Why Your Cucumber Water Doesn't Taste Like The Spa's Version

Cucumber water can be a tasty way to stay extra hydrated at home, yet the homemade version seems to fall short of what you might find in the waiting room of a fancy spa. But some simple tips can punch up your at-home cucumber water to make it taste spa-grade.

It's important to begin with high-quality, well-filtered water and fresh cucumbers; better ingredients always lead to better results. Perhaps the biggest difference that makes your local spa's version stand out is time. For best results, infuse your cucumber water overnight in the refrigerator.

Cucumber water tastes best when it's ice cold, so keep it cold for as long as possible. Like cold-brewing coffee or tea, steeping cucumber slices in cold water takes longer to deliver the best flavor. Steeping overnight, or about 8 to 12 hours, will give you a more concentrated taste. Just don't leave the slices in the water too long, or they may begin to disintegrate and make your water pulpy.

Next-level tips to improve your cucumber water

Use ribbon cuts on your cucumber instead of traditional slices to get faster flavor out of your water. The thinner, longer slices expose more surface area to the water, resulting in a quicker infusion. For maximum taste, you could even use this time improvement to swap out the cucumber for a fresh batch of ribbons and double-infuse the water. 

For more complex flavors, some spas infuse more things than just cucumber in their water. Many fruits, vegetables, or herbs are natural flavors to spice up your water, including but not limited to ginger, mint, lemon, rosemary, oranges, and basil. Just remember that different ingredients may affect the three-day shelf life of a baseline cucumber water. 

You may not often think of adding sugar to water, but about 1 teaspoon per serving of cucumber water will round out your flavors, especially if the water is missing any sweet infusions like oranges. (For an easier stir, simple syrup will mix into the cold water faster than granulated sugar because it's already a dissolved solution.) This flavor booster will only add a modest 15 calories per serving, which you can adjust to taste, or use an equivalent amount of a no-calorie sweetener like Splenda.