Summit Spring Maine Spring Water, 16.9 Ounce (Pack of 24)

One sentence summary of a long review: I have tried over 28 brands of bottled water, and Summit Spring water is the best tasting, most consistently great water of all the brands I have tried.In the past year or so, I've tried many brands of bottled water, ranging from some store brand water purchased at the local farm supply store for $1.69/case (Yes, you read that correctly. $1.69 for 24 bottles. It was awful, though I drank it anyway.) to high end brands like Voss from Norway, Fuggi from Italy, and Sno from Iceland. This review will compare many different brands and I will give my honest opinion of each. No one paid me to write this review, and I did not receive any free product from anybody, nor do I know any of the people who work at any of the brands I'm going to review. (Just had to get that out of the way since so many reviews on Amazon are of questionable validity.)First, the brands I didn't care for, and would not bother purchasing again:DasaniAquafinaKlarbrunnDeja BlueWhole Foods Store BrandVossIce Age Glacier WaterIcelandic SpringNew ZealandWaikiaNalaczowiankaPentaAll of the above were uninspiring, and were not much (if any) better than my Midwestern well water. I was surprised that Ice Age and Voss were on this list as not being very good. I purchased around 6 bottles of Voss, and ended up giving three or four away since I didn't even want to drink more. The bottles I purchased from the local grocery store were glass bottles (two large and four small, all glass) with good expiration dates. I suppose the appeal of Voss is their bottle (and their brand recognition as a luxury), though I was not even impressed with that, considering it had a cheap plastic lid on a heavy duty glass bottle. Amazon had good reviews of the Ice Age water, but it tasted a bit plastic-y to me, and nothing special. They also market their water as having very low dissolved solids (4 ppm, or something like that), so maybe I like waters with higher dissolved solids better. Icelandic Spring tasted somewhat similar to Ice Age, despite their different sources, though Icelandic Spring did not have the plastic-y taste. The big national pharmacy chain (with the red W) sells Icelandic Spring by a different brand for between $1 and $2 per bottle. (Icelandic Springs website confirms this. I had first purchased Icelandic Spring from a different internet retailer about a year ago, and then only recently purchased the Walgreens brand, though neither was that impressive.) I think Icelandic Spring is slightly alkaline.Nalaczowianka was good at the first taste, but after drinking a cup or so, I could not force myself to drink any more. Probably because this is a water from Poland that is very high in dissolved solids (600+ ppm)Penta is advertised as being an extremely pure water, with less than 1 ppm dissolved solids. But it tastes quite awful. I was really thirsty, so I was able to drink the 1/2 L bottle I purchased, but it would not be something I would buy again.New Zealand water came in a fancy Figi-ish bottle, but it was another expensive bottled water that is "just water." The same is true for Waikia. Neither brand tasted bad; they just were not worth the $1-$2 I paid per bottle. Tap water tastes just as good.Waters that were good, and I might purchase again:Aqua Panna - Good water from Italy, sold for $1.49 in glass bottles at the local grocery store. Much better than the others mentioned above, though it has a slightly strange (though not bad) aftertaste. Sold by Nestle.San Benedetto - Also from Italy, and only $1 for a glass bottle when on sale at the international supermarket chain in my area. Better than some, but needs to be well chilled. Might purchase again if I'm looking for large quantities of reasonably good water in glass bottles. (Comment pertains to still, non-sparkling water, as do all other comments in this review.)Ice Mountain - The local Nestle brand, from wells in Michigan. Not bad, and considerably better tasting than the other "purified water" brands like Dasani, Deja Blue, etc. About $3.00/case of 24 on sale. Not the best in this category, but the most economical.Poland Spring - Nestle water brand from Maine. Tastes better than Ice Mountain, but not widely available in the midwest where I live. Seems to be a harder water than some, especially Summit Spring, also bottled in Maine.Just Water - That's actually the name. From Glenn Falls, in New York state (possibly from a public source), and surprisingly good. Probably not worth more than the $1 per bottle I paid, though. The squarish bottle is also unique in that it's predominantly cardboard, with only a small percentage of foil lining and a plastic cap.Fuggi - Good tasting water from Italy. Anecdotal evidence that it may help those with kidney stones. Although it was hard to drink any more than half a liter at at time. I'm not sure why; it tasted good, but seemed more filling than other water. Strange.Mountain Valley Spring Water - American water from Arkansas. This is good water that makes me want to drink more even after I've already had some. Local Illinois large grocery store previously sold for $2/glass bottle before going out of stock. Local health food store sells for $3.19/glass bottle. Might be variable in quality. I very much enjoyed my first two large bottles, whereas the package of 4 smaller bottles did not seem to taste nearly as good, nor did the 6 bottles purchased from a different store several months later. Mountain Valley is rumored to be the choice of Congress. Fitting, I guess, with a few good ones among a majority of others. Slightly alkaline. (Bottle says 7.8 pH, 220 Total dissolved solids.)Fiji - Good water that can be found in nearly every grocery store and/or mini mart. Much better than the other offerings in most coolers at the local mini marts. Can be found for $5 for 6 bottles on sale at the local store and a bit cheaper for larger quantities on Amazon as of right now. Tastes very smooth, just like they claim. I like their squarish bottle design.Willow Water - from an aquifer in England. Purchased from Amazon for $9 for one bottle shipped from England. Tasted good, but not so good that I would pay $9 again. Bottle was plastic, but very classy. Supposedly contains trace minerals to help with skin problems.Theoni - from Greece, winner of the 2016 Berkeley Springs water tasting festival. Purchased directly from importer for about $2.50/bottle. Tasted good, but I've had better for similar prices. If Theoni was available at my local grocery store, I would consider purchasing occasionally, especially if it were available for under $2/bottle. But it's not worth buying a case again, and especially not at the regular price of $40/case. (I purchased on sale for $30.)Evian - Probably the most well known, nationally available brand, from France. Though it often costs more per bottle than even higher ranked waters (Summit Spring, among them, reviewed below.) I know Evian sort of has a stigma for being overpriced plain water, but it's been sold in U.S. stores for many years, and was a trailblazer for good bottled water, so I respect