While I know my chemistry and physiology too well to believe any of the health claims, I love this water for one simple reason: TASTE!
Yes, waters have taste! I've been part of several water tasting studies and know restaurants that sport a "water sommelier" as well as a water menu featuring about 50 "luxury" waters.
What makes Qure unique is that it is one of the most rounded, "heaviest", i.e. most full-bodied waters out there. You could almost call it bold and it almost seems "oily". You can tell the higher viscosity just by looking at it in the bottle or in a glass.
This gives it incredible, silky smoothness and almost a "sweet" sensation, without any bitterness or drying sensation. (This answers the question about sulfates, as they would be the main cause of bitterness or dryness.)
Very few still waters have this full, silky quality, and they are becoming harder and harder to find.
The perfect use for a water like this is to use it for your dilutions when tasting a fine, cask-strength Whisk(e)y or spirit. Some Scottish distilleries used to bottle and sell their spring water, but most have stopped doing so. It is note-worthy that all the Speyside waters I have tried have had the same oily, sweet, full-bodied qualities that Qure exhibits.
Now, a few words about chemistry... "Acidosis" seems to be the new enemy after we've "fought" fat, alcohol, salt, sugar etc., all of which turned out to be beneficial in moderation... It is impossible to achieve a threatening acidosis without having serious medical conditions causing it in the first place. Our body is simply buffered too strongly to allow for swings like that.
The most important point, however, is this: The same people who promote an "alkaline" diet will tell you to drink apple cider vinegar, a very acidic product. I've even had people try to convince me that the malic ACID in apple cider vinegar, a moderately strong acid, will actually promote alkaline reactions... If you know anything about your chemical equilibria, you have to see the irony of all these claims.
This water definitely is in an interesting pH range. Then again, my local tap water already is alkaline (around pH 8.5), but everybody is worried about that. For with the pH comes the mineral load, and lots of it at this high a pH. Over long periods of times, this bears the risk of favoring the formation of kidney stones, bladder stones, and other deposits.
I can only hypothesize that with today's craze about high-protein diets, which are incredibly hard on your kidneys, maybe a high pH water will help flush the aquaporins you're building up with your diet. I am seriously worried about all the renal insufficiencies and failures we will see in the future, which is one of the most dreadful chronic conditions to have, inducing prolonged decline and suffering.
So, PLEASE, drink water because you like the TASTE, not because you think it's "good" for you. Water will kill you - if you drink too much of it! The dose makes the poison.
"Dehydration" has been another over-used buzzword ever since the early 90s in the U.S. - seek out what George Carlin had to say about it. If anything, we are drinking too much liquid these days, and will suffer the health repercussions of that in the future.
