In Ireland it may turn out to be the bar of the future, but in Paris it's the bar of the present - an establishment that serves over 60 varieties of water.
Opened in 1997 and situated just a stone's throw away from Kitty O'Shea's pub, Colette's at 213 Rue Saint-Honore ensures that, whatever your taste in water, you're sure to find something to revitalise and restock your body with all the right minerals and trace elements. This designer bar is the ultimate in chic, while the cellar, with its hundreds of bottles lined up on racks, is as inviting as any wine cellar in Bordeaux.
Bottled water in general is destined to be the drink of the future, and one day not too far off everyone will be drinking it. Growth in the business internationally is already estimated at 10 per cent annually, and new markets are opening up every day, particularly in eastern Europe and Asia, where the quality and quantity of drinking water has created a huge demand.
In Paris, especially, where most inhabitants buy bottled water to accompany meals, the draconian and sometimes complicated measures taken to ensure high standards in tap water have had little or no effect on the population's habits.
The bottled version has been big business in France for many years and, in Paris, the municipal authorities have invested heavily in making the city's water highly drinkable. ete Anonyme de Gestion des Eaux de Paris (SAGEP) is a company that controls the entire water circuit, holds 70 per cent of the shares and is largely financed by the city. Paris Municipality. It is responsible for sourcing sources the water, treating it and transporting it to the city.
Some 48 water sources within a 150-kilometre radius of south-west Paris provide 750 million litres each day, with roughly half of this used for domestic purposes. The rest goes to clean the streets, and the excess is thrown back into the Seine. Only 1 per cent is drunk by Parisians.
Tests and controls are strict. Water tasters, just like wine tasters, examine smell, transparency, colour, composition of minerals and bacteria every two hours, 24 hours a day. Parisian tap water is also high in calcium, sodium, magnesium and chlorine. In 1997 France produced 5,540 million litres of mineral water, putting it in third place after Italy and Germany, which produced 7,540 and 7,515 million litres respectively. Ireland is also breaking into the market with a total of 47 million litres in 1997, and this figure is rising.
Danone and Nestle are the two industrial giants in France battling for the biggest share in the "white petrol" world market. At the end of 1977, Nestle, number one worldwide in mineral water, took over San Pellegrino, the leader in Italy. Six months later Danone fought back, acquiring Aqua, Asia's bottled water leader, and Health, the leader in the Chinese market.
In France, however, Evian remains the queen of bottled water. Its publicity line - "the water you drink is as important as the air you breathe"- works superbly: the brand has been successfully marketed as a pure and healthy luxury product in 120 countries. Nestle fought Italy's Agnelli family for control of Perrier, another best-seller which hit a crisis in 1990 when traces of benzene were discovered in the water. It cost Perrier Ff200 million to take the bottles off shelves around the world and the brand has never really recovered. In 1989 1.2 billion bottles of Perrier were consumed, but in 1997 sales had fallen to 650 million.
Despite all this, Perrier wasn't a bad acquisition for Nestle. At the end of the 1970s, the company was among the first to buy mineral water sources in the US, and today Arrowhead and Poland Spring lead that market. Perrier also had a 35 per cent share in San Pellegrino, a top-of-the-range water that is exported to 90 countries.
So, what actually makes a bottle of mineral water? In France a few simple rules set out by the Health Ministry are adhered to strictly: the water must be naturally pure and contain certain trace elements and minerals; it must be bottled at the source; and the name of the bottle must correspond to this place.
The range of mineral waters on French supermarket shelves is growing and marketing is highly sophisticated and meticulously targeted. Contrex, for example, claims to be a partner in beating the bulge. It changed the shape of its bottle last spring and is now "waisted" - moulded to look slim and svelte. This is the water you drink before you slip into a bikini in the summer. Badoit comes in light, clear, green packaging, just what you need if you have digestive problems. Volvic and Evian are the "family" water, placed on the table at meal-times or used in babies' bottles.
All these brands are staples, delivered unceremoniously in bulk to homes all over Paris every week.
But none of these everyday, supermarket waters is half as glamorous or exciting as what is to be found in Colette's water bar.e, where the first water bar opened in Paris in on March 20th 1997. Whatever your taste in water, is you are sure to find something to revitalize and restock your body with all the right minerals and trace elements in very pleasant surroundings. Situated in a part of Paris full of offices and clothes shops, the bar is open throughout the day and the clients are mainly young. Chic, simple and restful, it is in the basement of a three-storey boutique that sells clothes, makeup, furniture, jewellery and much more.
First on the menu is a "smart" water, Glacau, with its high-powered mix of potassium, calcium and magnesium. This is presumably for the young bankers just around the corner who frequent the bar daily.
Gleneagles and Highland Spring are in the "pure and unique" category, whereas Acqua della Madonna is the "most kitsch." Lynx is good for digestion and and Thorspring from Iceland has "no chemical additives."
Theodora Quelle from Hungary is much appreciated by the Princess of Byzance, Theodora. Clearly Canadian is coyly flavoured with blackberry, peach or strawberry, whereas Hatakosen Lamune is billed as Japanese lemonade. YMA goes one further and proposes apple-cinnamon, fennel-coriander or strawberry-mint flavours in its slightly sparkling mineral water. Ten Degrees from England is voted the most "classy" - and therefore the most expensive - at Ff35 for a 75cl bottle.
But the best marketing idea surely comes from Ame. This drink copies the red, white and rose classification of wines. It is "lightly sparkling, with a revitalising blend of fruit juices, eastern herbs and vitamins". The bottles are a work of art in themselves and the customer can take them home - some consolation when you consider how much you have spent on what is, after all, just a glass of water.
But is this just another interesting idea imported from New York or are the Parisians seriously thinking of swapping a glass of full-bodied red wine or a carafe of good, clean tap water for an expensive bottle of flavoured water?
As a native New Yorker points out, the French introduced the idea of drinking mineral water to the US and Evian and Perrier were, and in some cases still are, the most chic of beverages in New York bars.
In the meantime, I notice a few wines have been discreetly slipped onto the menu chez Colette.