it and will probably buy a bottle again if I'm away from home and am wanting good water.Excellent waters:Saratoga Springs - Bottled in New England, this water seems "lighter" than some others I've tried, and it tastes good with no taste problems noted. Purchased from another internet site for $32 for twelve 1L glass bottles. The bottles themselves are very classy, made from dark blue glass, and I would consider purchasing them again if an occasion arose for fancy bottled water.Starkey Springs - Whole foods brand from a deep geothermal well in Idaho. I purchased a 1/2 L glass bottle on sale for $1.69. (Regular price well over $2). Tasted very good. Bottle was classy. Advertised as being alkaline with a pH of 9.6 or something very high. Compared to other alkaline waters I've tried, Starkey Springs was by far the best. However, I have only tried this one bottle since I do not have a local whole foods, and Summit Spring water (review below) is cheaper and equally delicious when purchased from Amazon via subscribe and save.Sno Glacial Water - From snow melt from a glacier in Iceland. Definitely has variable quality. The first bottle I tried was purchased from a big box store, and I was amazed at how it tasted like, well, a glacier! I can't describe it much more than that. It tastes cold, without necessarily being too chilly temperature-wise. It was Sno, specifically these bottles of Sno, that got me started in my quest to find the best bottled water. When the store stopped selling Sno water (because their remaining bottles had passed the best if used by date), I purchased a 6-pack from a third party seller on Amazon. This water was shipped from somewhere on the east coast, and it was bottled in England. (The previous bottles were bottled in Tennessee, from bulk water shipped in large crates.) But I was totally unimpressed by the water I received. Yes, it was still Sno brand supposedly from the same glacier as the other I had tasted, but it was nothing to write home about. Maybe comparable to Ice Mountain's quality, but definitely not worth $14 for 6 bottles. I then purchased a case of glass bottles from the local health food store. These were better than the stuff I got from Amazon, but nowhere near as good as the first bottles (which were plastic) that I purchased from the big box store. I did like their classy design, though. Of all the bottles of water I've purchased, these glass bottles of Sno were by far the classiest. If I am in the market for high end water with classy bottles sometime, I'll definitely consider Sno again. [Edit: As of September 2016, Sno water is no longer readily available. The company has not been active on social media recently, and did not respond to my email inquiry asking that more be shipped to Amazon to be sold. Though I did recently purchase a case from a third party seller for $58, with an expiration date in September 2017.]Berg Iceberg Water from Canada - Yes, it's from actual Icebergs collected off the shore of Newfoundland in Canada. And yes, it really does cost over $100 for a case of 24 plastic bottles. Berg water is good, though very different than most other waters I've tasted. It's hard to describe the difference, but given its unique source, it's not surprising. Berg is very smooth, "watery" water, and is advertised to contain less than 10 ppm dissolved solids. It also has a taste that's hard to describe. Although it's water from icebergs, it has a hint of sweetness. It's as puzzling to me as it sounds from my writing. I'll be purchasing another case (this time of the glass bottles) in October when my credit card gives me extra rewards from the club store, which is the exclusive U.S. distributor of Berg water.And the BEST water I've tasted among all others:Summit Spring - Sourced from a spring in Maine, bottled by a family-run business, and almost entirely unknown to those outside northern New England. It was the last brand I tried. I was thinking Sno or Saratoga Springs would be the winner, and I didn't really feel like spending another $30 on a case of water in plastic bottles that might not be any good. (Like I did with the Ice Age.) The reviews on Summit Spring's water also seemed like they might have been of questionable validity, with fewer "Amazon verified purchases" than other brands, and many fewer reviews than other waters on the site. And to be honest, I'm not a believer in the health benefits of drinking one type of water over another; to me, the important thing is just to drink water, and to enjoy what I'm drinking. So I took (and continue to take) Summit Springs' claims about how their water is healthier than others with a grain of salt.However, Summit Springs water tastes AWESOME! And it has been consistently good between the 20 +\- cases (and five more on order via Subscribe and Save!) I've purchased on Amazon. It also makes me like drinking water, more so than any other brand I've tried. I sat down to first write this review when I realized I had consumed a whole 1 1/2 Liter (1.5 Liters!) bottle of Summit Spring water in twenty minutes as I was sitting at my computer. I mean, that's unheard of for me! For years, it was a challenge for me to even finish a 0.5 Liter bottle all at once. I'm not a large person (140 pound, 26 year old male), and my drinks of choice were usually skim milk, fruit juice, and diet soda. But I knew none of those are great for me to drink in large quantities, and that I should drink more water; I just didn't like water...until I started this project. And even then, not really until I tasted Summit Spring.Again, nobody paid me to write this review and I did not receive anything for free. I just want to share my experiences with other people who might be interested.In conclusion:-Some brands of bottled water taste a LOT better than others.-Many of popular brands (even high-end popular brands) are among the worst tasting.-When looking to purchase bottled water based on taste, my recommendations are:For the absolute best tasting water, buy Summit Spring.For good water in a classy bottle, buy Saratoga Springs or Sno.For good water at a moderate price, buy Evian, Fiji or Aqua Panna.For reasonably good water for cheap, buy Ice Mountain, Poland Spring, (or your local Nestle water brand.)If you are feeling lucky, try Sno glacier water, which might be very good, but maybe not.And that same one sentence summary again: I have tried over 20 brands of bottled water, and Summit Spring water is the best tasting, most consistently great water of all the brands I have tried.Edit 7/7/2016: Added reviews for Willow, New Zealand water, Waikia, Penta, Poland Spring, Whole foods store brand, Starkey Springs, Evamor, Nalaczowianka, and Theoni waters. Corrected a few grammatical mistakes. Changed prices for Ice Mountain and Aqua Panna.Edit 8/8/2016: Fixed one small typo (changed 14 to 24.) Copied this review to listings on Amazon of other bottle sizes of summit spring water.Edit 9/10/2016: Added reviews for Evian, Berg, Aquafina, San Benedetto, and Just Water. Small formatting edits and other edits for better readability. Several facts added and updated. Changed 24 to 28 in several places.

