Watermelon Agua Fresca

July 11, 2013 at 5:45 pm | Posted in around NYC, drinks | 7 Comments
Tags: drinks, fruit

I quit my job a couple of weeks ago. Actually I quit my job in February, but somehow they convinced me to stay through June. Hmmm…how’d that happen? Over those last five months at work, I was sooooo looking forward to some free time. I had grand plans for sprucing up things around the house, maybe taking piano lessons or going on a couple of trips. To tell ya the truth, though, I haven’t accomplished much.

It’s hard to motivate for big cleaning projects or to concentrate on EveryGoodBoyDoesFine when it’s so freakin’ hot in the house…and also when you have a contracting crew remodeling a bathroom and making crazy noise and more mess everyday. I do have a some short trips lined up, but none have happened yet, and one already had to be cancelled (boo to that–I’d already bought the plane ticket). When I go on my daily errands, I’ve been taking long walks to keep myself out of the stuffy house. My prize for today’s cruise around Brooklyn is that I walked right past Ethan Hawke on the sidewalk–OMG, so cute!

I’ve been looking for creative ways to cool down that don’t just involve going to the movies or eating ridiculous amounts of ice cream. My obsession for all things Mexican led me to agua fresca…the drink, not my neighbor’s pretty awesome above-ground pool. I took a big watermelon that was taking up too much space in the fridge and turned it into the most refreshing, pink, fruity, fizzy, ice-cold drink. Yes, I will be doing a lot of agua fresca-ing this summer. Yes, that is a verb.

Watermelon Agua Fresca– makes 4-6 drinks

Steph’s Notes: I don’t see why this wouldn’t work with other types of melon, too.

2 lbs of watermelon cubes, seeds mostly picked out (this is the weight after trimming the rind and cubing)
juice of half a lime (or more to taste)
pinch of salt
granulated sugar or simple syrup to taste
cold seltzer water (or still water if you’d rather)
ice

-Put the melon chunks in a blender with the juice of half a lime and a pinch of salt. Whiz till liquid. Taste and see if it needs another squeeze of lime and/or if it needs to be sweeter. Add sugar or simple syrup accordingly– if it needs any added sweetener at all, it probably won’t be more than a couple of spoonsful. Re-blend to combine.

-Strain the juice into a bowl, pitcher or 1-quart measuring cup, pressing gently to get as much juice liquid as possible while removing the pulp (unless you’d prefer to leave it in). Chill the juice for at least an hour.

-When you’re ready to assemble your drinks, fill a glass little more than half full with juice. Top off with seltzer and ice.

*If you plan to serve the entire batch in one go, you can top off the full amount of juice with water and ice directly in a pitcher just before pouring. But if you assemble the drinks on a glass-by-glass basis, extra juice will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

7 Comments »

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The photos sure do look fresca! 🙂
Sophia

Comment by sophiazerg— July 11, 2013 #

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Great post and look at that colour – I’ll need to keep this in mind when summer comes to New Zealand.

Comment by Lesley— July 11, 2013 #

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Sounds really good and love your pix too!

Comment by sweetbakedlife— July 11, 2013 #

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Love this! I made a similar drink recently with coconut water and am convinced watermelon drinks are THE BEST!

Sues

Comment by wearenotmartha— July 14, 2013 #

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this looks so delicious and fresh! thankyou for the idea 🙂

Comment by Meryem— July 31, 2013 #

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Love this…I make granita with a similar recipe. Perfect for summer!

Comment by Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy & Harried— August 5, 2013 #

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Yum! What a refreshing drink for the Summer! 🙂

Comment by bakewithmeblog— August 14, 2013 #

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