To know and to understand consumers’ preferences is essential in every kind of product development. Consumers make their decision on the basis of numerous factors. In case of mineral waters it is frequently mentioned, that sensory quality is an important attribute of the product. To investigate the real importance of this quality parameter we analysed several mineral waters, which are available on the Hungarian market, with the aim of searching for differences between the products. The applied qualitative method — software-supported profile analysis — is suitable for comparing samples in a much detailed way. Panelists were trained for the use of scales, but they were not selected according to their sensory acuity. This way we simulated the group of consumers — not in a representative, but in a similar way (e.g. average sensory acuity). The aim of the research was to compare the sensory profiles of the samples, and to find those characteristics, in which they actually differ.