This jasmine-infused water is so simple, yet so refreshing and pretty! The fragrance is so beautiful you can make it a drink to serve when you have guests over. Also, you can put it in a nice glass bottle and bring it to a get-together or give it to people as a gift on special occasions.
What Is Jasmine-Infused Water?
Jasmine-infused water or Nam Loy Dok Mali (น้ำลอยดอกมะลิ) is a traditional Thai drink. We (and I'm sure many other countries) had started infusing water long before infused water became a hit. If you've read Thai literature, you'll know that you can trace this drink quite far back. Not only do people infuse water with fragrant edible flowers these days, but fruit-infused water or tea is just as popular, if not more. For example, check out my friend, Beth's Fruit-Infused Herbal Tea on her blog named A Meal In Mind. You can literally smell that drink from her pictures, can't you?
Jasmine-infused water is water with jasmine flowers in it. It has a very sweet pleasant scent and was usually served in aluminum water bowls in the past. Although traditionally Thai and extremely easy to make, today, you won't see that many people drink or serve jasmine-infused water in real life, let alone make such a thing. However, there may still be very few Thai restaurants that entertain their customers with this. I would say that most people who still drink it tend to grow the flowers and make this drink themselves.
When cold, this drink goes well with so many Thai dishes such as Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Kaprao Gai), Thai Grilled Pork Neck (Kor Moo Yang), Tom Yum Goong, and Thai Red Curry, to name a few.
Why Is This Floral Infused Drink Considered Traditional Thai?
Back when we didn't have running water or refrigerators, Thai people would store rainwater in HUGE earthen water jars to drink. As unbelievable as it may sound, I am old enough to have seen those jars lying around and drunk rainwater from them. To this day, I can still picture in my head the large metal cone permanently tied by a thread to a man-made hole in the gutter under my grandmother's roof, and connected to a 1.5-inch diameter hose that was as long as the height of her stilt house.
People would wait until the rain had washed away the dust on the roof and then started storing rainwater. Then, they would use alum to help purify it. Sounds worrying but I swear rainwater was perfectly fine to drink then. And the fact that those jars were earthen meant that the water inside was cold, which was great for the Thai weather. However, that wasn't the only way Thai people made their water pleasant to drink. They also did something else. And that's infusing the cold rainwater with jasmine flowers.
A Great Mother's Day Gift
To be honest, I've only rediscovered my love for jasmine-infused water when I started growing jasmine myself at home a few years ago. Initially, I chose this plant because I wanted to have homegrown jasmine flowers for my mom every Mother's Day. (Fun Fact: Jasmine is the symbol of Mother's Day in Thailand. Its white color symbolizes mother's love and purity) Anyway, there was this one year where I wanted to do something a bit more interesting with the jasmine flowers for my mom. So, I made her jasmine-infused water.
I had completely forgotten how good the smell of jasmine-infused water was. It was surprisingly strong but certainly not something to put you off. The reason why I call it strong is that most of the time you try to infuse water with a natural ingredient, the scent will be subtle. Jasmine-infused water is different, though, and I was hooked after the first swallow in years. It's so beautiful (no pun intended!) that I'll go as far as to say it's my favorite infused water. And the good news is, it's the easiest thing to make. And my mom also loves it, of course. 🙂 Put this in a nice glass bottle and use a ribbon to tie a bow with a card on the bottle and there you have it - the perfect homemade Mother's Day gift! <3
Jasmine-Infused Water In Thai Desserts
We also use jasmine-infused water many traditional Thai desserts such as Khanom Namdokmai, Khanom Tuay, Khanom Tuay Foo, Khanom Ko Kati, and Khanom Tako. The jasmine-infused water helps give these desserts, again, a nice pleasant scent.
How To Choose Your Jasmine Flowers
The Type: If you Google "jasmine flowers," you'll find that there are several types of jasmine, but not all are edible. However, the one that Thai people have been using to infuse water year after year is the one you see in the pictures in this post (Jasminum sambac). I would say that this is the most common type in Thailand. People do farm and sell these flowers to those who make perfume, essential oil, garlands, and such.
The Source: While you may be able to buy jasmine flowers where you live, they're something you want to stay away from, especially in Thailand. God knows what pesticides those farmers use. If you can verify that your source doesn't use pesticides or anything dodgy on the plants, feel free to use their flowers. If not, it's best you grow a jasmine bush yourself. Yes, one is enough.
The Harvesting: Some say you should harvest the flowers early in the morning but others say in the evening. I've tried both myself but didn't notice any difference, so you can just pick the time that's best for you. As long as you have the right ratio, your drink will smell amazing. For the flowers, many suggest picking the larger jasmine buds that look like they're about to open because the smell will be stronger. However, I find that even when I use only open flowers, my water still smells wonderful. The good thing about using jasmine buds, though, is that they don't bruise easily. Bruised jasmine flowers give this drink a grassy smell and you can tell they are so when the petals become transparent.
Ingredients
Just two simple ingredients - water and fresh jasmine flowers! We don't usually use a set number of flowers to make this drink. You just want to make sure that you're using enough flowers to enjoy the scent. There's no too many but there's definitely too few. Just to give you an idea, you can try this recipe:
- 51 fluid ounces or 1.5 liters of drinking water
- 1 large handful of fresh jasmine flowers
Instructions
- Gently rinse the flowers to clean them and set aside.
- Pour the drinking water into a large pitcher that comes with a lid.
- Add the flowers into the pitcher and close the lid.
- Cool in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours so that the jasmine-infused water gives a strong enough scent. (I personally like to do this overnight.)
- Discard the flowers and drink or put the pitcher back into the refrigerator and drink or serve whenever you want.
Pro Tips
- Do not leave the jasmine flowers in the water for too long---i.e., longer than overnight. Leaving jasmine flowers in the water for too long causes the grassy smell as well.
- If you're serving this drink to guests after it has been in the refrigerator for a few hours, you can use a few flowers in each glass for garnish.
- If you make this drink in the evening and use jasmine buds in the right size, the flowers will bloom and still look perfect in the morning. You can put them in a bowl with water for home decoration!
Other Recipe You Might Enjoy:
- Thai Iced Tea (Cha Yen)
- Nom Yen (Thai Pink Milk)
- Butterfly Pea Tea Lemonade (Nam Anchan Manow)
- Hibiscus Drink (Nam Krajeab)
- Butterfly Pea Milk (Nom Anchan)
📖 Recipe
Jasmine-Infused Water
Instructions
- Gently rinse the flowers to clean them and set aside.
- Pour the drinking water into a large pitcher that comes with a lid.
- Add the flowers into the pitcher and close the lid.
- Cool in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours so that the jasmine-infused water gives a strong enough scent. (I personally like to do this overnight.)
- Discard the flowers and drink or put the pitcher back into the refrigerator and drink or serve whenever you want.
Notes
- Do not leave the jasmine flowers in the water for too long---i.e., longer than overnight. Leaving jasmine flowers in the water for too long causes the grassy smell as well.
- If you're serving this drink to guests after it has been in the refrigerator for a few hours, you can use a few flowers in each glass for garnish.
- If you make this drink in the evening and use jasmine buds in the right size, the flowers will bloom and still look perfect in the morning. You can put them in a bowl with water for home decoration!