Grocery store aisles and bodega fridges are absolutely jam-packed with all manner of sparkling water options these days. But a new collection of flavors from the brand Saratoga—immediately recognizable by the elegant blue glass bottles and tall skinny cans—caught my eye with some intriguing flavor names that not-so-subtly nod to the art world.
Saratoga’s “Saratoga Collection” features three new flavors: Abstraction of Lime, Anatomy of a Peach, and Untitled Berry No. 3. (The whereabouts of Untitled Berry Nos. 1 and 2 are unclear.) All three are “designed to add extraordinary taste wherever you may be.” Given the bottled water brand’s ubiquity at art world events, one could be anywhere from an international art fair to a blockbuster museum opening to a fundraising gala.
Saratoga’s overall marketing strategy seems to be zeroing in on the art world. The web page promoting these “signature” flavors shows a hand holding the cans surrounded by an ornate picture frame painted green, orange, or pink. The flavor descriptions note that “art meets life” with a “curated blend” of various flavors. The product design is also decidedly more…artsy than Saratoga’s typically more simple branding. Each flavor has a colorful geometric abstract design on the can, in a palette that suggests the berry, lime, or peach flavor.
It is anyone’s guess which artists the brand might have looked to for inspiration. Saratoga did not immediately respond to ARTnews’s request for comment.
