It was on my second trip to Peru that I first tried Agua de Sabor. I was living and teaching yoga at Kapievi, an Eco-village in the Amazon, where the family, friends, and guests would come together to eat lunch. Always present on the table was a pitcher of Agua de Sabor or as I like to call it ¨fruit water¨. Through the years I began to realize that this tradition of having Agua de Sabor available at lunch time was not just Peruvian but common throughout all of Latin America including Mexico.   

So, what is Agua de Sabor and why is it not found or served in the USA?

In the US, in homes and restaurants, you will commonly encounter one of two drinks, at breakfast time, pure juice, either squeezed orange juice, carrot juice, or grapefruit juice, and at lunch or dinner you will be served a pitcher of water with a slice or two of lemon, basically lightly flavored water.

So what makes Agua de Sabor different?

Agua de Sabor literally means ¨flavored water¨ and is made with water and fruit and a sweetener. It’s not pure juice, although it looks concentrated, and at the same time it’s much different than lightly flavored water. In other words Agua de Sabor falls between the two extremes and is flavorful, nutritious, and very thirst quenching. 

Agua de Sabor starts by adding pieces of fruit into a blender, to which is added fresh drinking water, and a sweetener. The result is a light but refreshing drink that is composed of about one half water.

Making Agua de Sabor at home gives you complete control over all the ingredients, including the sweetener you choose, which makes it much healthier than store bought drinks. Really, you can make agua fresca with any fruit, but my favorite fruits are guava, tangerine, mango, and pineapple. You can also pick the sweetener of your choice, we prefer stevia. Other sweeteners such as piloncillo and agave syrup are good, but they will affect the flavor. Or lastly white sugar.

Before I give you the basic recipe, realize that some fruits such guava will need to be strained after blending as they have many small, hard seeds, while other fruits such as pineapple will need to be strained because of the fibers. Citrus fruits can be juiced (seeds removed) and then mixed directly in the pitcher with the water and sweetener, eliminating the need for a blender.

The basic recipe is;

• 2 cups fresh fruit or juice
• 4 cups drinking water
• 6-10 packets of stevia, or 1/4 cup sugar                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          In a blender combine the water and fruit and puree until smooth. Pour this thru a strainer, then back into the blender, add the sweetener additional water if needed and pulse a few times and you’re done. Pour this mixture into a pitcher and serve. The agua fresca is normally served at room temp. If you prefer a chilled agua fresca, try making it with chilled water or place the pitcher in the fridge an hour or two before serving. At all costs avoid adding ice, as this will dilute the flavor.                                                                                                                                                            So easy to make, now just sit back and enjoy…………