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September 2006

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Beverages

Borsec Mineral Water

From The Heart Of Transylvania

CAPSULE REPORT: People who like a water with a lot of calcium and magnesium should try Borsec, a water that has won more international waters than most. It’s been used as a curative for centuries, and was the favorite table water of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph. Loaded with natural carbonation, it’s closest in style to Apollinaris.

In the Eastern Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania, the small spa town of Borsec (Borszek) is listed in the register of historical monuments. The reason is the very old source of its famous mineral-rich water, which made the town one of the most renown curative spas in Europe. Records from 1594 show that it was it was transported by carts in wooden casks to the Royal Court in the Transylvanian capital of Alba Iulia.

Beginning in the 18th century, the mineral waters were bottled in sealed pitchers which were then put into sacks and transported on horseback to Hungary to the west Moldavia to the east, and Wallachia to the south. By the end of the 18th century, the curative powers of the mineral waters made Borsec famous, attracting those who needed to take the waters to cure their ailments. First huts were built, then chalets and then primitive bathing establishments which made it possible for many patients to take residence in the small village. cure the illnesses that they suffered from. Records from 1767 say that “Borsec is the place where desperate patients from the country and from abroad gather during the summer.” Borsec has been prescribed for anemia, circulatory disease, diabetes, disease of the endocrine glands, nervous disease, renal disease, rickets, even for obesity.

It became a favorite table water as well. Borsec has a massive concentration of calcium and robust levels of magnesium and bicarbonate, coupled with a very high concentration of free and very stable carbon dioxide. Borsec was the favorite water of Austrian Emperor Franz Josef, who dubbed it “Mineral Water Queen Borsec” (Regina Apelor Minerale SA Borsec) in 1873. It is Romania’s number one water, and popular throughout Europe.

The water has won medals in competitions in Berlin, Budapest, Moscow, Poland, Trieste, Vienna and was the gold medal winner in the carbonated water category at the 2004 Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting in West Virginia. Most recently it picked up a gold medal this year at a world competition in Brussels.

*TDS = Total Dissolved Solids
†ND = Non-Detectable