Cultural Appropriation in a Cup: “Spa Water”

Growing up Hispanic, there were a lot of staple foods in my family that others were unfamiliar with. Elotes, raspados, and chicharrones de harina are just a few of the delicious foods you’ll see a hard working elote man selling out of his little elote cart. If you’re lucky enough to participate in any hispanic gathering, you may have been graced with the presence of delicious agua fresca; a sweet and cool drink that’s amazing on a hot summer day or during a late night birthday party. Given this context, imagine my “surprise” coming across a TikTok video where a social media influencer was promoting a flavorful drink of a different kind: “spa water”. 

The “Spa Water” Controversy

Spa water was the term used by influencer Gracie Norton in a now deleted TikTok video. As Joseph Lamour explains in his article, “The backlash to TikTok’s viral ‘spa water’ explained”, “...Norton in at least one subsequent video makes a variation on the drink she calls “spa water” by subbing out the original recipe's pineapple with another fruit.” There were, of course, two problems with this. First, it wasn’t spa water, which commonly refers to the old trend of floating fruits and vegetables in water, as demonstrated in this 2015 Beauty Heroes article. Second, Norton’s drink had blended the cucumber with the water and sugar, which isn’t how spa water is made but rather how Agua fresca is made. It also wasn’t clear to me where she got this recipe, considering the viral cucumber ‘spa water’ she made was a variation of a recipe she had used prior. It may be completely possible she made it up on her own, but there is always the possibility she took the recipe and ignorantly called it something else. 

As mentioned before, Gracie Norton did delete the video and issued an apology on her Instagram page. She even did an interview with The U.S. Sun where she apologized further, though the article has since been deleted. Despite this, the conversation concerning it continues. In this YouTube video by the channel, Know Your TikTok, the argument over accurately appropriating Agua Fresca continues. Some users claim that the concept of agua fresca is something universal, similar to making juice, while others claim that the difference between agua fresca and other drinks is the preparation of the drink itself.

It’s AGUA FRESCA!

Agua fresca, which means fresh or cool water, is usually made with a few staple ingredients; fruit, water, and sugar. The fruit is sometimes replaced with vegetables or dried flowers, and the water is sometimes replaced with milk. Usually, the fruits will be cut up into pieces before they are blended together with the liquid. Common varieties of agua fresca are strawberry, watermelon, mango, honeydew, jamaica (hibiscus), and horchata (cinnamon sticks or flowers). The drink may also be called names like ‘aguas de frutas,’ ‘frescos,’ and ‘ponche de fruta’ and specific flavors, like Jamaica and horchata, may have their own given names. 

While some people may try to argue that nobody owns the idea of combining fruit, water, and sugar, it is clear agua fresca has existed much longer than the concept of spa water. In fact, it originates all the way in the pre-Columbian era. The Tasting Table, in their article, explains, “The Aztec people prepared the first agua fresca drinks from fruit and flowers they collected as they traveled in canoes along the rivers and canals that flowed through Tenochtitlán.” To say that agua fresca being called spa water isn’t some sort of cultural appropriation is, frankly, incorrect. It is something that has belonged to the people of Latin America for centuries, long before colonizers set foot on Latin or American soil.

Why Accuracy Matters

Growing up Mexican in a Mexican community, I didn’t really understand cultural appropriation and how it can be considered a form of racism. I was protected by my parents, and didn’t face these issues directly. So when I experienced and saw it with my own eyes, I was surprised. The funniest part was it wasn’t directed at me. “You shouldn’t drink that sugary mexican drink,” I remember a supposedly nice lady saying to me as I stood on a lawn as a child playing with other kids while trying not to drop my watermelon agua fresca. It's ridiculous to think about now knowing that ‘spa water’ went viral because Gracie Norton was boasting about the genuine health benefits of it. 

When you grow up wondering if you should be ashamed of something that’s part of your culture, seeing others celebrate it under a different name definitely has the potential to make one angry.