Recently I was contacted by the fine folks at MAVEA to do a product review of the Elemaris water filter pitcher.

I eagerly agreed because I have the hardest time downing water, and any excuse to drink more is fine by me.  Even though I run 2 miles every day and crave water quite often,  I still get far less water intake than I should. The main reason? Taste. I always “taste” something when I drink water from the tap, so I tend to cover it up with lots of lemon or lime juice and crushed ice, which is a pain (I’m so lazy!).  So I usually just drink coffee.

I know….

Enter the MAVEA Elemaris water filter pitcher.

(from the website)

MAVEA’s Elemaris enhances the taste and aroma of your food by removing chlorine and bacterial contaminants from your tap water. But that’s not the only benefit, MAVEA’s sophisticated technology softens your tap water to the optimum hardness without adding any sodium, which results in a more flavorful and organic taste.

MAVEA have developed a sleek new way to filter tap water.  Dedicated to supporting an environmentally friendly alternative to bottled water, they strike the perfect balance between form and function. Their debut water filtration pitcher in the US, the Elemaris, has all the features that will influence consumers to join a new generation of water filtration.

First, this thing is very cool looking. It’s sleek and trimmed in black and has nice lines. All things that I normally look for in a water filtration system, right?

Of course not. The look of the thing is just a bonus!

The folks at MAVEA have most definitely struck a nice balance between form and function on this one.

It arrived at my doorstep fully assembled. The only thing I really had to do was activate the filter… which took the longest amount of time. I was kind of shocked at how slowly the water trickled through the filter reservoir to get into the pitcher *- but my husband insisted I was being ridiculous, and that this is to be expected of such a magnificent piece of kitchen equipment. Okay, those weren’t exactly his words, but he raved on and on about it quite endearingly from the second I opened up the package. He was sold- and he hadn’t even tasted the water from the darned thing!

After learning a bit about the product, I was really excited over the features the filter had going on. Here’s a few that struck my fancy:

1. BPA free
2. 100% recyclable
3. made from coconut shells

So, enough about the look and function of this thing. The biggest note of importance for me is the taste of the filtered water.

I compared the taste of the filtered water from the pitcher to just a plain glass of unfiltered well water from my tap. I honestly don’t dislike the taste of the water from our well, but it’s not exactly “good”- so I was happy to see that the MAVEA pitcher made it a lot better. It really did!

The water straight from my tap, after comparing it with that from the MAVEA pitcher, tasted… kinda slimy. In contrast, the pitcher water was crisp and not a trace of slime shone through.

With the memory of slime cemented firmly in my head, I don’t think I’ll be quick to drink from the tap without my super slick MAVEA pitcher from now on. So, there you go… I’m hooked too. I cannot wait to make coffee with it!

I also made this simple and refreshing Cranberry cooler with water from my newly acquired MAVEA pitcher. And, even though I’m not the biggest fan of sweetened beverages, I really enjoyed this little mixed drink. Even more so with the filtered water. :)

Cranberry Cooler Concentrate

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh cranberries
• 2 cups organic sugar
• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 cup water

In saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook over medium heat and stir regularly until cranberries become soft. Using a potato masher or fork, smash cranberries in the pot as they are cooking. Let simmer one or two minutes and crush again. Strain syrup into a small jar, reserving fruit solids. Store sealed jar in your fridge until ready to use.

To make a cooler, add about 3 tablespoons cranberry concentrate to about 8 oz filtered water. Serve over ice & garnish with fresh cranberries.

Use leftover fruit solids as cranberry sauce or to flavor other dishes.

The cranberry sauce is delicious too!

* entire filtration process is estimated at 1 minute…but it seemed like forever!

Share and Enjoy