How to make and bottle your own Vitamin Water

Vitamin water is simply as the name suggests. It is water supplemented with vitamins. Vitamin water will contain one or more common water soluble vitamin like vitamin C and or vitamin B(s). The benefits of vitamins can not be disputed. They are beneficial to the body in small and large amounts. Vitamins B and C are safe for consumption in large amounts and adding them to water will ensure that your daily recommended consumption value is met. Vitamin C is a common antioxidant, critical for a variety of body functions. Its benefits extend to its ability to boost the immune system and reduce the signs of aging. Vitamin B is essential for various blood chemistry functions and helps to prevent various deficiencies.

Vitamin water can be both nutritious and refreshing. The consumption of vitamin water has skyrocketed over the past five years. Unfortunately, vitamin water can be costly for daily consumption. Moreover, vitamin water off the shelf is often packed with additives and substances that our bodies don't really need. Luckily, regardless of its prestige, there are neat ways to make your own vitamin water at home for personal use... and who knows, you might even make a couple of bucks off them. Here are some simple steps on how to make and bottle your own vitamin water.

It is important to note that water soluble vitamins on a whole will oxidize after some time. Vitamin water should be stored in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight from a window. Vitamin C in water will be good for up to two weeks but looses a little nutritional value through oxidation every day.Vitamin C will turn yellow as it gets older. So products with vitamin C should be consumed at the freshest date for the best nutritional value.

Vitamin B oxidizes slower than vitamin C but nutritional value in beverages will be strongest in the first three weeks of manufacture.

You will require a small handful of items to make and bottle your own vitamin water. Most of these items can be obtained at your local grocery store. You can research the best places to purchase empty plastic bottles at the best price.

Basic Ingredients:

• 1 gallon filtered tap water (or bottled water from your grocer)
• Vitamin C crystals
• Vitamin B complex powder or capsule

For taste and flavor use one or more of the following options:

• 1 quart flavored syrup
• Various food colorings
• Various food flavorings
• Fresh fruits for natural water flavoring
• 1/4 cup calorie free sweetener
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Preservatives (optional)

• 1/4 tsp citric acid (optional)
• 1/4 tsp sodium benzoate (optional)

Materials:

• 7 empty 600ml or 16 ounce bottles with caps
• 1 medium funnel
• 1 small plastic cup
• 1 medium juice pitcher
• Custom labels (may require the assistance of professional graphics designers)

The nutritional value of vitamin water will vary depending on the brand of vitamin supplements you used.

Vitamin C

1/2 tsp vitamin C crystals will provide over 3700% recommended daily value of vitamin C per 1/2 tsp serving. A serving of water is usually 8 ounces and you will be making seven 16 ounce bottles of water. Hence, the vitamin C value per serving will be equivalent to 250 to 300%.

Vitamin B

Whether capsule or powder, vitamin B will be less per serving of water. Depending on the brand of vitamins you use, vitamin B content per 8 ounces of water can be anywhere between 20 to 100% daily value.

Calories

Adding sugar or syrup to your recipe will add calories to your bottled water. However adding sugar to water only serves to enhance the fruity taste so you will not need to add much sugar. 1/2 cup of sugar contains 380 calories. Therefore adding 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon of water will make each 8 ounce serving of vitamin water contain 27 calories.

Before you begin, pour some of the water from your gallon bottle to a medium pitcher.

Add the following to the remaining water in the gallon bottle:

Combination 1

1 quart of fruit flavored syrup

Combination 2

1 tablespoon desired fruit flavor with 2 tsp desired artificial color.

Combination 3

For naturally flavored water, allow fruits to stand in water at room temperature for over 1 hour. Naturally flavored water will have to be refrigerated. Here are some tasty natural flavored water ideas.

Sweetening

Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar OR 1/4 cup artificial sugar for a slightly sweet taste if desired.

Adding Vitamins:

In a small cup, add 2 tbsp of water with:

1. 1/2 tsp vitamin C crystals AND...OR
2. 1 to 2 vitamin B capsules or 1/2 tsp powdered vitamin B

Mix vitamins with water until completely dissolved.

Using preservatives:

If you decide to make vitamin water for resale, be sure to add basic preservatives for longer shelf life and fresh taste. Sodium benzoate is has a very unpleasant taste (similar to Epson salt) so use sparingly. You can safely use 1/4 tsp per gallon of water. Commercial grade citric acid is sour and will give a lemony flavor to fruit beverages. In a small cup, add 2 tbsp of water, 1/4 tsp sodium benzoate and 1/4 tsp citric acid. Stir thoroughly until completely blended. Add vitamin C and B to this mixture and mix out completely before adding to the gallon water.

Final Steps:

After mixing your options, add dissolved vitamins and preservative to the gallon bottle.

Now fill gallon bottle with pure water from the pitcher. Cover the gallon bottle and shake until all ingredients are blended.

Prepare 600ml or 16 ounce bottles. Insert funnel into each bottle and pour vitamin water until the bottles are almost completely full.

Bottles:

There are many shapes, colors and sizes to choose from when buying disposable beverage bottles. If you plan to make vitamin water for resale, choose stylish water bottles with a little design. This will give you an extra boost as a fancy style will be more appealing for customers looking for vitamin water.

Labeling:

You should label your bottles before adding fluid. This will ensure that the label sticks properly. It is more difficult for labels to stick when bottles are cold or wet. Remember to add a best before date to your labels. With preservative, this can be up to 7 days on shelf or 14 to 21 days refrigerated.

Selling vitamin water:

Its best to start off in small quantities to test the market. You can sell vitamin water at garage sale events, your own restaurant, shop, cart and so on. To sell competitively and make a profit, choose the best ingredients at the best prices. You may opt to invest in a water filter to filter tap water than to purchase gallon bottles of water for retail.

Alternative calorie free sweeteners contain no calories and naturally flavored water with no added sugar contain fewer than 10 calories per 8 ounce serving.

Well this concludes my take on how to make and bottle your own vitamin water. I do it all the time. It is quite simple and there are many options. I use fruit syrup because it is easier and cheap. Remember, there are alternatives to everything. If you do not want to use food colorings and flavorings or syrup, natural options are available. Likewise, you can preserve your water on the refrigerator for a few days if you opt not to use any form of preservative. Preservatives are always recommended though as they will extend the shelf life of your product as well as keep it free of spores and harmful bacteria.