Infused Waters

As you already know it’s important to stay hydrated especially in summer and drinking water is the best way to do this.

Water is important for healthy skin, helps to regulate body temperature, flush out the system and so much more.

Although other non-caffeinated drinks can help to keep you hydrated, these are not always a good choice.

They can do more harm than good if consumed in large amounts over a long period of time.

Most of these drinks can be full of sugar or artificial sweeteners and colours to make them look and taste good and are okay to drink occasionally.

Drinking fruit infused waters is a great alternative to fizzy soda drinks or just plain water because, they are naturally full of flavour with hardly any sugar.

And you get to save some money because, it doesn’t cost much to make flavoured water with fruit.

What Are Infused Waters?

Infused waters are waters that can be flavored with fruits, vegetables and herbs. They are immersed in cold water for a short period of time, which will allow them to release their flavors out into the water.

Fruit water can also become slightly tinted due to the colors of the fruit, vegetables or other flavoring used. For examples blueberries will tint the water purple, watermelon and strawberries give a hint of pink.

Soft fruits like kiwi will break down a little causing the water to go cloudy and this is okay.

What Can I Add To My Water For Flavor?

You can make infused waters with most fruits and some vegetables. Use on their own or combine to create some delicious flavor combinations.

Water infusions can be made with apples, blueberries, strawberries, watermelons, cantaloupe, honeydew, lemons, oranges, lime, pear, peach, nectarines, apricots, grapes, pineapple, pomegranate, cucumbers, radish, to name a few.

You can also add other flavorings like ginger, galangal (Thai ginger), mint, fresh basil, rosemary, cinnamon or cloves for even more favors. One of my favorite combinations is cucumber lemon and ginger.

You don’t have to stick with the flavored water recipes on this page, experiment with other combinations, working with what you have at home.

Can You Use Frozen Fruit For Infused Water?

Yes, you certainly can and it’s a great alternative when fruit is not in season or too expensive to buy fresh. Just add them straight to the water frozen.

How Long Does It Take For The Water To Infuse?

The longer you leave the fruit in the water the stronger the flavor. After about 30 minutes there will be some flavor in the water but if you want a stronger flavor, let it sit for longer.

Fruit water can be left to infuse for 1 - 2 hours at room temperature or about 24 – 30 hours in the fridge if you want more flavor in the water.

We like to make them the day before for a better flavor especially if we are using a small quantity of fruit/vegetables in the water.

Just remember to remove strong flavors like grapefruit about 6 hours into infusion or once your desired flavor has been achieved.

How Long Can You Keep Lemon Slices In Water?

If infusing water with lemon, lime, and orange and you haven’t used too many they are okay to sit in the water for up to 24 hours.

If you have used grapefruit or a large amount of citrus fruit remove them from the water after about 6 hours or once your desired flavor has been achieved.

The reason for this is that if you leave a large quantity rind in the water for too long, the bitterness from the rind becomes more pronounced in the water.

Another way to avoid this bitter flavor is to remove the rind before adding the fruit to the water.

How Many Times Can You Refill Infused Water?

If you still have the fruit in the pitcher, you can top it up when the pitcher is half full. Depending on the flavor strength of the fruit you use you might be able to do this several times before it becomes too diluted.

You can also add a few extra pieces of fruit to the pitcher and wait about 60 minutes for a slight flavor boost but, once the flavor has faded it’s best to make a fresh batch.

If you have removed the fruit from the water, it might be possible top up the pitcher just once when it is half empty without it becoming over diluted.

Can I Eat Water Infused Fruit Afterwards?

Yes, you can but you will find that most fruits will be a little bland because, the fruit would have lost most of its flavor.

How Much Infused Water Do These Recipes Make?

These infused water recipes make about 1 Litre (4 cups) of flavored water. But you can make as much or as little as you like.

Infused Water Containers

There are many types of containers that you can use to make infused water in.

