Homemade Flavored Water

A co-worker and I were talking last week about some of the things we enjoy about summer. One of things that she mentioned she enjoyed doing was making her own flavored water. We all know that drinking water is IMPORTANT in achieving and maintain good health. I have a few friends, however, that simply do not like to drink water because, let's face it, it has NO flavor. I enjoy water but this conversation with my co-worker inspired me to go to the lab.

Since we had a little taste of spring this past weekend I decided make some flavored water to enjoy after I walked my dog. I picked up some mint leaves, lemons, and ginger from the store. I already had some strawberries, blueberries, and mandarin oranges.

Here are my recommendations for 35oz of water (I store my water in Weck Jars but you can use any vessel you have).

1. Using a mortar, mash/blend about 5-6 mint leaves with some fresh ginger (at least 2 tablespoons but you can use more) and then add 1/4 cup of lemon juice. If you do not have a mortar, put the ingredients in a small bowl and mash/blend with a spoon and/or fork.

2. Instead of OR in addition to the ginger, mix in 2 or 3 strawberries and/or 7-8 blueberries. You can also use some mandarin oranges (I recommend this without the ginger, mint, and lemon juice).

3. You can add a little, just a little honey or stevia to the mix. Again, this is supposed to be a flavored water. By a little I mean 1 to 2 teaspoons of honey or stevia and no more. 

4. Once you have decided on your flavor(s), put them in the bottom of your vessel and add some filtered water to it. Cover and let the water chill in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

5. Pop the top and Enjoy! 

Salud!