Blackberry Lemon Lavender Water: Easy Recipe

Blackberry lemon lavender water is a chilled fruit-and-flower infusion that takes 2 hours 10 minutes total and yields about 4 cups (950 mL).

What is blackberry lemon lavender water?

Blackberry lemon lavender water combines blackberries, sliced lemon, and culinary lavender with cold water. The berries add a subtle fruity flavor, the lemon brings tartness, and the lavender contributes a floral note.

Unlike juice or a blended drink, this infusion is strained after steeping. It’s one of many berry infused water recipes that add flavor to water without requiring a sweetener.

The finished drink has a gentler flavor than lemonade. How much color it develops depends partly on whether you leave the berries whole or press them before steeping.

What ingredients and ratios do you need?

For approximately four 1-cup (240 mL) servings, you’ll need:

Water: 950 mL (4 cups), cold
Blackberries: 150 g (about 1 cup)
Lemon: 100 g (about 1 medium lemon or 1/2 cup sliced)
Dried culinary lavender buds: about 0.5 g (1/2 teaspoon, or 1/96 cup)

Use lavender sold for culinary use, not essential oil, scented products, or ornamental flowers that may have been treated with chemicals. A small amount is enough: too much can make the water taste strongly floral. The teaspoon is easier to measure than the equivalent fraction of a cup.

You’ll also need a pitcher, a spoon, and a fine-mesh strainer. A reusable tea infuser or empty tea bag makes the lavender easier to remove without leaving small buds in the drink.

How do you make blackberry lemon lavender water?

Active prep: about 10 minutes
Refrigerated steep: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Yield: about 4 cups (950 mL)

Rinse the blackberries and lemon under running water. Slice the lemon into thin rounds.
Place the blackberries and lemon slices in a pitcher. Lightly press a few berries with the back of a spoon if you want a deeper color.
Put the lavender buds in a tea infuser or empty tea bag, then add it to the pitcher.
Pour in the cold water and stir gently.
Refrigerate for 2 hours, then remove the lavender and strain out the fruit. Serve chilled.

For another combination or quantity, try the AI infused water generator.

You can steep the fruit for up to 4 hours in the refrigerator for a stronger flavor. Remove the lemon or strain the water by then, because the pith can make it bitter. If the lavender tastes strong enough before the fruit is ready, remove its infuser and let the fruit continue steeping.

Why do blackberry, lemon, and lavender pair well?

Blackberries have a mild sweetness and tartness that give the infusion a fruity base. Lightly pressing them releases more color and flavor than leaving every berry whole. For a simpler fruit flavor, blackberry infused water uses the same idea without the floral addition.

Lemon brightens the mixture and balances the berries. Lavender adds aroma rather than sweetness, so the small amount in this recipe keeps it from overwhelming the fruit. Explore lemon water or lavender water for more on each ingredient.

The main benefit of this drink is hydration, especially if its flavor helps you enjoy drinking water. The liver and kidneys do most of the body’s detoxification; this infusion does not cleanse the body or replace their work. The nutrients in whole fruit also shouldn’t be assumed to pass fully into the steeped water.

How should you store blackberry lemon lavender water?

Keep the water refrigerated during steeping and after straining. For the best flavor, drink it within 24 hours. Discard it after 2 days, or sooner if it becomes cloudy, slimy, or sour-smelling.

Don’t leave the pitcher at room temperature for more than a few hours. Removing the fruit and lavender also makes the flavor easier to control as the water sits. Keep the strained water covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it.

How can you vary the recipe?

Make it more berry-forward

Gently press more of the blackberries before adding the water. This gives the infusion more color and fruit flavor, although it may also make the finished water slightly cloudy. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer if you prefer a clearer drink.

Use a lighter floral touch

Use half the lavender in the recipe, or omit it for a fruitier flavor. Keep the rest of the method the same and taste the chilled water before deciding whether to use more lavender next time. A tea infuser lets you remove the buds as soon as the floral flavor suits you.

Reduce the lemon’s bitterness

Peel the lemon before slicing it, removing as much of the white pith as practical. You can also remove the unpeeled slices after the initial 2-hour steep and strain out the other ingredients at the same time. The drink will still have a citrus note without the peel remaining in the pitcher during storage.