London Shop Is Selling Bottled Water For £120

Fine Liquids launched in Fulham, south west London, earlier this month and Milin Patel, a certified water sommelier, wants to make you question what you think you know about H2O.

Prices range from as little as £2.50 to as much as £120 per bottle, and Milin even offers 'water tasting courses'.

Milin, 40, wants to show people water should be appreciated, and can be paired with meals like wine.

He said: "I call myself the Willy Wonka of natural water. I've always had a deep passion for water - it's my life and I want to show others how to appreciate it.

"There are so many different factors that make a water unique - different temperatures and levels of minerals change its taste and how it feels in your mouth.

"There is no single best water in the world but it's my job to find the perfect one for you."

Over the years, Milin has collaborated with companies including Water Aid and the NHS - and even Watches of Switzerland, where he paired water with watches.

Milin met his now business partner, German Pat Eckert, 47, online in 2020, after Pat took over Fine Liquids in 2018. Previously, it had been a wine and water distribution company, but Pat completely relaunched it as a water only-distributor before Milin joined two years later.

Their tagline is 'hydrate the imagination', with their aim being to adapt the way people think of water.

Fine Liquids has two warehouses in Germany already and with Milins help they have now opened their first UK shop.

The shop stocks hundreds of different waters from different natural water sources all around the world, from natural springs to collected rain pools, each with different properties from the next.

Milin explained how this can be dependent on factors such as temperature and mineral content, because "different levels of calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate for example, all create a different taste and feel in the mouth."

The most expensive option is APSU Origin Water, from Patagonia - sold at £120 per 750ml bottle.

But don't worry, the shop is far from anti-tap water, with it being home to a special Aquaporin water filter to show people how the taste of tap water can be changed by filtering.

Milin has also managed to avoid the bad reputation that bottled water has of being bad for the environment - the shop stocks no plastic bottles and instead, everything is stored in glass to prevent the flavour of the water being altered.

"You'd be surprised how many people in the UK who buy cheap plastic commoditised water and think it's better than tap water," he said.

"We should all drink tap water, or filtered tap water, for hydration, and drink glass-bottled water like a fine wine, or a sweet treat."