There’s nothing like a refreshing, fruity drink on a hot day. No, no, we don’t mean La Croix—you can make your own delicious, customized flavored waters right at home! With the right fruits and veggies, and a powerful refrigerator, you’ll be on your way to a refreshing summer season.
Why Drink Infused Water?
Besides being a delicious and hydrating treat, infused water is a great way to get the vitamins and antioxidants of fruit and vegetables without the sugar that typically comes with juices and smoothies. It’s perfect for soaking up some added health benefits between meals and, as we’ve said, it tastes pretty dang good. There’s a reason why it’s always available at spas and fancy restaurants!
What Do You Need?
To make the perfect water infusions, you’ll need fruits, veggies, and fresh herbs, of course, as well as plenty of filtered water. Be sure to use a glass container for your beverage—plastic can tend to leach into the drink and give it an unpleasant aftertaste. You can even find glass pitchers with built-in infusers made specifically for this purpose, but anything glass will do just fine.
The right fridge is also important for getting the best possible water infusions. Your drink will need to steep for at least a few hours in the fridge before it’s reached its full flavor potential, and that means you’ll need plenty of space to stash your carafe. French-door fridges, especially those with door-in-door functionality or adjustable shelves, are perfect for this purpose.
How to Prep
If you don’t have a pitcher with a built-in infuser, get a piece of clean cheesecloth or a tea strainer to keep herbs like basil, lavender, and rosemary contained. Be sure to use fresh herbs too—they’ll give you stronger flavor and are less likely to break up and create debris in the water. Berries can be left free-floating in water, and soft fruits can be sliced any way you want, but harder produce, like apples, infuse faster when sliced thinly.
When you’ve chopped up the fruits and veggies you want, just toss them right into the water! Be sure to infuse in the fridge to avoid bacterial growth, and remove the fruit after 4 hours maximum. Any longer and the fruit may start to rot, and any citrus rinds left in the infusion will start to make the water bitter. As long as you store it in the fridge and fish out the fruit bits, you’ll be able to enjoy your infused water for up to 3 days!
Best Water Infusions
Now that you have the basics down, you’re ready to start making infusions! Here are a few of our favorite flavor combinations.
- Strawberry Lime
All the zing of strawberry limeade, minus the sugar! Add 1 cup of sliced strawberries for every 3 cups of water, and cut a lime into rounds for a fresh, summery treat. Plus, it’s a great source of vitamin C.
- Cucumber Mint
This infusion is a staple in spas and waiting rooms around the world, and for good reason! The cool kick of mint with the clean flavor of cucumber makes for an exceptionally refreshing drink—just the thing for hot summer days.
- Orange Basil
If you’re looking for a more flavorful infusion, orange is the perfect choice! Oranges steep easily in water, and the basil gives the bright, sweetness of citrus a lovely, earthy undertone.
- Blackberry Ginger
Less common than some of the other options but every bit as delicious, blackberry and ginger water is a little sweet, a little tart, and completely tasty. Ginger is great for boosting the immune system and settling the stomach, while blackberry gives the drink a bright, summery flavor.
- Green Apple Raspberry Rosemary
A real mouthful of a name for a drink you’ll want more than a mouthful of! Apples take a while to infuse, so you’ll have to slice them thinly and be patient, but the payoff is well worth the wait.
Don’t dry out when you’re soaking up the summer sun! Stay healthy and hydrated with these delicious drinks. If your fridge just doesn’t have the space to keep up with your water infusion habit, stop by our store and get the refrigeration you need to stay refreshed all summer long!