Watermelon Agua Fresca

Name: Watermelon Agua Fresca
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Mexico
Ingredients: 900 g seedless watermelon, cubed (about 6 cups); 480 ml cold water; 30 g lime juice (1 to 2 limes); 13 g sugar or agave (optional, to taste); a pinch of fine salt; 4 fresh mint sprigs (optional)

Also called agua fresca de sandía, agua de sandía

Blended watermelon, water and lime. Bright, barely sweet and ready in five minutes.

Makes: 4 servings
Total: 5 min

Vegan Gluten-free

Ingredients

Scale

Amounts are for the recipe. Sizes, times and temperatures in the method are not scaled.

900 gseedless watermelon, cubed (about 6 cups)
480 ml2 cupscold water
30 g2 tbsplime juice (1 to 2 limes)
13 g1 tbspsugar or agave (optional, to taste)
a pinch of fine salt
4fresh mint sprigs (optional)

Amounts worked out from the other system are rounded.

Method

Blend. Blend the watermelon (900 g) until completely smooth, 30 to 60 seconds.
Strain, if you like. For the classic clean texture, strain through a fine sieve into a pitcher, pressing to extract the juice. Skip this for more body.
Season. Stir in the water (480 ml2 cups), the lime juice (30 g2 tbsp), the salt, and the sweetener if using. Taste and adjust: more lime for brightness, more sweetener only if the melon was bland.
Serve. Chill, then serve over plenty of ice with the mint.

Notes

Taste the watermelon first; a ripe one often needs no sugar at all. Keep the pinch of salt, which sharpens the fruit.
Allulose. It suits a cold fruit drink. It is about 70% as sweet as sugar, so start with 1½ tbsp in place of the 1 tbsp sugar. Add it to the blender with the watermelon, or dissolve it in a splash of warm water before stirring it into a mixed pitcher.
Keeps 2 days refrigerated but separates, so stir before serving. It is best the day it is made.
Variations. Blend in a few cucumber slices for a greener, more savory drink, or rim the glasses with chili-lime salt (Tajín).