| Willipedia is now back online as of 5/5/2019 |
| It has been several years since Willipedia closed. Please help get it updated! |
| Go to the Willipedia 2.0 Project to learn more. |
Aqueous gastronomy
Aqueous Gastronomy was a Free University course taught during the Winter Study terms of the 2022-2023 and 2024-2025 academic years by Locke Meyer '25 and Felix King '25. Tasting, analyzing, and discussing sparkling water was the basis of the course, but class sessions involved forays into many disciplines unrelated to sparkling water including literature, philosophy, music, manufacturing/engineering, history, anthropology, and chemistry/alchemy.
Contents
First Iteration (2023)
History
The first iteration Aqueous Gastronomy ran for four weeks during January of 2023 and met once per week in Hollander 241. Origin stories often begin with Professors King and Meyer tasting LaCroix's limoncello flavored water. As the story goes, after searching online and finding a now-defunct website dedicated to sparkling water reviews (the Bubbleverse), they decided to "take the plunge" and develop the curriculum for Aqueous Gastronomy.
Concept Album
Meyer, a music and computer science double major, composed and recorded 10 songs inspired by components of the course. The full track list is:
- The Carbonated Sea
- Brownrigg's Jig
- Mint Cucumber
- Hiss Pop
- Ascent / Tangerine
- Shaking the Can
- Dry Ice
- Rot
- Big Idea
- We Have a Package That Arrived for You That Is Leaking and Has an Odor
Meyer uploaded the album to Spotify upon its completion on January 6, 2023, but removed it from the platform a few months later due to the hosting fee charged by Distrokid. The album in its entirety can still be found on Meyer's personal Youtube channel.
Corporate Sponsorships
The class was sponsored by three sparkling water companies, DRAM Apothecary, Aura Bora, and Something and Nothing. Each company sent King and Meyer cans of their water free of charge.
| Company | Number of Cans |
|---|---|
| DRAM Apothecary | 48 cans |
| Something and Nothing | 36 cans |
| Aura Bora | 12 cans |
Reception
Aqueous Gastronomy was described in a Williams Record article as, "by far the best class I’ve ever taken at Williams bar none, and probably the best class I ever will take," By Satya Benson '26. [1]
