I’ll admit that I’m addicted to flavored water. For years I have been buying Aquafina Flavor Splash and recently started purchasing Mio Orange Tangerine Liquid Enhancer concentrate. When I looked at the ingredients of these two products I realized that I could make a similar concentrated to flavor water at home. While my home brew chemical mixture isn’t quite as perfect as the store bought products, it tastes good and it’s fun to tinker with the ingredients.
Home brew citrus flavored mix
My preference for a thirst quenching, palate cleansing drink is usually one that has very little sugar and a strong citrus component. When I read the labels of either the concentrates or ready-to-drink flavored water they all had various ingredients such citric or ascorbic (Vitamin C) acid, sucralose, gum Arabic, and various other hard to pronounce chemicals to preserve freshness. While I didn’t know if I could save any money making my own home brewed flavored water, I decided to swing by a natural foods store and see if they had the basics.
Natural food store bulk
I know just enough food science to get into trouble. But I figured nothing I bought at the natural foods store was going to make me sick if it was the same stuff they put in the flavored water I was buying. My only criterion was getting water soluble ingredients that I could mix together and would not require any cooking. I was able to buy most of the ingredients in bulk.
Citrus taste
Ingredients for home brew citrus flavored water.
- Citric Acid $8.70 per pound
- Ascorbic acid $18.00 per pound
Body and particle suspension
- Gum Arabic $22.60 per pound
- Glycerin, 4 ounce, $5.95
Sweetness
- Stevia, liquid, 2 oz. $8.99
Color
- Hibiscus powder $18.20 per pound
Home brew citrus flavored water recipe
My goal was to create a concentrate of flavoring and then mix two or three teaspoons in a glass of water to get the desired taste. Through trial and error I came up with following recipe that makes for a lightly sweet and tart beverage.
In mixing cup or small bowl add:
- 1 teaspoon Ascorbic acid
- 1 teaspoon Citric acid
- 1 teaspoon Hibiscus powder
- 1/4 teaspoon gum Arabic
Mix dry contents with a spoon until you have a uniform color. Gum Arabic is like clay or flour and is hydrophobic. If added separately to water it turns into a clump. When it is mixed with the acids and hibiscus powder it easily dissolves in the water.
Add liquids:
Home brew citrus concentrate thickens after mixing.
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoons Glycerin
- 3 teaspoons liquid stevia
Thickens with sediment
The concentrate will thicken as the Gum Arabic absorbs more water. The hibiscus powder will yield a slight floral scent, but I can detect no other taste from it. The problem with the hibiscus powder is that it has lots of solids that aren’t soluble in water resulting in sediment in the bottom of the glass. I imagine that the commercial grade powders used for coloring flavored water are of a higher grade that what I am able to purchase at the local natural foods store.
Economics of home brew concentrate
I’ll use 2 to 4 teaspoons of home brew citrus concentrate for each 8 to 10 ounce glass of water. The concentrate lasts for days and I don’t refrigerate it. The retail prices from the natural food store yield a concentrate costing approximately $3.50. For my tastes, my 1/3 cup concentrate makes about six 10 ounce glasses of water at .58 cents per glass. That is about the cost of a 20 ounce Glaceau Vitamin Water or Gatorade product and considerably more than the cost per glass using Mio Liquid Enhancer or Aquafina Flavor Splash water.
The cost of sweetness
The big cost contributors for my home brew citrus beverage, which looks and tastes closer to weak cranberry juice, are the glycerin and liquid stevia concentrate. The Glycerin is certainly optional as it only helps to add body and add a little sweetness. The stevia adds the sweetness and can be reduced depending on your personal taste preference. I did experiment with Xylitol alcohol sugar but it didn’t mix very well and wasn’t very sweet. If I can find lower cost options or substitutes for the glycerin and stevia, the home brew citrus concentrate will be more economical than what I can buy at the store. If you experiment with this recipe or have any suggestions for me to try, leave a comment, please.