Watermelon Agua Fresca- What to do with under or over ripe melons!!

Once upon a time, I scoffed at recipes for watermelon agua fresca. I thought, if I had a yummy watermelon, the last thing I would do is make it into a drink! No, I'd be shoving that sucker in my face hand-over-fist. It could be agua fresca in my tummy, he he! Recently, I had the real deal at a Mexican restaurant in town. Agua Fresca means fresh water. It was delicious, delicately sweet and refreshing. But I still didn't think I would personally make it.

And here we are folks, me eating my words instead of my watermelon! I am a pretty good "thumper", but this year I have had a hard time getting good melons. My first was under ripe. Well, that's not exactly true...half was almost ripe and the other half was still pithy and white. I was shocked. What anomaly would cause a melon to ripen that way? Then my son, Seth, told me that he had gotten one the same way. I stared at that whole melon that was almost good, and those little words whispered in my ear. Agua Fresca. I shrugged and gave in. I mean, I couldn't enjoy eating it and I loathed throwing it to the chickens after I paid good money for it. So, into the blender it went!

I added water to help it blend, and sugar to make up for the lack of it in the fruit. Here it is, all whizzed it. It was delicious! It had all the watermelon flavor, but now it was delicately sweetened. And it was thick with fruity pulp, almost like a slushy! I had enough melon to do two blenders full, and I drank it all in two days. However, if you are one of those people who does not like texture in their drink (you folks who can't drink your OJ with pulp!), you will not like this. You even have the tiny bits of the blended white seed in it. 'Cause we know, seedless melons are not truly seedless. I am thinking that you guys who are a bit more delicate could blend the everlovin' heck out of it, and then strain it for just the straight juice. Seriously, wouldn't it be worth it not to have to throw out that whole melon?

Next I got a melon it was almost right, but the heart had gone over ripe and was pithy. This one I blended and got a little fancier with. I didn't sweeten it till after I blended, because it was already ripe. I used just a couple of tablespoons of sugar, and I added  the juice of half a lime to give it a bit of acidity. Then I plucked a mint stem and stirred my drink with it! You may think that is just for pretty, and while it is lovely, and makes my heart happy to look at, it is practical as well. If I had blended the mint in, it would have had even more texture. And sometimes mint flavor grows stronger as it sits in the fridge. However, a mint stem is a potent little critter. You pick and stick it in a glass and all that delicious juice begin to leak from the stem into your drink. As you delicate swish it, pinkie finger extended, while gazing into the sunset, you are swirling minty goodness into your glass.

There is no food coloring or color editing on these picture- the drink is naturally that gorgeous pink!

So, don't despair if your watermelon thumping skills aren't quite up to par. If you get a fruit that isn't up to eating, you can drink it! And it is a delightful thing to sip in the summertime. I'm not wishing you bad melons, Dear Reader, but I do hope you get to try it ;)

Watermelon Agua Fresca

For each blender full of cubed melon, I added 1/2 cup of water. For an under ripe, or unsweet one, I added 1/4 cup sugar. For one that is over ripe, blend first and then sweeten to taste. The addition of lime juice really did brighten the drink. Add one tablespoon per blender full and adjust to your taste. And don't forget the mint if you have it! You could blend it in and have lovely green flecks, or you can simply stir with a long stem. If you get it at the store it may not release it's oils, since it may have sat there for a long while. But you could trim about an inch off the end and try it. Hope this helps solve your what-to-do-with-this-watermelon conundrums! :)