The One Thing I Add To My Water Bottle Every Day

I was a water girlie long before Tiktok influencers were bedazzling their water bottles and proclaiming the benefits of adequate hydration on the glowy-ness of their skin. For years, I toted a banged up Nalgene bottle bedazzled only with fading National Park stickers and attached via carabiner to my backpack. These days, my water bottle of choice is the admittedly lovely Owala Freesip.

What is inside my water bottle has not changed, however. I still fill it with plain water (reverse osmosis because I’m fancy) and my own personal favorite one-ingredient upgrade: a single bag of herbal tea.

The Best Tea for Upgrading Your Water

I prefer mint tea, chamomile tea, or just about any herbal tea blend. You could certainly use caffeinated tea, but since I’m sipping my water all day and avoid caffeine after breakfast, I stick with herbal.

Single-serving tea bags are convenient, but the selection is more limited. If you want to branch out into loose-leaf tea, I suggest using compostable tea bags that you fill yourself, like these. I add one scant tablespoon of loose-leaf tea per bag to my water bottle. 

How To Use Tea To Flavor Your Water

My water bottle holds 24 ounces of water, and I flavor it using one single tea bag. It’s not enough to turn my water fully into iced tea, but just enough to give it a little extra pizzazz. I also usually leave the tea bag in the bottle all day, and I refill my water bottle multiple times. I drink fast enough (see above re: lifetime water girlie) that the tea never oversteeps, and while the flavor fades after a refill or two, it still tastes pleasant.

If your water bottle is larger than mine, I’d still start with one tea bag and then go up to two if you want a stronger flavor. Also, if you tend to fill your bottle in the morning but don’t start sipping until noon, you’ll want to remove the tea bag after an hour or two so that it doesn’t oversteep and make your water taste bitter.

The last thing to note is that if the interior of your bottle is plastic, it will pick up tea flavors over time (as my old Naglene did). Newer water bottles tend to be lined with metal or other non-absorbing materials and should not pick up flavors or odors. Even so, thoroughly scrub any rubber gaskets, straws, or other plastic components when washing your bottle to keep everything as fresh and odor-free as possible.