Watermelon Agua Fresca Recipe
Watermelon Agua Fresca Ingredients
1 watermelon
ice cold filtered water
1 tablespoon lime juice per cup of pureed watermelon
optional: sugar or other sweetener, lime wedges and mint sprigs for garnish
Watermelon Agua Fresca Ingredients
Wash whole watermelon and cut watermelon in half. Use a large spoon to scoop out all of the pink part of the watermelon into a bowl. Discard or save watermelon rind for other use (pickled watermelon!).
Puree watermelon in blender. Measure how many cups of watermelon puree you have. A 5-pound watermelon will yield approximately 8 cups of watermelon puree.
For each cup of watermelon puree, add ¼ cup of water and 1 tablespoon of lime juice. For example, for 8 cups of watermelon puree, add 2 cups of water and ½ cup lime juice.
Stir everything together in a large pitcher. Taste. If you'd like, stir in sweetener, though if you're getting good watermelons, you probably don't need any sweetener.
Watermelon Agua Fresca is ready to drink, but Watermelon Agua Fresca is even better once it's chilled in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Stir again right before serving (watermelon pulp might settle toward the bottom).
Pour Watermelon Agua Fresca into glasses, over ice if necessary. Garnish with lime wedges and/or mint sprigs.
Watermelon Agua Fresca will keep in the refrigerator for about two days.
I have tried making this Watermelon Agua Fresca with leaves of fresh mint added to the food processor with the watermelon, but the combination just doesn't do it for me. I don't really love the flavor of mint to begin with in anything but toothpaste and chewing gum, and I can't help but always feel like I have little neon green bits of mint between my teeth after drinking it.
I just used the mint as a garnish. For photos.
By the way, this is the perfect mixer for ice cold vodka.
Recipe Notes and Resources
~ Watermelon. Wait until you see watermelons at the local farmers' markets before you buy them anywhere. That's when you will know watermelons are ready, usually late June or early July. If you see watermelons in the regular grocery store say, in May, you can TRY them, but they will be any combination of grainy or dry or bland or cracked or totally tasteless. Probably all of the above.
~ Farmers Market. I like the different colored watermelons — red, pink, orange, yellow — from Weiser Farms.
~ Water. You can make this Watermelon Agua Fresca with sparkling water to make it a little extra. If you don't finish it all in the same day, just save it in the refrigerator with an airtight lid. It may or may not retain its "sparkle" the next day. Even if it doesn't, it'll still taste like the original Watermelon Agua Fresca.
~ Sweetener. Some people add sugar or simple syrup to Watermelon (and other) Agua Fresca. If you'd like a sweeter drink, add some sugar. I generally avoid adding sweetener in any form — agave syrup, honey, maple syrup, straight up sugar — that's just my taste preference.
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