Infused water is not only a huge trend right now, it’s easy to prepare, inexpensive to make, and an extremely healthy alternative to high sugar juices and soda. It only requires a short prep time, but needs several hours to set, infuse, and cool.
Infused Water
There are really no hard and fast rules to it either. You can use items from your garden, sale produce, leftover fruit tray items, or really anything you have on hand that you like the flavor of and will mix with other items.
Typically these amounts work well for one jar plus one refill of flavor. If you are doing larger amounts your conversion amount is one quart = 32 ounces, then just figure out how much to need for smaller or larger amounts. Most recipes use two to three different ingredients, you may want a little more of something if only doing two flavors, or a little less if doing four or more. If you are doing single flavors (ie: only strawberries), use about three portions of the measurement before.
Here are measurements of items that work well for a quart size serving:
Fruits
- 1 Orange (remove rind to avoid bitterness)
- 1 Lemon (remove rind to avoid bitterness)
- 1 Lime (remove rind to avoid bitterness)
- 1 Apple (peeled & sliced)
- 3-4 Strawberries (sliced)
- 6-7 Raspberries (infuses best when crushed)
- 6-7 Blueberries (infuses best when crushed)
- 1 Mango (sliced)
- 2 Pineapple Slices (fresh is best, canned doesn’t have as much flavor)
- 4 Watermelon Chunks
- 5 Honeydew Chunks
- 2 Starfruit Slices
- 8 Blackberries (infuses best when crushed)
- 15-20 Pomegranate Seeds
Vegetables:
- 6-7 Cucumber Slices
Herbs/Spices:
- 1 Tea Bag (pick your flavor!)
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Herbs (may vary with strength of the herb!)
- 4-5 Basil Leaves (ripped)
- 2-3 Sprigs of Thyme
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 2 Dill Sprigs
- 1 Rosemary Sprig
- 6-8 Mint Leaves
- 3-4 Cilantro Leaves (ripped)
- 4 Sage Leaves (ripped)
- 2 Fennel Top Pieces
Infused Water Tips
Glass mason jars work great, and glass pitchers and water bottles are best to avoid possible chemical leaching.
Warm water and/or allowing the mixture to sit in the sun for about an hour will help release flavor and speed up the infusion process.
Chill for 4-6 hours before serving. Or, you can make it a little strong and add ice to chill – you want it strong if adding ice because as the ice melts it will dilute the flavor.
Any time the flavor is too strong, you can add cold water to dilute until you find the taste you like.
Edy says
I just bought my infuser pitcher at Macy’s was reg 39.99 for 29.99 and my daughter gave me some drinking infuser glasses to take on the go! This nurse that I met had a big water ozarka with peppermint cucumber lemons and ginger drink this through the whole day! Bought my mother one too great that I’m not the only thinking of recipes / will try one with cinnamon sticks too
Ronda S says
My son got me a water infuser bottle for Christmas (he’s a health nut and is always trying to get me to give up soda and drink more water). I quickly learned one bottle is not enough because of the infusion time, and started using mason jars as back ups. One of my favorites is pineapple blueberry infused water. I freeze the fruit, which keeps it fresh longer and also keeps it from disintegrating in the water as it infuses.