Bottled Fruit Juice Is The Time-Saving Hack For Your Infused Water

The idea of infused water probably conjures images of fresh, floating, tropical fruit in hotel lobbies or outdoor barbecues. There's everything to love about pure, refreshing fruits and herbs swimming in the essence of nature itself — clear, crisp H2O. But have you ever tried infusing water yourself and actually keeping it fresh and appealing? Not so easy. After a few short hours, fruit can start to decompose, turn acrid, and lose the very qualities that made it so inviting. It's also time-consuming and sometimes inconvenient to make infused water with fresh ingredients. Fortunately, there's a very good alternative: Creating infused water with bottled juice.

It takes less than a minute pour the two key ingredients (water and juice) into a single glass, and not much longer to make an entire pitcher or 5-gallon spigot-equipped jug for easily dispensing at a party or the office. You get the same general taste without the extra effort, and it stays appealing much longer. Plus, your flavor options are endless, considering the sheer number of bottled juices available and your unending ability to play mixologist. Infusing your water with fruit juice isn't the only option, but it's likely to give the freshest taste. Packaged drink powders, drops, and syrups can transform simple water into a flavor-packed drink, but they sometimes come at the expense of that fresh, thirst-quenching taste you crave.

Many drink enhancers are made with artificial additives for taste or shelf-life preservation. That's less likely with bottled fruit juice, which typically contains juice from real fruit, even if it's only partial fruit or comes from a previously concentrated form. The ultimate freshness in infused water comes from 100% fruit juice labeled "not from concentrate," which is easy to find in refrigerated sections of a supermarket or corner grocer. 

It only takes a small splash of juice to transform plain water, especially when using tart, unsweetened juices such as pomegranate or cranberry juice. All-natural, undiluted juices without added sugar get you closest to the crisp, clear drinking experience you'll come to love. And guess what? The same principles apply to infused sparkling waters, whether making carbonated waters at home in your own soda-making machine or purchasing bottles or cans of seltzer water, club soda, or tonic water. 

The key to invigorating, fizzy, infused water is to slide the fruit juice gently into the carbonated water to keep it from erupting and overflowing. If it's just a hint of flavor you want, a couple of tablespoons per glass is plenty. But for full-on fruitiness and super sparkly effervescence, try a one-to-one ratio of undiluted juice to water, using a container large enough to handle potential effervescent reaction. A juice concentrate will also do the trick, such as the concentrated orange or grape juices available in the freezer section of a grocery store.