A Fruity Splash of Flavor — Melontinis
Fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew remind me of summer. Here in Oregon it’s been a typical spring: sunny one day, rainy and cold the next. I hate to say it, but I’m ready for summer. I’m looking forward to the long, dry, sunny days and cool nights.
Sitting on the patio, enjoying my roses and garden, and having drinks before dinner. Yeah, that’s what I like to do during the summer.
I was thinking of summer when I was grocery shopping for dinner tonight and walked past the melon aisle. Magically, a quarter slice of watermelon, a cantaloupe and a honeydew ended up in my grocery basket. I think I must have been daydreaming. But instead of just cutting up the fruit and eating them after dinner, I had something else in mind.
I was thinking of something found in many Mexican restaurants here, called aguas frescas. It’s basically fruit juice, sugar and water mixed together and served over ice. Except I was thinking, Wouldn’t it be great to have a martini made with vodka, and some aguas frescas made from the melons?
Once I got home, I got the blender out, started cutting up fruit and playing around. Before you know it, I had concocted aguas frescas from the fruit and was ready for martini time. All I needed was some of the vodka we keep in the freezer. (Doesn’t everybody keep vodka in the freezer?)
Cheers!
Aguas Frescas
- ¼ of a medium-sized watermelon, 1 cantaloupe or 1 honeydew
- 1 cup (240 ml.) sugar
- 8 cups (1.9 l.) water
- Make a simple syrup by melting the sugar in 2 cups (480 ml.) of boiling water and let cool.
- Add the syrup to the blender.
- Cut up the watermelon, cantaloupe or honeydew into chunks and put all of one fruit, except what you’ll use as garnish, into blender, leaving about a quarter of space free so it won’t overflow. (If you have more fruit than will fit into the blender, blend it in two batches.)
- Blend until fruit is completely a pulp.
- Using a wire-mesh strainer, strain the blended fruit juice into a large jug or juice container.
- Add remaining 6 cups (1.4 l.) of water, seal the jug(s) or juice container(s), shake well and refrigerate until chilled.
Melontinis
- Agua fresca of honeydew, watermelon or cantaloupe
- Vodka
- In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine vodka and agua fresca in a ratio of 1 part vodka to 2 parts agua fresca. (If you don’t want the drink to be as strong, use a ratio of 1 part vodka to 3 parts agua fresca.)
- Shake until cold, pour into martini glass and garnish with a slice of watermelon, cantaloupe or honeydew.
Enjoy!
— Vic
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About the Author (Author Profile)
Victor Panichkul is a journalist and writer by training; a cook, wine lover and photographer by passion; and a lover of the outdoors since moving to Oregon more than 10 years ago. He is a native of Bangkok, Thailand.
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Yes, everyone who knows their vodka stores it in the freezer. 🙂 Great drink ideas, and COME ON SUMMER!!
Yum!! When is Happy Hour? Marlene
We heard the shaker and we hurried over as fast as we could! They were delicious, thank you, and yes, let it be summer soon.
Beautiful to look at AND I can almost hear Jimmy Grove turning over in his grave! Purist that he was, gin and a splash of dry vermouth with an unpitted Queen green olive, slightly shaken and served ‘up’ was the only martini he deemed worthy of the name!!
Love you both!!
We are working our way through our stash of melon aguas frescas. I’m thinking I need to borrow a juicer from someone to try making aguas frescas from apples, pears and pineapple and then well see how they fare in a martini. Stay tuned. Or if you have a juicer at home, try it out and give us a report please!