Cloud juice for sale.

Ever tasted a raindrop and wondered, Why doesn't someone bottle this stuff? Well, Richard Heinichen, a 57-year-old former blacksmith from Dripping Springs, Tex., does, calling it Rain Water. Heinichen fills 1,500 bottles a day with the "cloud juice" that falls on his Rain Water headquarters, He says he sold about 170,000 16-ounce bottles last year. He began his quest to quench his own thirst nearly a decade ago by installing a rooftop rain collector to supplement his well. One hot day, Heinichen found himself parched and the "aha!" moment hit. "I got so excited about it," he says. But there were hurdles, including ridding the water of pollutants from the air and the roof. The rain runs into gutters, down pipes, through a tilter and into one of 13 tanks. It is filtered twice more and zapped with ultraviolet light before bottling. The local Curves gym, a Whole Foods Market, and restaurants in Austin are among the places selling it. Unlike some bottled waters, Rain Water contains no minerals, which some say add flavor. But customers don't seem to mind. "It has a nice, sweet taste," says Lynn Helton of Dripping Springs.