Hi all, this is my first post, but I've been lurking for a while, and these forums have been incredibly valuable for me!

My concern/question is this: I've been using a simple alcohol stove with Heet (in the yellow bottle) fuel. I've noticed since I've used it that there is a slight taint on the water I boil on the stove. I've used two different pots (I thought perhaps it had something to do with the old, used pot I was using; I've since bought a new MSR Stowaway with the same problems), and whenever I cook with the stove (almost exclusively to boil water for cooking and coffee), there is a faint, sickly-sweet nose and mild taste which accompanies the water and anything -- coffee, soup, MRE, etc. -- that it is put into.

I guess what I want to know is this: is this normal? Is this a result of the small amount of additional additives found in Heet? While it's not overpowering, it's very "present," and frankly it is particularly revolting to me to the point where, though one might be able to easily ignore it, I'd switch to another cooking system if this is a characteristic of the alcohol stove.

Any ideas as to what's going on here (or if this is just normal) would be great! I'm drinking a cup of coffee (yes I can still smell/taste it in coffee) which was boiled/made using the same pot/press/cup that I just did an overnight with last night... except I cooked it on the stove and am drinking it in my livingroom. No funky taste.

Details:

Stove -- Very similar to this.

Fuel -- Heet.

Fuel Container -- Dasani Water Bottle.

Cookware -- MSR Stowaway 775ml pot.

I used bottled water during the last two trips.

I make coffee using the Aeropress system which tastes fine when used at home. (By the way, the Aeropress is incredible...)

Anything else just ask... any help would be appreciated.