A testimonial signed "George Z." announces that he has just run a two-minute mile, then thoroughly cleaned the park where he did it. Some fans write with tips: Coffee brewed with Water Joe will pack twice the caffeine. The rapid expansion has been fueled by a slew of publicity, plus word of mouth abetted by an Internet Web site listed on every bottle.Īt consumer testimonials appear beneath the heading "What's Your Story? (Feel Free to Embellish)." makes regular deliveries to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting house, the Baltimore Ravens personnel office and the Starbucks at the University of Maryland. In the Washington area, in addition to local 7-Elevens, Rockville distributor Vintage Beverages Inc. It quickly became the beverage of choice on the manic floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, which bars coffee and soft drinks because they might stain. The end result - a clear, noncarbonated fluid, free of calories and taste - has exceeded sales expectations tenfold, Holdener says. "You wouldn't want to be caught with it in your car," says Holdener, who founded Nicolet. The extracted caffeine arrives at the plant in the form of white powder. The "boost" comes from coffee beans used in making decaf. The water is drawn from an artesian well in northern Wisconsin owned by Nicolet Forest Bottling Co. The friend's dad owned a beverage company, which had a chemist who eventually succeeded in blending caffeine and water. The creator of Water Joe splits his time between a home office and Water Concepts, the fledgling company that grew out of lunch with a friend six years after Marcheschi held his nose and swallowed that coffee at Arizona State. "I'm wide awake," he says by phone from suburban Chicago. In this case, that somebody was David Marcheschi. If there's a market for a product, somebody will make it." "It's just so typical of our country, I think. water, should be a vehicle for adding back some of the factors that are, in fact, the very reason why water was promoted in the first place," says Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University. "It is just fascinating to me that something that in its natural state was viewed as a healthful beverage, i.e. Introduced in Chicago a year ago, it has moved from its Midwestern base while inspiring imitators with names such as "Krank 2-0," "Edge 2-O" and "Java Johnny." "The city doesn't sleep, and I don't mean to compare it to Las Vegas."Ī half-liter bottle of Water Joe contains about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. Holdener, president of Water Concepts LLC, the Chicago company that makes Water Joe. "I've got to think there's a tremendous number of late-night staffers there," says David J. The city that alternately prides and admonishes itself for the hours it keeps sizes up as a caffeinated water market that has remained, you might say, untapped. But in Washington, students aren't the only ones pulling all-nighters. In fact, the inspiration for Water Joe, the granddaddy of this infant industry, came during a late night over the books at Arizona State University to a student who despised the taste of coffee but needed to stay up. "Fill up the water cooler!"Īt least four companies in the last year have begun marketing what one company calls "spring water with an attitude." The target audience in most regions remains truck drivers, night watchmen and students struggling to stay awake for all-nighters. "We think it's fabulous!" cries committee staff member Elizabeth Morra, who hasn't had the pleasure of sampling caffeinated water but can hardly wait. In September, when the House Appropriations Committee staff was up for three nights straight pounding out the nation's budget, the choices through the wee hours were coffee, Diet Coke and Coke. She first sampled a brand of caffeinated water named Water Joe while in San Diego for the second presidential debate, then spent the rest of the campaign vainly searching - through eyes heavy from lack of sleep - for more. "It seems like an inspired invention to me, frankly," says Mary Ellen Glynn, a deputy press secretary at the White House. It is a paradox in a bottle, now available in stores: caffeinated water.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |