Fruit Infused Water

Over the past 16 days I have immersed myself into the world of flavoring plain old water to make it more enjoyable, otherwise known as Fruit Infusion. I took some of my favorite fruits that were listed on many YouTube channels to see what I would enjoy. The most recommended fruits I read up on are lemons, limes, pineapples, strawberries, and grapefruit.

Personally, I despise lemons. They are tangy regardless if it is a garnish on seafood or in a dessert and I just could not be open-minded enough to try lemons in my water, I would rather just drink it plain. As much acidity I put into my diet with juices like orange juice, grapefruit juice, and pineapple juice, you would think that using any of these three in my water would be a pleasant experience. Two words. Heart. Burn. When I used the new bottle Nick's mom sent me, which I will post about later this week, I used the little fruit infusion basket for grapefruit, which made the process much simpler. I was able to have more fruit and not be bothered with the fruit smacking me in the face and splashing me at my desk. I have mastered the no splash, but it is nice to not have to worry about it.

When I was younger it was a staple in my house to have cereal and a half grapefruit with a knife to carve out the citrusy goodness and a spoon to scoop it all out. I loved it but once I got a little older I would get heart burn more often and this was on the top of the list of culprits. So in order to enjoy the semi-sweet fruit I either bare the pain or skip it all together. Once I was starting to experiment with the fruits I thought maybe this would be my loop hole to enjoy it again. Nope. The feeling was not as powerful as when you actually eat the fruit or drink the juice directly, but it hurt just the same. The fruit was also hard to put in the small fruit basket of the bottle so I pealed it as if pealing an orange. So the water ended up very pulpy, which I did not mind. But it made for a tough clean up.

Most people cut the citrus fruits into circles and place into a large pitcher to infuse and pour the water from there. Since I work in an office with a mini Coca-Cola fridge at my desk that only has the capacity to hold 6 cans of coke or 4 water bottles at a time, the pitcher life is not ideal. That being said, I can only cut the fruit a certain type of way and it just isn't working. Now I understand why so many people just use Voss water bottles. I just really wanted something glass and reusable but the Voss water bottles in my area are no longer glass, so that is no longer an option for me.

The fruits I enjoyed the most were pineapples with blackberries. The blackberries somehow cut through the acidity and didn't give me heart burn as when the pineapples go solo. The easiest fruit to infuse and that had flavor that lasted the longest were the strawberries. They lasted throughout my day which for me normally consists of an 11 hour work day plus breakfast and dinner. Most YouTubers and bloggers will tell you to eat the fruit afterwards, but due to the amount of time my fruit stays in the bottle it looks pretty gross. The strawberries turn white and when I had kiwi in with the strawberries, it turned to mush. Even the blackberries start to bleed into the pineapples and end up making the yellowish sweet fruit look like they got dropped in grape juice. However, if you are infusing the water for less time, then eating the fruit might be an option.

 

Overall the fruit infusion has been fun. I have been able to include fruits I normally don’t have the pleasure or time to eat on a regular basis but now get to taste more often. Next I will be trying mangos with pineapple and since I have some grapefruit left over, I am going to see if I can attempt mixing it with another fruit. There are plenty of other ways to infuse fruits, vegetables, and even spices like mint in your water. These are just my opinions of what I have tried thus far. Maybe I can post some more ideas after a bit more research on my end. For now, go buy strawberries, freeze them, and never leave home without some in your water bottle. It is simply divine!!

Here's to another 15 days and 2,130 oz. of fruit infused water! Cheers!