60 minutes has done an interview titled: The Flavorists. During the interview, they visit a citrus farm in California. They walk along the orchards, the way they talk would make one think they are Perfumists. They nibble on a fresh slice of orange and delight in mentioning “Papaya notes and over intoxicating tropical notes.”

They carry around clipboards. They make comments such as “I could see it in a sports drink, or maybe water, flavored water.” Though the real magic happens when the camera zooms in on a crazy little contraption they use to extract the flavor molecules from the fruit on a tree. Then they’ll take those natural molecules back to the lab and replicate a taste that tastes like the fruit with man-made chemicals. Yup, you heard right, a taste that mimics nature, coming to a supermarket near you.

Their ultimate goal: To discover a flavor that consumers can’t resist. They stress the importance of no lingering taste. Of course not, a lingering taste does not invoke the term, refreshing within the subconscious.

If the taste doesn’t linger, the consumer is bound to want more. This is similar to the way in which I crave water, which is bound to refresh me, but not with man-made chemicals. Rather it serves to give my body not only something craves, but needs. Fact: the human body is made up of 98% of it.

In this article, I stress that the problem is not lack of water. If you think that’s the case, you are in fact inept. Our planet is covered in 70% water. The problem is lack of access to drinkable water. You can thank the 1% for that. Somehow, they’ve managed to sell bottled water and make it irresistibly accessible. You can find it in regular or naturally flavored with chemicals, maybe it really is a free country after all.