Test Kitchen Tuesday

I love infused water. It’s a refreshing way to enjoy your water, and much healthier way to add some flavor than something like Mio or other store-bought water additives.

So, when I discovered the Aqua Zinger – a personal infused water maker — I contacted the maker immediately letting them know I would like to review their product, and asking if they would sponsor a giveaway.

You’re in luck! The nice folks at Zing Anything happily offered to give one random reader an Aqua Zinger (though I like this thing so much I would give one away regardless). See below in the Giveaway Section at the very bottom of this post to learn how to enter. (Hint: Leave me a comment with what you will zing if you win!)

This review is only on the Aqua Zinger, but Zing Anything has a product line that includes a Citrus Zinger, Salad Zinger, and Vodka Zinger. For what it’s worth, the Aqua Zinger also works fine with citrus, you just have to cut it up into smaller pieces, whereas you don’t have to this with the Citrus Zinger, which works with half of a citrus.

What is It?

A stylish stainless steel water bottle with a small “grinder” cup on the bottom that allows you to make infused water in a very on-the-go friendly way.

Forget Vitamin Water or other fruity water drinks made with artificial flavors and sweeteners. The Aqua Zinger lets you your own infused water to suit your tastes, and the sky is truly the limit in terms of combinations you can make. I am very anti-artificial flavors or colors, so this is really a fantastic solution to flavored water.

The Aqua Zinger retails from $25-30, depending on where you find it, and comes in four colors: Blue, pink, green, and grey.

How Does it Work?

This is the really interesting part. There is a small cup with little tines in it that screws onto the bottom of the bottle. The action of screwing this cup onto the bottle grinds the fruit, vegetables or herbs (or combination of all) that you have put into the cup. There are small perforations in the top of the blade lid that allow water to flow between the flavorings and your water, and, by shaking the bottle, you can infuse those flavors into the water. This lets you have flavorings without actually having the fruits or veggies in the water. It’s so simple, it’s brilliant.

The steps are:

• Add flavorings to cup (fill to the top)
• Place top blade lid on the cup
• Screw cup onto bottle, unscrew, and then re-screw (to release the flavors)
• Add water (and ice, if you want) to the bottle
• Screw on the lid
• Shake!
• Place in fridge to steep for 15-30 minutes
• Remove and shake again
• Drink

What is it Made Of?

The bottle itself is made of a sturdy food-grade, safe stainless steel.

The grinding cup is made of  BPA-free plastic.

By the way, there is a “bottom” and a “top” to the cup, which perform the grinding action once you have loaded in your flavor combinations.

And, the lid is also made of BPA-free plastic.

How Well Does it Work?

I have to admit, before I had one of these in my grubby little hands, I wasn’t sure what made it so much better than traditionally infused water. But, it is so neat!

I took this on a trip with me last week (it seems I do all my reviews away from home lately), and I tested it out over the course of the week in different locales. As it turns out, we were all over Northern California for this trip, and instead of buying lots of different mini-mart drinks while on the road, we bought a big jug of water early on, and I just kept filling up my Aqua Zinger with water and new flavor combinations. Thanks to everyone that provided your ideas for flavors! I did:

• Lemon
• Lime
• Cucumber
• Lemon/Lime combo
• Peach
• Blueberry/Ginger
• Mango/mint (this is so good!)

Someone suggested to try durian, and while I am generally open to new food suggestions, I simply couldn’t find any (and am slightly scared of durian, if we’re speaking the truth!). Another reader (and friend of mine) suggested a Pomegranate mixture, but I have a sensitivity to the Pom (sad), so I had to skip that one.

I have to say, the simple, solo cucumber has always been and remains my favorite. It is so refreshing and reminds me of being at a spa. But, there really is no limit to the flavor combinations you could do. The Zinger folks have lots of recipes, so I won’t recreate those here, but here is a list of all the things you could think about zinging (not necessarily together, just a list of things that could be zinged).

