To drink apple cider vinegar, dilute it first. Skip that step and nothing else about it works: not the taste, not the routine, and not whether you stick with it past week one. Usually that means one to two tablespoons in a large glass of water. That's the part everyone already half-knows. What's rarely answered is the rest of it, the bit where you're standing in your kitchen wondering whether it's meant to be hot or cold, before food or after, and why your first attempt tasted nothing like the version your friend swears by.
Apple Cider Vinegar Dilution Tips for Beginners
Start here, because everything else depends on it. Undiluted apple cider vinegar is sharp enough to catch you off guard, the kind of sharp that makes you understand instantly why so few people drink apple cider vinegar straight. It's highly acidic, thanks to the acetic acid that gives it its bite, so there's no getting around the fact that it needs company.
If it's your first time, go lighter than that; half a tablespoon is plenty to get a feel for it before you decide how strong you actually like it. This isn't about hitting a precise dose. It's about finding the strength you can drink without pulling a face every single morning. Once you know your own tolerance, you can adjust how much water you mix your apple cider vinegar with. Diluting it properly also matters for your teeth; some people drink it through a straw to keep it away from them altogether.
Should You Drink Apple Cider Vinegar Hot or Cold?
Either works. Cold gives you a sharper, more refreshing glass, closer to a shrub or a switchel than anything medicinal. Warmth softens the acidity and feels more like a small ritual than a chore, closer to a cup of tea. Nearly every article on this treats water temperature as an afterthought, one line, usually just "Add water", and moves on. It deserves more than that, because the two versions genuinely feel different to drink.
Cold apple cider vinegar diluted in water is the version people reach for in warmer months or when they want something bracing rather than soothing. Warm starts to feel like a shot you're steeling yourself for, softened down into something closer to a proper drink.
Neither is more correct than the other. One isn't more "authentic", and the other isn't a shortcut. It comes down to what you enjoy drinking, and that's worth deciding for yourself rather than following a rule someone else set.
How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar Taste Better
Most people give up too early here. Their first attempt was just vinegar and water, and understandably, they didn't love it. Apple cider vinegar takes flavour well, and a few additions turn it from something you tolerate into something you'd actually pour again.
Honey is the obvious first move; it rounds off the acidity and gives the whole glass a rounder, less austere edge. A pinch of cinnamon does something similar from a different angle, adding warmth without adding sweetness, particularly good in the warm version. A squeeze of lemon or orange leans into the sharpness instead of softening it for anyone who prefers their glass to stay bright and citrus-forward rather than mellow. A splash of sparkling water turns the whole thing into something closer to a spritz, which some people find far easier to drink than a still glass. None of this is complicated. It's closer to how you'd doctor a cup of tea to your own taste than anything resembling a recipe.
When Is the Best Time to Drink Apple Cider Vinegar?
There's no single best time. People drink it first thing, before a meal, after a meal, or somewhere in between, and all of those are equally valid habits. Timing gets far more attention than it deserves in most apple cider vinegar articles, precise instructions about exactly when to drink it relative to a meal.
Some people drink it first thing, before anything else has touched their stomach. Others drink it before a meal, folding it into whatever routine already exists around eating. Others drink it after food entirely, or somewhere in between, whenever it fits the day. Digestion is one of the reasons people say they drink apple cider vinegar before a meal, a habit that's stuck around for a long time, whatever you make of it. This guide sticks to the habit itself, not the theory behind it.
What actually matters is consistency over precision. A glass you'll have most days at a time that suits your routine beats a perfectly timed one you abandon after a week because it felt like a chore. Pick the point in your day where a sharp, cold or warm drink genuinely fits, and let that be your timing.
Which Apple Cider Vinegar Is Best for Drinking?
Raw and unfiltered, with visible cloudiness from the culture that forms as the vinegar ferments, known as "the Mother". That's the one thing worth checking for before you buy a bottle specifically to drink.
Not every apple cider vinegar on a shelf is suited to drinking this way. Grab the wrong one and you'll get exactly the flat, thin glass that put people off trying this in the first place, the kind with none of the character that makes the habit worth keeping up.
Some bottles are processed and filtered until there's not much left, which is fine as the vinegar you'd pair with oil to make a salad dressing but disappointing in a glass of water. It's this cloudiness, not a marketing term, that tells you the vinegar still has some texture and flavour worth tasting, the difference between a glass you finish and one you tip down the sink.
Bragg's is the name most people already associate with drinking apple cider vinegar this way, and it's usually the first bottle anyone reaches for once they've decided to give it a go. It's cloudy, raw, and has apple cider vinegar's sharper, more assertive character, the kind that made this whole habit popular in the first place. It's a reliable place to start if you've never bought a bottle specifically for drinking rather than cooking.
If you'd rather your bottle was Irish-made, there are two worth knowing. Attyflin Estate, made in Co. Limerick, is produced from 100% Irish apples and is raw, unfiltered and unpasteurised, giving you the same drinking experience with a shorter journey to your glass.
Highbank Orchards leans further into provenance again, a single Kilkenny estate growing its own heritage cider apples and pressing them into an organic, unfiltered vinegar rather than buying fruit in. Both are genuinely good swaps for anyone who likes the idea of drinking apple cider vinegar but would rather the apples in the bottle were Irish rather than imported.
What If You Don't Want to Drink Apple Cider Vinegar?
Not everyone takes to the tonic style, and that's a perfectly reasonable place to land. If a glass of diluted vinegar first thing in the morning has never appealed and probably never will, there are still plenty of ways to use apple cider vinegar in the kitchen, from dressings to marinades to the last splash that lifts a sauce. Our full guide to apple cider vinegar uses in the kitchen covers all of it.
Ready to Try Apple Cider Vinegar?
Two weeks. That's usually enough time to find your own ratio, your own temperature, and the one flavour pairing that makes you reach for the glass without thinking about it. If you're ready to pick a bottle, our full range of vinegars, oils and dressings is worth a browse.
This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication, or managing a health condition, please consult your GP before making significant changes to your diet.
