You'd think that when dealing with something as simple and straightforward as water, there couldn't be any confusion. Water is water, right? Confusingly enough, this isn't so. Living in a time when information is accessible through small portable devices that we keep in our pockets, it's only natural that things just cease being simple -- they become tampered, enhanced and they require explanation. And water is not exempt from that.
You may have noticed when walking down the aisle of the grocery store that there are many options when it comes to carbonated water (also referred to as bubbly water, sparkling water, club soda, soda water and seltzer). And despite what you might think, this isn't just a difference of regional terminology; it isn't the Europeans calling it sparkling, the New Englanders seltzer and everyone else club soda. And then there's also tonic water -- what's that, anyway?
There's a real, bonafide difference between these types of water. And while the discrepancies are somewhat slight, they're enough of one for the waters to merit their own name, and so it's worth getting to the bottom of. Here's what you need to know:
CORRECTION: The post initially suggested that San Pellegrino does not contain additional carbonation; it does.