You can get plastic water bottles for fruit infusion these are great for using at the gym or the office but, do make sure that they are BPA-free, or you could use a glass infuser water bottle.

At home you can use a glass mason jar, get a water infuser pitcher that has in infuser insert, carafe, use an ordinary glass pitcher or make individual serves in large drinking glasses.

How To Store Infused Waters?

After infusion and the flavorings have been removed from the water, it can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. But, for the best tasting water its best to drink the water within 24 hour.

Are Infused Waters Healthy?

Yes! There are so many benefits of including plain and infused waters in your daily diet here are some of them:

• Drinking water can increase your energy levels and brain function.
• Can help prevent headaches.
• It improves your mood, judgement and thinking.
• Help with to make your skin look better.
• It can help and relieve constipation especially if you generally don’t drink enough water.
• It can help keep your kidneys and other organs healthy.
• It can help to increase your metabolism which is great for weight loss.

You can read more about drinking water and the health benefits here.

How To Make Infused Water

Place thinly sliced or diced pieces of fruit or vegetables into a pitcher, bruise the fruit using a wooden spoon - this will help release the flavors.

Fill the pitcher with cold tap or filtered water and allow to stand at room temperature for 1-2 hours or store in the fridge for 24 hours.

To serve pour the flavoured water into a glass filled with ice (optional) and garnish with a few fresh slices of fruit and herbs if you like.

Infused Water Ideas

There are so many wonderful flavor combinations that you can create. Use the quantities listed below as a guide because, there is no hard and fast rule as to how much you should use.

Except the more you add to the water the stronger the flavor but do be careful not to add to much of the stronger flavors like grapefruit because, it can become very intense.

Note: Wash all fruits, vegetables and herbs before using. And you will need 1 ½ - 2 litre pitcher (water jug).

Apple Infused Waters

1. Base recipe for apple water - 1 large or 2 small apples, any variety thinly sliced, and 1 liter (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

2. Apple and lemon (lime or orange) - add slices of one small lemon or one lime or one small orange.

3. Apple and berry water - add ½ - 1 cup of sliced strawberries or other berries (fresh or frozen).

4. Apple cinnamon water - add 1 - 2 pieces of cinnamon bark.

5. Apple cinnamon orange and cloves - add 2 - 3 pieces of cinnamon bark, slices of a half an orange and 6 - 8 cloves.

Blueberry Infused Waters

6. Base recipe for blueberry water - ½ - 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, use a wooden spoon to bruise the fruit, and 1 liter (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

7. Blueberry cucumber water – add about ¼ - ½ cup sliced cucumber.

8. Blueberry lemon mint water - add half a thinly sliced lemon and a sprig of fresh mint.

9. Blueberry lemon water - add ½ a small lemon cut into thin slices.

10 Blueberry lime water – add slices of ½ - 1 lime.

11. Blueberry mint water – add a sprig of fresh mint.

12. Blueberry orange water - add ½ an orange thinly sliced.

Cherry Water

13. Base recipe cherry infused water - ¾ - 1 cup cherries, pitted and cut in half and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

14. Cherry and lime (or lemon) water - add slices of ½ - 1 lime.

15. Cherry mint water – add a 2 - 3 sprigs of mint.

16. Cherry nectarine (or peach) water – add slices of ½ - 1 ripe peach or nectarine.

17. Cherry orange water – add slices of half an orange.

Cucumber Infused Waters

18. Base recipe for cucumber water – 1 small or ½ medium cucumber sliced and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to add to the base recipe

19. Cucumber and mint water – add 2 – 3 sprigs of fresh mint.

20. Cucumber basil water– add ¼ packed cup of fresh basil leaves.

21. Cucumber ginger water – add about 2 - 5 slices of ginger, bruise the ginger before adding to the water.

22. Cucumber lemon ginger water – add 1 small or ½ medium size lemon that has been cut into slices, and about 2 - 5 slices of ginger, bruise the ginger before adding to the water.

