Agua Fresca, 2 ways: Cucumber and Watermelon
How does it come that so many people have never heard of Agua Fresca? Saying this, I don't even want to exclude me, because I only have started drinking (tons of..) this 'fresh water' last summer.
What I've learned already is that there's barely a more refreshing drink when you're melting in the office, at home, or outside on a hot summer day. And Agua Fresca doesn't only have a cooling effect, but is healthy too as you will add fruits and therefore vitamins, vitamins, vitamins!
Still not convinced? Well, if you're worried that you now need to buy a juicer, we can reassure you. All you need is a (immersion) blender and a fine sieve. Mix water and fruits of your choice until they are smooth, then sweeten the mixture to taste. I recommend using a syrup for this, as granulated sugar dissolves in cold ingredients only very slowly. But to be honey, some fruit combinations are already sweet enough and don't even need extra sugar.
If you're not intocucumber or watermelon Agua Fresca, we're a bit sad, but well... time to get creative then! You can basically use almost every fruit you can find in your kitchen and find out what you like best - from pineapples to melons, berries, and more! Rule of thumb is to use approx. 350 g (12 oz) of fruit with 500 ml (2 cups) of water. Lime juice gives Agua Fresca a sour flavor kick and rice syrup or else are the best options to add some sweetness.
Agua Fresca, 2 ways: Cucumber and Watermelon
Ingredients
Cucumber, mint, and ginger
- 350 g cucumber
- 10 g (0.33 oz) mint
- 15 g (0.5 oz) ginger
- 500 ml (2 cups) water
- 2 limes (juice)
- 2 tsp agave syrup (or another sugary syrup of your choice)
Watermelon
- 400 g (14 oz) watermelon
- 1 apple
- 500 ml (2 cups) water
- 2 limes (juice)
Instructions
Cucumber, mint, and ginger
Roughly chop cucumber, pluck mint leaves from the stems, and peel ginger. Add cucumber, mint, ginger, water, and lime juice to a blender and mix for approx. 1 minute.
Time to sweeten the agua fresca to taste. We started with 2 tsp agave syrup, but if you need more or less, go for it. Mix for approx. 30 seconds again. If you don't want to use agave syrup, use a sugary syrup of your choice.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve. Save the juice in a pitcher and refrigerate. Enjoy right away or later, served on ice!
Watermelon
Peel and roughly chop watermelon. We left any seeds as our blender is quite powerful and we're going to sieve the juice afterwards anyway. Also chop the apple.
Add watermelon, apple, water, and lime juice to a blender and mix for approx. 1 minute. We didn't add any more sweetness to this agua fresca version, but it's up to your taste. Feel free to add agave syrup or else!
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve. Save the juice in a pitcher and refrigerate. Enjoy right away or later, served on ice!
