I'm curious to hear some answers, too.

If you like herbal teas, blackberry leaf tea tastes a bit like blackberries. It's kind of like water, I guess.

If you like licorice, you might be able to use fennel as a flavoring. I wonder if cherry, sour cherry, or Cornelian cherry juice would work.

I looked at some suggestions online. These got my attention: Unsweetened cranberry juice added in small amounts might make a good impact. Same for citruses besides lemon/lime (orange, grapefruit, and such). Soaking fresh pineapple in water overnight is supposed to work.

Ginger, lime, grapefruit, hibiscus, rooibos tea, green tea, cucumber...any fruit in season. Whazz-up, make ice cubes...watermelon should be good soon and plentiful.

We have used a soda stream for years. Sometimes just a bit of bubbly is good.

The issue most have trying to get off sugary sodas, even the diet ones, is the lack of sugars and full flavor in lightly tinted water. Like a flat soda. Sort of defeats the purpose even though natural sweeteners are better for you.

I used to buy the unsweetened cranberry but now just use the teas and a bit of fruit and ginger. Ice cubes made from a blender mix are a bit more flavorful than just a whole slice of fruit in a glass. Some of the concoctions are just pretty for a party.

In the Fall when my fruit trees are harvested, pear and apple are good with ginger and lemon/lime.

I like these cotton spice bags so I can use bulk spice and make my own mixes. Great for a work day...just stays in my water all day and cold brews. Much cheaper than those tiny purchased herb tea bags. And it will hold a couple ice cubes.

That is a wide mouth quart ball jar I use at home. I probably fall into the 'way-too-much-water' category. I re-fill about ten/15 times a day on weekends....

Thank you to all for your input. I will start using your suggestions. I was thinking that maybe I could make a small amount of fruit syrup that I could keep in the fridge. The only suggestion I can't use is grapefruit which interferes with my mess.

Sleevendog, I have a Soda Steam that I bought for my late husband years ago for his birthday because he loved carbonated water. He scoffed at it at first, but once he started using it, he was hooked. I plan on using it for myself. Carbonated water then added flavor. Of course, I will drink my share of iced tea, Rooibos is my favorite.

Madonna

That's interesting that you say the ice cubes bring out more flavor. That could possibly be because of some of the fruit constituents bursting from being frozen or some such.

If you freeze fruit, you can probably get a clearer more pulp-free juice from it when you thaw it (since the juice kind of leaks out) vs. fruit that hasn't been frozen. I'm not sure how the taste differs when thawed when it's not in ice-cube form.

Try some of the individual bottles of juice like the Pom, then if you don't like it, you're not out that much $$.

I like citrus, pom, cranberry. I don't add much, just enough for flavor. Don't like sweets.

I always have a big jug of water beside me. Sometimes I want some light taste so I steep a flavored tea bag (blackberry, peach, mint, ect)in the ice water and add a few pieces of frozen fruit chunks. Its gotta be better than a sugared choice. Lol.

I do a lot of herbal/fruity iced teas, homemade lemonade... True Lemon makes a powdered product that is just dehydrated citrus, lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit. A packet is nice if you don't have fresh slices on hand. I also dehydrate a lot of citrus when it's in season for cheap around here and will often toss a couple slices in my water jug. I'm rather fond of dehydrated cucumber slices too. There's a couple flavors of the powdered drink stuff like crystal light that I like.

And not water but... other things to help with hydration and I don't exactly feel like water at that moment. I also tend to keep jello in the fridge for something fruity, and a variety of pickles to help keep up the electrolytes and salts to balance out all the water.

I recently bought an odd drink on sale when I was thirsty (and cheap) at the health food store. It was a fizzy apple cider vinegar ginger turmeric drink. It was surprisingly thirst quenching. Since then I have made my own version a few times - ginger ac vinegar and maple syrup in water or seltzer. The trick seems to be enough flavor to taste but not much more. The line between light flavor and drinking vinegar is narrow.

Also a vote for a bit of juice in water.

Hubby & I are addicted to flavored seltzer waters. 2 stores around here (Publix, Aldi) have the lowest prices and yummy flavors. I like orange and grapefruit. I used to put a few drops of grapefruit essential oil in a 2 liter bottle of plain seltzer, before I found grapefruit seltzer @ Aldi.

The other thing I do is make flavored green tea w/ twice the amount of water - that is, 1 teabag to 16 ounces water. I love Trader Joe's jasmine, and their Candy Cane decaf. Celestial Seasonings makes a Candy Cane green tea decaf too, but TJ's costs a lot less. It is seasonal, so I buy enough to make it through until winter rolls around again. (more than you wanted to know, right?)

HTH

Try this:

https://www.amazon.com/Lorann-Oils-Dram-10-FF/dp/B00F8692LO/ref=pd_sbs_325_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00F8692LO&pd_rd_r=Z3E8VH4EZZR8V9ZZDJBY&pd_rd_w=PEBN2&pd_rd_wg=4smzr&psc=1&refRID=Z3E8VH4EZZR8V9ZZDJBY

dcarch

I know you mentioned that you don't want a cucumber solution, but for the sake of the topic, I thought I'd mention that the thing I've found that quenches the feeling of thirst most for me besides water/liquid is large Armenian cucumbers (they're technically muskmelons, but they taste like cucumbers); they quench it better even than watermelon. I've never tried using them to flavor water, though—but they seem to have hydrating properties. I've only ever tried/grown this kind.