying to quench your thirst. This is a good thing. And we've made it easy for you to experience the best at the James Finch Water Bar. Was James Finch a Victorian water innovator? Well, no. But he was the entrepeneur who built the home that is now the Abigail Stoneman Inn. Our ever-evolving, complimentary water menu features some of the world's most interesting still and sparkling waters.
France's Water Institute has recognized our water bar as one of the world's top five Acqua Bars and bottled water services. CNN TV labeled Abigail America's most luxurious water bar.
We invite you to enjoy a new kind of "tasting menu" delivered to your state room or in our own James Finch Water Bar. Cheers!
VOSS Artesian Water With water's new ascendency into the trend spotlight, of course comes an "it" water. VOSS is the one that started the "designer" water trend. Is it the taste or the trend-setting bottle? You be the judge. VOSS comes from a virgin aquifer shielded for centuries under ice and rock in the untouched wilderness of central Norway. The water Madonna can't go without. Served at Abigail still and sparkling.
FIJI Artesian Water Water, like wine, gets its taste from the terrain that forms it. FIJI Water comes from tropical rain filtered for hundreds of years through volcanic stone on the Republic of Fiji Islands. It creates a light and refreshing taste because of the uniquely balanced mineral mix (low in calcium and magnesium and other hard-tasting minerals, and rich in silica). The New York Times describes it as a "soft, delicious, smooth taste." Also favored by many chefs. Another of the new generation "buzz" waters around today. (Top)
Ty Nant Spring Water Discovered in the small hamlet of Bethania, in rural Wales by a water divener, Ty Nant burst onto the international water scene in 1989 with its now famous, shapely blue bottle. Ty Nant is still an active competitor in the "designer water wars." Served both still and sparkling. (Top)
Saratoga Mineral Water Celebrities have sipped on Saratoga for a long time now. Among the notables, presidents George Washington and F.D.R., Mark Twain, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and even Diamond Jim Brady. Saratoga water comes from Saratoga, New York, in the southern foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. The water's original source was a hand drilled well that went through 30 feet of sand and 150 feet of rock. Natural carbonation occurs in the water, although it is reinjected with additional carbonation during bottling. The sparkler is exceptionally light with very fine bubbles. Served both still and sparkling. (Top)
Lurisia Spring Water The spring "Fonte Santa Barbara Di Lurisia" is located at the base of the Western Alps in the Italian Region of Piedmont. Discovered in 1917, it was first analyzed and approved by Nobel Prize winner Madame Curie. Since its discovery, Lurisia has been exclusively bottled at its source, never purified, filtered or treated in any way. A very light water. Served both still and sparkling. (Top)
Perrier Sparkling Minderal Water The water that started it all is still the best-selling imported sparkling water in the U.S. Although the Perrier spring was already known in Roman times, Perrier Sparkling Mineral Water was first bottled in 1863 and is enjoyed today in more than 100 countries around the world. Still bottled at the source in Vergeze, France. (Top)
Evian Natural Spring Water Another one of the pioneer waters. High atop the northern French Alps, in the Mont Blanc region, is Evian's Source Cachat, where the water emerges from a tunnel in the mountain at 52.8 degrees F. The source is fed from the snowmelt and rain that filters from the Vinzier Plateau, over 15 years, through glacial sand surrounded by clay, which protects the water from pollution. The result is a water with a unique character, that some tasters have described as "milky." (Top)
San Pellegrino The town of San Pellegrino is sequestered in the mountains north of Milan and was first made famous by quenching the thirst of Leonardo da Vinci. Today the Fonte Termale, an opulent marbled drinking hall, is a monument to the glamour of "taking the waters." San Pellegrino's sources are three deep springs, which emerge at 69.8 degrees F. The waters come from an aquifer 1,300 feet below the surface, where limestone and volcanic rocks impart unique minerals and trace elements. Natural car-bonation is added at the end of the process. It's been bottled since 1899. (Top)
Acqua Panna Spring Water For centuries, Italians have fondly referred to Acqua Panna as "baby's water," raising their children from infancy on Panna because of its lightness, high quality and purity. The source is located 3,700 feet high in the Tuscan Apennines of Northern Italy -- about 25 miles north of Florence. Legend has it the ancient Romans built the only road stretching from northern to southern Italy past the source, to provide well deserved refreshment to weary travelers. It takes more than 13 years to travel from the top of the mountains to the source. Far beneath the ground, lies a mystical rock where water flows freely. It is here that stainless steel pipes tap directly into the rock itself, and carry the water from the source to the plant. (Top)
