The watermelon has been the real MVP of my summer. I can cut it in triangles and my kids eat about 5 slices each in one sitting. I can blend it with a little almond milk and throw it in the freezer and make refreshing popsicles. I can cube it and have it as part of a summer fruit spread for a pool party. Watermelon is the fruit that keeps giving and it has become a summer staple at our table. One thing that I have never tried was sipping it! Making a drink from watermelon juice is now “my thing” and I want to share this simple 3-ingredient recipe with you for my Watermelon Blast cocktail. Spoiler alert: it’s delicious!
First, you have to pick the right watermelon. My friend and neighbor is one of those people who knows a lot about, well, a lot! She’s a Louisiana girl that knows the secrets to picking a good melon. According to Amanda, you have to pick the ones that have a yellow or brownish spot near the “stem end” of the watermelon. Thump it. If it sounds hollow then that’s your melon! Let it sit in room temp for a day or two. Then it’s ready.
Once I picked out what I thought was “the” watermelon, I took it home and let it sit a few days. For my cocktail I used a small melon and sliced it in half with a watermelon slicer. I knew that I wanted my cocktail poured back into the rind as my “cup” so I picked one that could fit in the palm of my hands.
Once sliced in half, I used an ice cream scoop to get out all of the watermelon fruit and carve out my rind. Using an ice cream scoop is a great hack to getting the fruit out super quick and easy.
After scooping out all of the fruit I blended the watermelon pieces in my NutriBullet and then strained the juice with a wire strainer.
Now, to make a cocktail! Squeeze the juice of one lime, and sweeten with 2 tablespoons of agave. You can totally make this a “mocktail” by bypassing the alcohol. My kids really enjoyed drinking the juice by itself with a little agave. If you want a boozy melon, add in 2 oz. vodka to the watermelon mixture and stir.
refrigerate your watermelon mix until it’s nice and cool. I also refrigerated the rind separately so that it could stay cool and crisp until I was ready to put the juice back inside.
The Watermelon Blast is definitely a drink served best cold. It’s the perfect drink for a hot summer day when watermelons are ripe and in season!
Cheers to more watermelon-y summers!
