Tasting is the process of comparing two or more ingredients to each other. The word taste originates from touch, or “to explore by touching”: something external touches us, and we perceive it with our body. The sensation depends on your mood, the company we are in, and how the substances are served. Deliberately tasting something familiar, like our daily drinking water, is difficult because we have grown accustomed to it. Learning to taste what we drink is useful for developing awareness of our habitat and how it is changing. However, tasting becomes a privilege when there is a lack of resources. Andreoletti and Yli-Vakkuri have developed an artistic practice that employs culinary methods to help re-sensitive folk to their environments. They do this through excursions to natural springs and by introducing tasting as a process of geological analysis.
Tea Andreoletti (b.1991, Gromo, Italy) is a storyteller, ignorant educator, pilgrimage guide, and non-professional fencer. In 2026 she will run for mayor in the municipal elections of her hometown of 1209 inhabitants. She has attended the Mineral Water Taster course in Rome (A.D.A.M.) to become a hydro-sommelier. Eero Yli-Vakkuri (b.1981, Helsinki, Finland) is a recovering survivalist. In the past he made annoying street interventions which made people uncomfortable. Presently he is advancing sustainable design through campaigns, workshops and artistic presentations.
Tasting Book
Learn more about tasting with Tasting Book by Andreoletti and Yli-Vakkuri with illustrations by Thomas Berra. This book will teach you about the hydrosommelier tasting process in four steps, with a recipe for creating faux S. Pellegrino from tap water, as well as how to taste with your skin and how to enjoy tap water.