Tastes bitter and way too expensive.

In a time when words like "pure" and "natural" have lost their value, it's more important than ever to truly know the source of our food & water. I can assure you that Summit Spring is an actual spring, in Maine. The only one in Maine that is bottled at the actual spring. The taste is dramatically different if you're not used to real living spring water, the best ever!One of the last free flowing springs on earth, gravity fed (only overflow, no pumps or boreholes) & truly bottled only at the source. No other company other than Summit Spring will show you an actual video picture of their source water bubbling straight from the ground.I highly recommend checking out their website for yourself, I couldn't possibly say enough good. I have been a customer for years and have made it my business to be well informed and only give my money to the best. Summit Spring water has no competition because, sadly, other companies are not selling real, gathered at the source "spring" water. It is well worth more than they charge for the unmatched quality but I am thankful they are affordable!

I bought this cuz the reviews raved. It doesn't taste any different from anything else, in fact my husband thinks it tastes more like tap water than our tap water. If I could get my money back I would.

this is only the true spring water in america. (hence the COST) privately owned family bussiness. all the other so-called spring water companies add chlorine and fluoride to their water to maintain the millions of gallons of they sell each year. SUMMIT SPRINGS sells roughly 300,000 cases only because it,s spring is only 3 feet deep,and thats because thats all mother nature will put out from that spring. AND THEY GIVE TOURS! SPEND THE MONEY AND GIVE YOUR BODY TRUE NATURES WATER!!!

Great water and great bottles. Price is a bit ridiculous though.

I love the product, I do not like how its delivered, the original box is so damaged that the bottles are dented, they have to put it in another box. The idea of the water is that it has never seen the light of day. If it continues to come with the boxes and bottles so damaged I will cancel my subscription.

I live in Maine and try this water from time to time. It always tastes like dirt and makes me nauseous. My mother agrees that it tastes like dirt, but she loves it. Yuk!