Water Jars

We have made our own flavored water for years. Our favorite is lime and mint. For the limes and other citrus fruits, I like to use long strips of the fruit peel rather than the fruits themselves.

Cucumber tastes nice on a hot day.

Cucumber tastes nice on a hot day.

My sister loves pineapple or raspberries. Can't speak to either one, but they both sound good. I might even try them together.

What a nice thing to have for a crowd. I try and keep it simple at first. Cucumber, lemon/lime,
(limes are a bit pricy right now), watermelon, ginger. I've already made big ice cubes that have some squeezed juice and berries. I use the pint deli containers. They fit through my wide top lid. I like to keep it really cold and the large ice blocs do that. The water changes a bit as the different cubes melt. Watermelon water, pulsed in the blender, steeped in the fridge with a bit of citrus, then strained, gives a nice flavor and color and goes with just about any other choices. It can be a frozen big cube as well.
My vintage jar has a gasket leak i discovered last weekend so i need to do a DIY repair.
Hoping a sink strainer gasket will work but i'll figure something out.

I also make a rhubarb, ginger, grapefruit seltzer. With a tiny bit of maple syrup. I have a half dozen big sanPelligrino glass bottles i ran through the dishwasher to recycle them using my soda stream seltzer maker. Simmer chopped rhubarb and ginger, let steep and cool, then strain. A few strawberries to pink it up.

So many choices. But the big flavored ice cubes are good to do ahead. No worries about smaller cubes melting so fast.

Something about the watermelon/lemon combo as a base flavor just tastes like spring. I just don't like the pulp texture of the watermelon, so i strain it.

I should edit to mean that i'm not making fruit juices. I don't use much more that thin slices in the cubes and a bit of citrus juice. It is also decorative to put a bit of fruit in the cubes.
I've used edible flowers but DH does not like the perfume essence.

The seltzer is just a tsp of maple syrup to balance the tart rhubarb...

I love agua de jamaica (ha-MY-ka, not ja-MAY-ka like the country), which is made with an infusion of hibiscus flowers. It also can be diuretic, though, so has similar warnings to grapefruit juice. You do have to steep the dried flowers with heat, though, before adding the infusion to the water. It's wonderfully refreshing.

Lemon/lime made with the peels is great, but might need some sweetening.

If you want something a little sweet try draining a small watermelon and adding the liquid to the water.

Another favorite is passion fruit.

My favorites have been listed, but I'll echo:
Lemon slices
Lime slices
Orange slices
cucumber slices

I may have try the lime/mint water.

I have bought (and liked) cardamom/cinnamon water. I wonder if I could make that for a water jar? I may have to try that, too...

Good luck1

I started out with just lemon and orange slices. The second day the jar got filled with water before removing the citrus, so I just added the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries to that... everyone is liking this a lot. The blueberries haven't added much so may need to be crushed to let out their flavor. I do want to try the lemon and mint. And, I was thinking about peaches and ginger. It will be fun trying your suggestions as time goes on. BTW: the jar is working better than planned since everyone is drinking lots of flavored water in this HOT weather. And, the suggestion for the big hunks of ice works really well too.

My DIL made flavored ice water for her daughters graduation party. I had the orange flavored water and I did not like it. I would have liked just plain water. The students who were here also didn't seem to care for it and hit the coolers that had the sodas in it. It was hot here in Georgia yesterday. so is it just the older adults who like it? Is there a recipe for the flavored water or do you just add whatever. She had made 2 types one being the cucumber and the other orange slices.
Mary

I made a LOT of "Sassy Water" last summer (Prevention Magazine Recipe from the Flat Belly Diet). It's supposed to be for weight loss (which I wasn't aware of when I had it at a friends home and asked for the recipe), but it WAS a good use for all those cucumbers and mint from the garden and a nice refreshing drink. You will find several versions of this recipe on-line. I also added a couple flavored tea bags to the mixture like Lemon Zinger, Wild Berry Zinger, Bigelo Perfect Peach Herb Tea or Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion to give it different flavors and colors. If you have a cutting mandolin, it's the quickest way to slice the cucumber and citrus.

8 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 medium cucumber, sliced thin
1 medium lemon, sliced thin
12 leaves spearmint (any mint will work)

Directions:
1 Mix all ingredients together in a pitcher.
2 Refrigerate overnight.
3 Strain water.

-Grainlady

Thank you grainlady for the recipe. I'm going to try it.
Mary

Grainlady, that sounds great!

Afterwards: I decided I don't like to freeze the fruit in the big cubes, they lost their integrity right away, whereas the fresh lasted all day.

Our grands aren't allowed to have soda pop very often, so flavored water was "the best ever!" The favorite was the mixed citrus - lemon and orange slices, and then the strawberry/blueberry/raspberry mix.

I'm not a water drinker, but I liked it so much that I'm going to start making a pitcher each day for myself.

Grainlady,

I made your sassy water for company today and it was a big hit. There was no fridge room, so I did the ingredients for the one gallon recipe in a quart jar filled with water overnight. Today, I put double in the big water jar (it's huge), and sliced the ginger so it wouldn't go through the spout. Added in the overnight infusion with everything but the grated ginger. All the produce was swimming around like a reef and looked very pretty (I did arrange it somewhat). Ice was served on the side because some don't care for it. Everyone from the 9-year-old to the 91-year-old liked it. Thank-you!

Thanks, Westelle for starting this thread.

Edit: added modifiers "big" and "water" to the second occurrence of "jar" so it wouldn't be confused with the quart jar. :)

This post was edited by plllog on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 15:54

Oh, I think I'm going to make Sassy Water for our next Book Club dinner!

Thanks!!!!!

Smiles,
Sooz

plllog-

WOO HOO! I'm glad it went over so well. :-)

My cucumbers are starting to produce and the mint is getting out of hand, so it's Sassy Water Time! The next time I purchase a nice fresh knob of ginger root I should see if I can grow it. [Instructions: Take a section of ginger root and plant it in soil where it will get indirect sunlight. It grows well both indoors and outdoors. When you need ginger for a recipe simply pull it up, harvest some of the root ,and then replant it.]

-Grainlady

For the Fourth, inspired by the sassy water, I was looking at things I had on hand that needed using up. It ended up being curly parsley minus the long stems, sliced blood oranges and a few whole peeled turmeric roots. I should have sliced the turmeric for more spiciness, but I didn't have time to fuss so it was just a hint. The water was a little sweeter and a pretty pink, but still very refreshing.

I used to think it was a disadvantage that my beverage jar is so big and the spigot is high--which is fine for punch for dozens, but overkill for a small group--but now I love it because I get to pour off the extra into bottles and have it in the fridge. Infused waters are great any time, not just for company. :)

Pillog, what a great idea! I hate to throw out the last of the wonderful tasting water at the end of the day. Now I know what to do.

Wow! These sound so good! How can I Pinterest these ideas? ;-)

I was in charge of the Hospitality Suite for our Jazz Festival at school and I did have a lovely, large beverage dispenser of water that I floated cucumber and lemon slices in. It looked and tasted very good, but I canâÂÂt wait to try some of these other recipes!