My next guest is an expert on drinking water,
and he's created a 40 page water menu
at Ray's and Stark Bar, right here Los Angeles.
Please welcome the country's first water sommelier,
Martin Riese.
(audience applauds)
Okay, Martin, I heard about you and I was fascinated.
You're a water sommelier.
Correct.
And you believe that there are many types of water
and flavors of water,
and it's important to know the distinction.
I'm not even believing in that.
There is actually.
It's a fact.
You devoted your life to this?
Yes.
Yes, okay.
So, you must believe this.
You have a degree for this.
Is that correct?
Correct, in 2010, I received my certification
as a mineral water sommelier
from the German Water Association.
Okay.
So you are certified as a water sommelier.
Correct.
All right, you have a menu here.
20 types of water at Ray's and Stark Bar.
And I was flipping through this and it's all these waters.
Now, don't they all just taste like water?
I hate to sound ignorant.
(Martin laughs)
But doesn't it just taste like water?
Uh, yes and no.
So, they're all definitely water,
so they're all coming from the same, like,
source because up from the air,
because all rain water at one point.
[Conan] Yes.
And they're dripping down, raining down, of the different
like sorts and different layers of the ground.
And the water going through different layers,
the same like wine, kind of.
And they suddenly, they're taking minerals with them
and so they taste differently.
And you can say, like, oh this water comes from Spain.
It tastes a little bit more like salty and bitter
than maybe water that comes from the Fiji Islands.
Yes, okay.
So, you can actually do that?
You can taste a water,
and say, yes, yes, yes, I'm getting hints of what?
What are you getting hints of?
Saltiness, bitterness, sweetness...
I'm getting slate.
I'm getting granite.
I'm getting...
Yeah, almost like I'm getting some mud.
What am I getting here?
Actually, I have one water with me today
I want you want to try.
It's like a little earthy notes to it as well.
It has an earthiness?
Perfect.
I find this fascinating.
When did you first notice that you were fascinated by water?
I think my parents noticed it first.
Because I'm coming from the Danish border,
so up north from Germany,
and when I went on vacation with my parents,
the first thing I always did in different cities
I was drinking tap water.
And my parents was like, whoa, what's going on with our son?
Why's he so thirsty?
For me it was more like,
it's a taste, Mum.
It's the taste, Dad.
You don't get it?
It's water, what's wrong?
We should see a doctor, maybe or something.
[Conan] Yes, yes. And then like...
Yes, maybe you should see a doctor, yes.
So, you were constantly drinking water,
but it was just because you could taste different flavors.
And clearly your parents couldn't, right?
They were just like, it's water.
Now they can because now I explained them
a little bit as well.
And I think everybody can do it.
And I think even the whole audience will, can do it as well
when they are coming to Ray's and Stark.
And they will see how water can actually taste different.
Alright, we're gonna do a tasting now,
and we're gonna bring out some different kinds of waters.
They're gonna be brought out right now.
I know that's gonna happen, and it's gonna happen soon.
And here it comes.
(audience laughs)
And you're gonna take us through.
You have brought a lot of these waters.
Is that right?
These are your waters?
Thank you gentlemen.
I don't want to say my waters, but like (laughs).
I don't know what to talk about now.
I didn't mean this came from your body.
(audience laughs)
Whoo.
This water was slowly I'm not touching that now.
Slowly leeched from your body,
through your pores.
Tell us, how do you even do a water tasting?
Help me.
It's almost like the same with wine.
Therefore, we brought some wine glasses.
And, so, the great thing about a water tasting
so all we can after our water tasting go straight to like
being pulled over by the police and we don't have to worry.
That's the greatest thing actually about a water tasting.
Yes.
What if we've murdered somebody?
[Conan] Yeah that's a good question.
Simon wants to know what if you've murdered somebody?
That would be tricky.
Then you've got a different problem.
You can actually um...
Why don't you get us started?
Let's do this.
Okay, so I brought like some kind of variety.
Yes, all the varieties of water are right before us.
But, because we're saying like
H2O is the correction of water,
so it's all H2O, but they all have different TDS levels.
And TDS level means total dissolved solids.
So that really depends like what water tastes like
maybe fruity, maybe salty, maybe bitter.
And we're starting here with Burke.
It's a Canadian ice glacier water.
15 thousand years old water.
This is 15 thousand year old water?
Yep. And this...
This must be very expensive.
Hopefully, it tastes like water.
Okay, and what do I do? It's 20 dollars on our menu,
so it's pretty expensive. Right here, okay.
All right, and what can I do to taste this water?
Take me through it.
Drink it.
Okay.
(audience laughs)
Am I supposed to sniff it first?
No.
My grandmother always saying, Martin,
when you like, you like have a like
small like odor in your water or something,
don't drink it.
Okay, so if it's odorless, you know you've got good water?
