I’m always poking around blogs on cocktails and spirits and recently read an article about fastening spouts onto hollowed-out melons to be able to pour a drink directly from the melon. Of course, I needed to try this immediately. I love spectacle – it sells cocktails without even trying.
“Ooo, I want what’s in that watermelon!”
I got myself a good-sized watermelon, scooped out the insides, and attempted to screw a spigot purchased at a home improvement store into the side. The spigot was pretty heavy, and the hole was not exact. I tested it out with water over a sink, and though some did pour out the spigot, plenty poured out of the sides because it wiggled around when opening it to pour. This wouldn’t work on a bar, though I haven’t given up yet. More tinkering is needed, but in the meantime, it left me with plenty of watermelon!
I set out to put it to good use by first blending it in a blender, and then straining through a fine mesh strainer to get out all the pulp and seeds. This left me with a beautifully deep pink, fresh watermelon juice!
Resist the urge to gulp this down because, trust me, it’s better in this cocktail:
If you can figure out the whole watermelon keg/ spigot thing, first tell me your secret, then just multiply this recipe by the number of servings you need and pour it all in there!
The Surfside ingredients – A Watermelon Cocktail
- 1.5 oz Avua Prata Cachaca
- 1 oz Watermelon Juice (purée chunks of watermelon and strain through a fine mesh strainer, discarding solids)
- .5 oz Lime Juice
- .5 oz Clement Sirop de Canne
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain over fresh ice in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Cachaca, the spirit of Brazil, is made from fresh cane juice, whereas rum is made from molasses. This results in a more grassy, vegetal spirit with fresh bright notes begging for citrus complements.
Clement Sirop de Canne is a reduction of cane juice to a thick, sweet syrup that is boiled with cinnamon, clove, and vanilla bean.
The flavors marry into a supremely sippable watermelon cocktail that is a great end-of-summer refresher!
image: rochelle greayer
recipe and words by: Joy Flanagan
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