Last Updated on July 14, 2025 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
To stay properly hydrated, it’s best to take your body weight in pounds and drink half of that number in ounces of water a day. But sometimes drinking that much water can get a bit boring, so I like to liven things up by flavoring my water using berries, herbs, and citrus.
My favorite combination is lemon and cucumber. I chop up lemons and a cucumber, put it in a pitcher and put it in the fridge to chill. As I drink the water, I add more so I can have flavored water for several days.
There’s no need to measure, just throw in a handful of berries, cut up an orange or toss in some mint. You can let the fruit float, or muddle it to release more of the flavor. For summer gatherings, it’s fun to have an assortment of flavored waters along with honey simple syrup (if your guests like a bit more sweetness) and even some sparkling water to add some bubbles.
Here are 15 of my favorite combinations:
Lemon, Lime and Orange
Raspberry and Lime
Pineapple and Mint
Lemon and Cucumber
Blackberry and Sage
Watermelon and Rosemary
Mango and Blueberries
Orange and Vanilla
Strawberry and Basil
Cherry and Lime
Blackberry and Ginger
Peach and Vanilla Bean
Honeydew and Lime
Pineapple, Raspberry and Mint
Peach, Lemon and Thyme
How to Make Flavored Water
While there really aren’t any strict rules for flavored water, here’s a basic recipe to go by. Feel free to change up the quantities to find your favorite combination.
Ingredients
1 cup fruit such as citrus or berries
2 sprigs herbs such as thyme or mint
8 cups water
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients together in a pitcher. Muddle to release the juices or leave the fruit to float.
That’s too funny! And here I drink more water in ounces than my body weight due to my love of water. And usually I have that by early afternoon!! And what’s even funnier – I don’t like flavored water! I want pure water and I don’t drink coffee or tea for I don’t like them. I realize I’m a rare bread, but just had to comment. 🙂
Whoops – rare BREED…
That’s fantastic! 🙂
How many lemon do you add to the lemon and cucumber and how sour is it
Are there any rules as to how long you can leave the berries, herbs, etc. in the pitcher? For example if I fill up the pitcher in the morning with all the yummy stuff and add water through the day, would I still be able to add water the next day? Or should you start fresh each day? I’m wondering cost wise to put all of these delicious things in the water how long it would be good for. This could definitely help me drink more water! Thanks!
Berries tend to go bad quickly, so they generally last a few days. The citrus, cucumbers and herbs tend to last 5-6 days in the fridge.
The Food Network recommends using drinking it within 2 days
I went to have a facial at my sister-in-laws beauty college and they served water with cucumber and strawberries, I couldn’t drink enough of it, it was amazingly refreshing. Thanks for these suggestions!
Love their products!
Just picked some mulberries from my yard I will include with local fruit I already have. Thanks.
I love cucumber in my water, and I just made last night in a pitcher the cucumber lemon as you suggested and it is yummy. One question though – I used a pitcher and made the water with the cucumber and the lemon, and then by mid-day today we had drank all of the water. Can I just add water to the pitcher and leave the same cucumber and lemon in it? Or do I have to add new instead? Probably won’t be as strong, but I’m not sure if I can reuse the fruit and how many times…Thanks!
Yes, you can add more water to it. Like you mentioned, the flavor won’t be as strong, but it will still add nice flavor.
What do you mean by “muddle”?
Muddling is the mashing of ingredients in the bottom of a glass using a muddler. Here’s a link to a classic muddler – http://www.amazon.com/Oenophilia-900429-Wooden-Muddler/dp/B003Z9HTP2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401376601&sr=8-2&keywords=muddle
My favourite summertime drink is water with frozen sour cherries and lemon. Tart, cold and refreshing! The best part is eating the defrosted cherries at the end. Yum!
Thanks for sharing these other delicious concoctions, I’ll be sure to add them to my rotation.
Could one do the same thing with sparkling mineral water? Would it still be tasty?
Great idea!
I really didn’t like water. Tried commercially marketed flavored and now hooked! Time to make my own. Definitely must be organic! I would never have thought of adding herbs or ginger. Time to stop using bottles and paying high prices. Thanks for this site! Going vegan this month too. Looking for new ways of living.
This is really amazing!! If I can make people drink more water and become healthy then that is more than wonderful!
I have a water refilling station..may i ask if i can extract juice from the fruits youve mentioned and add it to the water..my concern is how much juice should i add..do you have any suggestions? (For a 5 gallon container)..
I will be starting to drink organic water today. Thanks for your suggestions.