23. Cucumber lemon mint water – add 5 - 8 slices of lemon and 3 - 4 mint sprigs.

24. Cucumber lime water – add 4 - 6 slices of lime.

25. Cucumber orange water - add ½ - 1 orange, sliced.

Grapefruit Infused Water

26. Base recipe for grapefruit water – ¼ - ½ grapefruit sliced and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

27. Grapefruit and mint water - add 2 – 3 sprigs of fresh mint.

28. Grapefruit cucumber water - add about ¼ - ½ cup sliced cucumber.

29. Grapefruit lemon cucumber water - add ½ - 1 small sized sliced lemon and ¼ - ½ cup sliced cucumber.

30. Grapefruit rosemary water – add several small sprigs of fresh rosemary.

Kiwi Water

31. Base recipe for kiwi infused water - 1 kiwi fruit peeled and thickly sliced and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

32. Kiwi cucumber water – add slices of half a small cucumber.

33. Kiwi strawberry infused water – add ½ - 1 cup of sliced strawberries.

34. Kiwi watermelon infused water – add ½ - 1 cup cubed watermelon.

35. Kiwi lemon water – add 4 - 5 slices of lemon.

Lemon Favored Water (can also use lime)

36. Base recipe for lemon water – slice 1 medium lemon and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

37. Lemon and orange water – add slices of ½ - 1 orange.

38. Lemon cinnamon water – add 1 – 2 pieces of cinnamon bark.

39. Lemon ginger infused water – add 2 – 5 slices of fresh ginger.

40. Lemon mint cucumber water – add a several sprigs of mint and about ½ cup of sliced cucumber.

Melon Water

41. Base recipe for melon water – 2 - 4 cups of thinly sliced or cubed melon and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

42. Cantaloupe watermelon water – mix equal parts of each melon.

43. Cucumber melon water – add slices of ½ a small cucumber.

Mint Water

44. Base recipe for mint infusion water – add a small bunch or two of your favorite mint and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

Small sprigs of mint can be added to a wide variety fruit waters. Most of the fruit infusion water recipes on this page will work well with mint.

Orange Infused Water

45. Base recipe for orange infused water – juice of 1 large orange along with the skin from the juiced orange (cut into smaller pieces) and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

46. Orange and lime (lemon) water – add slices of a whole lime.

47. Orange mango strawberry water – add about ½ - 1 cup of sliced mango fresh or frozen and about ½ - 1 sliced strawberries.

48. Orange mint water – add 4 - 5 sprigs of mint.

Peach Infused Water

49. Base recipe for peach infused water – Slices of 1 -2 medium peaches and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

50. Peach cucumber lemon basil water – add slices of ½ a small cucumber, 4-5 slices of lemon and 5 – 6 fresh basil leaves.

51. Peach ginger lemon mint – add 5 – 6 slices of fresh ginger, 4 -5 slices of lemon and 4 - 5 mint sprigs.

52. Peach mango strawberry water – add ½ cup diced mango and ½ cup sliced strawberries.

53. Peach mango water – add ½ - 1 cup diced fresh or frozen mango pieces.

54. Peach watermelon water – add 1 cup cubed watermelon.

Pineapple Water Recipes

55. Base recipe for pineapple infused waters – add 3 – 4 cups of diced fresh pineapple (skin removed) and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

56. Pineapple cucumber water – add slices of ½ medium cucumber.

57. Pineapple mango strawberry water – add ¾ cup fresh or frozen mango pieces and ½ cup sliced strawberries.

58. Pineapple mint water – add 3 – 4 sprigs of mint.

Strawberry Infused Waters

59. Base recipe for strawberry water - 1 cup fresh strawberries sliced and 1 litre (4 cups) cold tap or filtered water.

Variations to the base recipe

60. Strawberry and lemon water – add slices of ½ a lemon.

61. Strawberry blueberry water – add 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries.

62. Strawberry cucumber water – a half a sliced cucumber.

63. Strawberry mint water – add 2 -3 sprigs of mint leaves.

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