Sola Gratia Farm Week Sixteen: Agua Fresca…..Summer in a Glass

I thought we'd been keeping up with our Sola Gratia bounty but discovered we had two watermelons left this morning. I was thirsty so decided to make Agua Fresca with one. Agua Fresca sounds so wonderfully tropical and light and summery. All it is is a simple fruit drink made of pureed fruit, a bit of sweetner, perhaps some citrus and water. 

We cut up one of our watermelons, pulling out the seeds as we went. We filled the blender three times. I didn't add a whole lot of water….perhaps just a half a cup per blender full. A lot of recipes call for more…in hindsight I might use a bit more. I just whizzed it until it had liquified and poured it through a mesh strainer into a pitcher. I added a few drizzles of honey and the juice of one lemon. The amounts all depend on the sweetness of your fruit. I didn't add much honey (you could of course just use sugar or agave nectar) as the watermelon was so lightly sweet tasting already. We poured it over ice and shared it with Owen. It tasted like the fantasy of summer in a glass.

I don't think of Agua Fresca as having alcohol but I would be lying if I didn't tell you that we found an old bottle of vodka in the back of the cupboard over the stove and discovered it had almost two shots worth left in it. Ernie and I divided it up between our glasses and went and sat on the porch in the dark gloom of the afternoon. There was even a bit of mint left in the garden for garnish. You could taste the crunch of the watermelon even though it was smooth and soft. Lovely.