Andrea Immer, the author of Great Wine Made Simple (www.amazon.com), tasted and critiqued the 10 best-selling bottled waters (according to Beverage Digest) for Real Simple. Water, it turns out, is not so tasteless after all. Here's how Immer ranked them. (The numbers in the parentheses are the sales rankings.)

1. ABERFOYLE (3; sold at Wal-Mart) Creamy texture and a silky mouth feel, but also a "lift" to the flavor. It's the best all-purpose water.

2. CRYSTAL GEYSER (10) Purest, most neutral, and "clean," with some viscosity.

3. DANNON (5) The 10 milligrams of sodium give a brightness and dimension to the flavor that's pleasant and lively.

4. EVIAN (7) The rich viscosity gives this water a "wetter" feeling and a smooth taste.

5. DASANI (6) Pleasant. Think of the clean and natural smell of wet gravel after rain.

6. DEER PARK (9) Smooth, with a little hint of mineral taste. Quite nice.

7. ARROWHEAD (8) Clean but flat, like drinking water after it's been boiled and cooled.

8. AQUAFINA (1) The top seller is among my least favorites because of a slight papery taste in the mouth and a bitterness in the aftertaste.

9. GENERIC STORE BRAND (2; in this case, Rite Aid's Crystal Lake) Has a chalky and gritty aftertaste, as though you've drunk from a dusty glass.

10. POLAND SPRING (4) It has that slightly stale taste of a glass of water that's been sitting around for a while.