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Watermelon Drinks Perfect For Summer

Have I told you about the watermelon obsession I had when I was a kid? I would hound my mother to keep buying watermelons when she went shopping. She would buy a giant watermelon - for the entire family, I assume - but I would take the whole thing, slice it up, sit down in front of the TV and proceed to eat the entire thing. Seriously. When others came to get watermelon, they'd find it gone. Usually the same day that mom bought it.

Is it just me, or were watermelons tastier years ago? Or is this one of those things that just seem different and better because I was a kid at the time?

Anyway, I got to thinking about watermelon drinks. Watermelon tastes great, and it's the perfect summer food (light, crisp, refreshing, not bad for you, and you can hold it in your hand), so I did some searching for watermelon-based summer drinks.

The Boston Globe has a list of watermelon coolers you can ask your bartender about, including an Iced Sunset and a Watermelon Martini; care2.com has a recipe for a Watermelon Mint Smoothie (made with yogurt and honey); here's a recipe for Watermelon Surprise, which includes Southern Comfort and chunks of fruit; Drinkoftheweek.com has Watermelon #3 (no watermelon per se but it does have Midori); and The Food Network site has a recipe for a Watermelon Flavored Syrup, to mix with club soda or seltzer.

Filed Under: Happy Hour, Drink Recipes, How To
Tags: cocktails, foodnetwork.com, juice, smoothies, soda, soft drinks, spirits, summer drinks, SummerDrinks, watermelon cooler, watermelon drinks, watermelon flavored syrup, watermelon surprise

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

Brandon

7-09-2006 @9:04PM Brandon said... I used to have a watermelon obsession too, they had to be tastier years ago.

I don't know what it was but I wouldn't be able to stop eating unless someone took a broom to my face and wiped me out like a caterpillar turning into a moth.
Reply

Mike

7-09-2006 @9:58PM Mike said... As for watermelon drinks, at the Aspen Food and Wine festival, Jose Andres did his cooking demo - Watermelon Ten Ways, including the drink "Watermelon Ice Cocktail"
see it here and some of his other creations

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/flavor/article/0,2792,DRMN_26356_4805861,00.html
Reply

Laura Lemay

7-09-2006 @10:49PM Laura Lemay said... Its true, watermelons used to be tastier. Its the same culprit that's made all fruit less tasty: breeding for faster growing and more market sales.

The first thing you have to do is avoid seedless watermelon and the new "personal" mini watermelons, both of which are convenient to keep but have no actual taste. The second thing to do is to wait until august to buy a full-size, real seeded watermelon; big watermelons need a long growing season and the quality of the melon depends on the quality of the vine. Vines grown early will be weaker and produce lesser quality fruit.

The last thing to do is buy a watermelon from a farmstand. I have yet to find a watermelon in a grocery store that was worth a damn; farm stand and farmer's market watermelons are pretty darn tasty.

I am partial to Nigella's watermelon salad with feta cheese and olives (it sounds wierd but its yummy).


Reply

smithee

7-10-2006 @2:26AM smithee said... I still love it, but watermelon used to taste much better. Seedless watermelons are the flavorless spawn of the food devil. Laura's tips are right, but you can sometimes get pretty edible seeded watermelons earlier than August.
Reply

alex

7-10-2006 @4:56AM alex said... i remember, not too long ago since im only 20, watermelons used to be dark dark red with huge black seeds, and every bite had more flavor than the washed-out seedless crap these days.
Reply

Punisher2k

7-10-2006 @4:03PM Punisher2k said... I used to buy seedless but no more. You guys really have some good points. I guess over time as things change you don't notice. My grandparents saved seeds, I wonder if there are any watermelon ones left...
Reply

6 Comments / 1 Pages

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