Naturally Flavored Water

Say goodbye to soda, juice, and bottled water with these refreshing, healthy flavors! I'm keeping 2-3 flavors of this "spa water" in my fridge now, so I have a variety to motivate me to drink more water.

I was a hardcore Dr. Pepper girl for years. Then I gave up regular soda because of the high sugar content and switched to diet soda. Next we were warned to avoid the chemicals in diet soda; and more recently studies have indicated that diet soda actually causes rather than prevents weight gain (source). Geez. Lots of us moved on to bottled water, but that has landfill and environmental consequences and can be less healthy than regular tap water (source). Juice has more nutrition than soda, but is comparable in sugar, carb, and calorie content (source). Dang. It's hard to keep up. 

Simply water At the end of the day, regular old tap water--or at least a filtered version of it--seems to be the way to go.  I'm fortunate that St. Louis is considered to have some of the best tasting tap water in the U.S. I still prefer the taste of it filtered through a Brita Water Filter Pitcher--we've been using one for years. But, I still don't drink enough water.

Aside from my morning coffee, I honestly forget to drink fluids throughout the day. I know that it's important for my health. I don't dislike water, but I do get kind of bored with it. That was the motivation for starting to make flavored waters.

Subtle flavor without sweetness
These aren't sweet waters, so they'll be disappointing if that's what you're expecting. This is water with subtle flavors infused into it. Water with a little something extra. A touch of flavor--not an explosion of flavor--with little or no sweetness. You've probably had pitchers of ice water with lemon served at restaurants. This is the same idea, but with more variety. Many spas serve fancy waters like these, and it turns out that they couldn't be simpler to make. And, they are oh-so-refreshing.

The KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) approach to Flavored Waters
My natural tendency is to go overboard and overcomplicate things, so I really have to fight that when I'm developing recipes. I read about and was tempted to try all kinds of methods for flavoring water that involve blenders, boiling, specialty infuser pitchers, and lots of different ingredients. But, I know myself. If I truly want to transition completely away from soda & juice and drink more water throughout the day, I have to make this simple so it can be an easy routine for me to maintain. When I read celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's quick and uncomplicated approach to making flavored waters, I was inspired to follow his lead and keep it simple. My easy formula for making KISS flavored waters is to use only fruit and herbs, water, ice, and a jar or pitcher. This is something I can make in a minute or two so I can always have flavored waters on hand in my fridge.