There are many different kinds of aguas frescas, but in my opinion, the most refreshing of them all is agua de sandia. Agua fresca is a Latin American beverage made from fruit, seeds, nuts, flowers — or any combination of these — puréed or ground-up, strained, and then mixed with sugar and water. Horchata is one example; agua de jamaica (our friend the hibiscus) is another.
Agua de sandia (in English, watermelon) rules them all because it is the fruit I find most cooling and joyful on hot summer days. It’s so juicy, and the bite is curiously crisp and soft at the same time.
When I was a kid, I loved how eating watermelon gave me permission: to eat while standing up, and to spit (the seeds, of course, and only in designated areas, but still). When I think of watermelon, I feel sticky juices running down my arms.
Agua de sandia also happens to be one of the easiest aguas to prepare. Basically, you blend, strain, and enjoy. (Horchata from scratch, on the other hand, is a pain in the colitas.) Be sure to use one of our easy methods for cutting up melon — Senior Contributing Food Editor Kelli Foster has a trick that starts with melon quarters, while Senior Recipe Editor, Amelia Rampe, prefers a chopping method that begins with removing the rind from the whole melon.
Yvette Marquez has an excellent agua de sandia recipe on her blog, Muy Bueno. I’ll let you in on my little secret, though: I make mine without any sugar at all. To me, watermelon is already plenty sweet, even when I add lime juice to the batch. But that’s me. You do you.
If You’re Going to Make Agua de Sandia, a Few Tips
I keep a pitcher of agua de sandia in my fridge throughout the hottest months of the year. Making a fresh batch is my Sunday afternoon ritual, a gift of sweet of relief to last the whole week.
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