Penguin lovers have two more reasons to be happy: sparkling and still Penguin Ice water. Photography by Claire Freierman | THE NIBBLE.
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MARISSA GOLDBERG is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education.
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December 2008
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Penguin Ice Premium Spring Water
Appearing at a Well-Dressed Table Near You
CAPSULE REPORT: Love penguins? Looking for fun table fashion Penguin Ice, in still and sparkling, may be your water of choice. This is Page 1 of a two-page article. Click on the red links below to visit Page 2.
Overview
For Penguin Ice bottled waters, the bottle is just as important as the water inside it; its cute name and logo are hardly a prerequisite for serious bottled water drinkers. But Penguin Bottling Company believes that water is fashion: While there’s always been the good and the blah of bottled water in terms of taste, now there’s the element of table fashion to consider.
As one of the newer waters on the market (introduced in November, 2007), Penguin Ice is designed to accompany the “well-dressed table”—a trademark and image of the  brand. The company’s co-founders, Mikel M. Draghici and John R. Ingrassia, want nothing less than to elevate their water’s exterior status. Turning water into wine, as it were, the 750ml European glass bottles have a sleek wine bottle design. The founders envision a table elegantly set with china, silver, satin, flowers, and, of course, fine stemware filled with Penguin Ice.
The two longtime friends entered the water industry to quench a growing consumer thirst for higher-end water. Draghici, who had been a computer security executive, and Ingrassia, a former Washington, D.C. corporate attorney, wanted to create a water product that was impressive both inside and out. In 2006, they initiated a worldwide search to find the water and the glass bottle that met their standards.
The water is sourced from the banks of the Outaouais River in the village of St. Andre d’Argenteuil near Montreal, Quebec. The bottles tell a brief story of the water reserve (in both English and French) and the Laurentide Ice Sheet it once was. The Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of Canada and the northern United States, down to New York City, during the Ice Age.
The last Ice Age peaked around 20,000 years ago, filling today’s rivers, lakes, oceans and underground water sources. Now, some of it is bottled as Penguin Ice, still and sparkling.
Continue To Page 2: Tasting The Waters
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