Infused Waters

You ever have one of those moments where you discover the easiest of things, followed by the inner dialogue, "how did I live without this?"

Water is always my preferred drink of choice (next to coffee) I love tea and just plain water. When I go out I order it with lemon (I'm classy ya know). While I love hot herbal tea to death, we are entering the hottest last few weeks of summer. The heat is just not conducive with warm drinks throughout the day.  I am allergic to most sweeteners, so I steer clear of any pre- packaged drinks. I must admit though, sometimes when I see you park people drinking colored waters or adding things to change its colors, I get jealous a bit.

Then, last weekend at a BBQ we had, I decided to make a water bar. I know, I know, how boring! But humor me, I don't drink alcohol, and it was an outdoor thing so we had to stay hydrated. Most guests just drank cold beer. But while everyone got their buzz on I walked around with this pretty glass jug of water that caught a few looks. At one point a friend asked if it was my own brew, to which I replied, "YEP! 100% pure water... with mint and cucumber"

I'm now hooked! I go through about 3 jugs a day, plus who doesn't want to look all nifty with a big ass glass jug! This week I've been all about mint, shared it on my instagram. Its the perfect bedside water for warmer nights, and super refreshing.
But throughout the day, its been all rosemary and lemon. After I discovered how great rosemary is in general for your body I started blending A nice handful of fresh rosemary (right off the plant) and 2 wedges of a quartered lemon and man, is that stuff good. I think next I'll try a ginger and lemon blend but for now this rosemary mix is my jam!

I recommend reading up on the particular herbs that offer health benefits you're interested in obtaining and then paring it with a citrus. Perhaps Basil and Blood Orange or just an herb that you enjoy, like my plain old mint. Have fun with it as the summer closes and we move torward warmer drinks. I drink my water at room temp because I'm not a fan of ice cold stuff, but some of those pretty edible flower ice cubes floating around on pinterest would be a beautiful addition to any drink.

Some of my guests took these concoctions and added a bit of fizz and gin for an added punch of flavor! Just a heads up for the drinkers out there.

Cheers!