What does "true essence" taste like?

Continuing my admittedly obsessive occasional series about the water served in hotel conference rooms, I now present this Norwegian one from a meeting today. This one had to travel 3500 miles. But unlike the decantered blueberry water or the plastic bottled water from the other side of the globe served at other hotels, this water is shipped thousands of miles in a glass bottle.

How about that bottle! We learn from the company website that the designers "utilized the depth of their experience from the cosmetic industry in understanding how to create a brand personality that differentiates itself through the entire experience, reflecting the true essence of the brand."

Cost: $2 per bottle for about 12 ounces, roughly the cost of 350 gallons of tap water in Boston.

After a taste test last year, our hospital switched from bottled water to tap water for meetings. We decided that the "true essence" of bottled water did not add to its taste.