In the Summer, I drink water throughout the day, and I get bored with it. To avoid the boredom, I like to infuse a pitcher of water with different herbs and/or fruit or cucumber slices. I’ve experimented over the years, and my favorite combos follow:

1. Cucumber and Lime
Add four or five slices of cucumber and half of a lime (squeezed) for a super refreshing blend.

2 Rosemary and Lime
Add FRESH PICKED and washed rosemary and half of a lime cut into wedges. This sounds a little mysterious, but I promise the combo is aromatic and pleasant.

 

There are smaller portable water infuser bottles like the one at this link. Above, you can see my infusion pitcher. You can get one like mine here, but keep reading for more methods of infusing without a special pitcher.

Cucumber and Ginger
Sliced cucumber and sliced ginger. This is also good with fresh mint.

Mint Cucumber
Fresh lemon mint, spearmint or mountain mint with cucumber slices makes a refreshing combination.

Lemon Thyme
Fresh lemon thyme sprigs with slices of lemon. Regular thyme also works in this combo.

Here’s the low-cost method of infusing water. Wrap your herbs in cheese cloth and tie with bakers twine. This is called a bouquet garni, and can be easily removed once you get the flavor you’re looking for. Cheesecloth is available at your local grocer, or here. There are also cloth bags that use the same principle.You can get them here.

You can do this by the glass, but I prefer doing a whole pitcher and refrigerating it for a couple of hours before drinking it.

All of these are best after sitting for a bit, and if you have time, try starting with warm water and chilling until it is ice cold. That way the heat brings out the flavor into the water, as it would with tea or sun tea.

These are also all great infused into iced teas…which are also delicious with mashed berries.

Oh…one last bit of advice…drink these within a day or two. You want FRESH ingredients in your water. So…there is another incentive to drink lots of water for good health!