Here are my few thoughts about the actual operation of the Aqua Zinger:

• Getting the right touch to screw the bottom cup onto the bottle takes a bit of getting used to, but once you’ve don’t it a couple times, it’s very easy. The challenge is that you need to fill the cup full with your flavorings to maximize the flavors, and so screwing it on can make it seem like you run into hang ups as the cup is grinding. In reality, if you just keep screwing it on, it will get past the speed bumps no problem.
• The Zing Anything recommend that you unscrew the cup one or two times and re-screw it on to better grind your flavorings. This is not a big deal at all, and once you figure out how to successfully screw it on, it gets easier each time.
• They say you can do two “zings” with the same flavorings, but, I did three sometimes without issue. You could experience slightly less flavor each time you re-use your flavorings. I found citrus seemed to be the most pliable to doing multiple zings, but, peach was kind of a one-and-done proposition.
• You can use it to create both hot and cold beverages. Naturally-flavored tea is really easy to do, and since it is a stainless steel bottle and durable thick plastic grinding cup, you are in good shape for traveling with your creation.
• Ideally, you should completely peel the fruits and veggies you are using to help protect the blades, though, they say you can add a small amount of rind to each zing. To be honest, I did one zing with lemons and limes with their entire rinds intact, and it worked out just fine, but they don’t recommend you do this! I was just kind of “battle testing” the product to see what would happen if you didn’t heed that warning.
• The grinding blades may  look intimidating, but they are not sharp like a knife. They grind, but don’t cut per se, so they are nothing to fear.

How Do You Clean It?

When you are done with a flavor combination, just fling the refuse into your compost bin or trash, and rinse the grinder cup and bottle.

According to the documentation, the Aqua Zinger is top rack dishwasher safe. Since we are currently in a major remodel and do not have a dishwasher, I wasn’t able to test this element for you super thoroughly. I ran it through the dishwasher in the cabin we were staying in Yosemite, and it came out fine, so I am going to say it is just fine in the dishwasher. However, it is really easy to hand wash as well, just be careful with the grinding blades, while they aren’t knife-sharp, if you forget you are working with metal, you could accidentally scrape yourself. 

Resources:

• Here is a Quick Tips PDF, which includes a lot of valuable information to help you successfully “Zing” your water.
• They also have a video tutorial here, for those that would rather watch than read.

Aqua Zinger Pros

• Easy to create tasty, naturally-flavored water to take on-the-go, to the office, gym, or, even in the car. I even took it to Yosemite for a hike! (It was snowing that day, but didn’t stop us)
• There is an endless possibility of flavor combinations, only limited by your imagination, and the Zing Anything folks have provided a ton of example recipes on their website, so if you don’t want to get creative, you can follow their lead.
• Quality materials, BPA-free
• Plenty of support/help/how to materials, both shipped with the bottle and on their website
• Affordable and so much healthier for you and the planet over buying bottled beverages
• The design of the cap allows you to attach it to a backpack easily with a carabineer for hiking
• Good seals on both the cap and the grinding cup that prevent leakage
• Really nice looking, durable bottle!

Aqua Zinger Cons/Room for Improvement

• The base of the bottle is just slightly too large in diameter to sit comfortably in either of our car cup holders. This is not the end of the world, but it would be nice if it sat snugly in the cup holder. We have average cars (a small SUV and a hatchback), so I feel like they are a decent representation of what most people have. If you have a big pickup or Suburban type vehicle, odds are it will fit fine.
• I would prefer a lid that has a flip-top straw, or some way to drink without having to unscrew the cap. This sort of goes back to the car thing, as it’s hard to screw on/off a cap while driving (and probably not advisable). This is also more hiking friendly, as it is easier to flip a straw than unscrew a cap

Bottom Line Thoughts:

While this is not what I would call an essential kitchen gadget or appliance, it definitely is a value-add item that can make getting your daily water intake a breeze. By flavoring water with fresh fruits and veggies, you can add a little zing to your drink without the calorie, artificial ingredients, or other undesirable aspects of store-bought drinks. Infused water feels like such a treat that you will look forward to creating and drinking (at least I do)!

Aqua Zinger Giveaway

One lucky winner is going to get a complimentary Aqua Zinger directly from the folks at Zing Anything. A zinger just like this one could be yours, and I think this is so awesome!

How to Enter:

Leave a comment below letting us know your favorite infused water combination, or, what you would make if you win the Aqua Zinger.

I’ll hold a random drawing of entries using Random.org, and the contest will run from today, February 13, 2013  until next Wednesday, February 21, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. PST. I’ll announce the winner by EOD Thursday.

Good luck to all who enter, and let me know what you would zing!

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You should know: I am not affiliated with the maker of the Aqua Zinger, however, I did ask them to send me a sample to review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own, and were not at all influenced by the maker. If you found this review helpful and decide to purchase an Aqua Zinger, using this Amazon link puts a few pennies in my pot to support future reviews.