Correct.
Ah, oh! Toast.
Ah!
(audience laughs)
Woohoo.
Here we go.
It's water.
Great.
It's water!
I love it.
It's water.
No, yeah, okay.
No, it's super clean, super
it's like super smooth I would say as well
on your palette.
There's like no salt and there's no...
What are you getting?
Simon, what are you getting?
I'm getting, uh,
disappointment.
(audience laughs)
I should shank that.
Yes, yes, yes.
My wife swears that she can tell the difference.
Okay, so I need to contrast this.
We need to contrast this, Simon.
That's what we need to do.
So, I said a little bit about...
Here, I've gotta, we need to get Simon his own glass.
So I said a little bit about TDS levels,
so this one has a TDS of under 10.
TDS or tedious?
T (laughs)
Okay, I'm sorry. T-D-S.
Here we go.
That's for you.
And this is for me.
Now, this is a little sparkly, yes?
Ah!
Mmmm, I'm getting sparkles.
I'm getting some bubbles.
No odor.
That just tastes, that actually tastes
like it has a lot of salt in it.
Correct.
Thank you.
So this has a TDS level of 3,500.
I don't like this at all.
This is like salt water.
This is salt water.
Mmm, that is saltier, yeah.
This is what you drink when you're dying on a raft.
It tastes like...
What I'm always think it tastes like two aspirins
already in soft in that water.
Exactly, it tastes like Alka-Seltzer.
It's the perfect water for you.
The hangover water.
Yeah, thank you.
(audience laughs)
Thank you for calling our first guest a drunk.
(audience laughs)
He did such a great job on that.
Now, I'm gonna eat some crackers in between.
Don't do it, don't do it.
Oh my God.
What, what's the matter?
When you go to wine tasting
you eat some crackers in between.
Yeah, maybe.
What are you talking about?
There's something...
No, this is the way I eat crackers.
So don't cleanse the palette?
No, I don't cleanse my palette
because you don't want to cleanse your palette
with water on water, so...
You want to actually see the difference in waters
so you don't, you should not abstract your palette
with different like tastes.
Like with crackers or something.
Actually, in the wine tasting you shouldn't as well.
I'm actually going to have wine in between.
I love that.
(audience cheers)
That's a lot of body.
In fact, if we could just switch over to wine,
that would be fantastic.
All right, what's the next water?
Cause we're almost out of time.
I've actually got a perfect water for your wine.
You're gonna pair a water with my wine?
Yep, correct.
And this water can actually does that.
This is Beverly Hills 9OH2O.
You're going to prison for that.
We've got a special number for you.
One twelve, I heard something special about this date.
One twelve.
The way you're looking at me (Martin laughs)
as you take off the...
Okay, so it this like a really good water right here?
Yes.
Okay.
Pass that one down to Simon. This water comes from...
This water comes from the Santa Ana mountains.
And we add different minerals to it
to pair perfectly with great wines.
Like the one you have right there.
Okay.
Never been done before,
and they're all limited edition
so this one is number 112 of 10,000.
And this water's like super smooth, crisp.
And it shames your wine.
I'm getting,
this tastes exactly like the first water we had.
To me.
What do you mean no?
Yes. Nah.
Okay, taste your first water again.
You can't tell me what I feel.
Where's the first one?
How do I know what the first one is?
(audience laughs)
I can take both glasses...
(spits)
Salty one.
Okay, this is the first one.
No!
I don't get it.
I don't get anything.
What do you taste?
Do you taste anything, Simon?
Well, my wife swears that Evian is grittier than Volvic.
She said that to me once.
No, it's gritty.
I said why can't we have Evian?
No, it's gritty, I want Volvic.
So she can tell.
And she's just a layperson.
(men laugh)
Not like that, I didn't mean that.
For me, it's actually the most important thing
Of course, I'm getting jealous now here.
What's that?
No, that's mine, too. (Martin laughs)
Why don't you stick to your party, pal?
(audience laughs)
Nah, here you go.
Have fun.
There you go.
Yay.
You say tomato, I say tom-ah-to.
Oh, that's good.
I'm glad you're saying this Vichy Catalan is super salty
and actually you would go into a restaurant
and they would just have the one brand.
Okay.
And maybe it's that.
What you want, your dream is to train people
to be disappointed by the kind of water they're getting
in a restaurant.
No, I don't leave, I get options.
There's a bug flying around.
This bug is trying to end this segment.
(men laugh)
Hopefully it doesn't drown.
Hey, listen.
That is all the time we have for you.
But, Martin, you know what I do?
I respect your passion.
I respect your passion. Thank you.
I don't see the difference myself,
but I know it's there.
At least you saw it in one water.
What's that?
At least you saw it by this one water.
Yeah, the one you threw asprin in.
(audience laughs)