It’s the summer of the mocktail. From the Nogroni to the Espresso Notini, booze-free bevies are on the rise, whether it’s at bars or in canned, ready-to-drink format. But why pay for a fancy NA beverage when you could easily make your own? Enter TikTok’s viral “jam water.” Jam water first rose to popularity in the summer of 2022, when TikTok user @katchaomeow created a video of herself mixing lime Lacroix with raspberry lychee jam, inspired by a now deleted video from @jocelyn.mp4. The trend has taken off, with TikTokers trying all kinds of unique seltzer and jam combos from coconut and raspberry to apricot and lime.
I have to admit, I was kind of skeptical. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t have independently thought to mix jam into a beverage. But there have certainly been weirder TikTok trends which turned out to be delicious. Take the McDonald’s Hash Brown-McFlurry Sandwich and the Chickle, for example. Plus, jam water sounds like the perfect fun, customizable summer mocktail. So I decided to try it for myself.
What is jam water?
Jam water is simple: at its most basic level, it consists of any flavor of sparkling water mixed with any flavor of jam. But I decided to get a little crazy and try it with some different jarred fruit products. This sent me down a rabbit hole, because I’ve always wondered about the difference between jam, jelly, preserves, etc. So first off, let’s clarify some terms. According to mvfarmmarket.com:
Jelly: Jelly is made with strained fruit juice. There are no pieces of fruit in jelly.
Jam: Jam is made with mashed fruit.
Preserves: Preserves have whole fruit or large pieces of fruit.
Fruit spreads: These are usually 100% fruit with no sugar added.
In conclusion, I’ve actually been eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches my whole life, not peanut butter and jelly. This makes me really uncomfortable for some reason? IDK…anyways, moving right along.
I made three versions of jam water, all with a base of plain seltzer.
Smucker's red raspberry preserves jam water
This was the most jammy looking product in my fridge, even though it’s not technically jam, apparently. It does have seeds in it, which kinda made me nervous. But I went ahead and mixed a spoonful into my seltzer, and was pleasantly surprised. The color was beautiful, a sort of deep plummy purple tone. It’s giving Taylor Swift’s Midnights, and I’m here for it. But of course, it’s not all about looks. So how does it taste? Pretty good, actually. It’s very summery, and I love the combo of carbonation and jammy flavor. I think the raspberry worked very well, and gave it a very classy vibe. And honestly I didn’t even notice the seeds. 8/10 pleasant.
Bonne Maman strawberry fruit spread jam water
Please ignore the expiration date… Anyways, I actually felt more confident going into this one, because the spread didn’t have visible seeds and seemed less chunky. But upon mixing a spoonful into my seltzer, I became more nervous. It wasn’t a very pretty color, TBH. It kind of just looked like dirty water. Not very appetizing. But after taking a sip, I was pleasantly surprised. This was way more flavorful than it looked, and honestly tasted sweeter and fresher than the Smucker's preserves version. 8.6/10 delightful.
Mrs. Miller’s F.R.O.G. jam water
You may be wondering what FROG jam is. You’ll be pleased (or maybe disappointed) to learn it doesn’t contain any frogs. This classic Southern Appalachian (that’s app-a-LATCH-in, thank you very much) condiment is made from figs, raspberries, oranges, and ginger, which forms the acronym F.R.O.G. It’s a very unique and delicious blend of flavors, so I was excited to see how it worked in my jam water. Upon mixing, it looked like apple juice. It also tasted like apple juice, which is weird because it doesn’t have any apples in it. But it was really good, and reminded me of the sparkling apple cider that I drank every New Year’s Eve as a child. 8.3/10 nostalgic.
The Verdict
This is the perfect fun summer mocktail, IMO. Jam water has the same experimental, fun, allure of cocktails, sans alcohol. It allows people who choose not to drink for whatever reason to try something new and fun at summer parties, and really participate in the mixed beverage fun. Plus, jam water is super refreshing and made from affordable ingredients that most people have on hand. Personally, I’m looking forward to mixing it up and creating fun new flavor combos. With the variety of sparkling waters and jarred fruit products on the market, the possibilities are endless!