Watermelon Mint Lemonade Slushie, Cocktail | The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures

TIP OF THE DAY: Watermelon Mint Lemonade Cocktails, Slushies & More

June 25, 2014 at 6:23 am · Filed under Beverages, Recipes, Tip Of The Day

Thanks, Bolthouse, for the sample of Watermelon Mint Lemonade. This limited-edition summer cooler delivers a trifecta of flavors that just sing “Summer!”

You’d be surprised how quickly the 52-ounce bottle disappeared.

As good as it was, we felt the need to try it with fresh mint and fresh lemon juice. (The Bolthouse ingredients include water, watermelon juice concentrate, natural flavor, dragonfruit purée*, mint extract and beta carotene for color.)

While we hurried out to buy more Bolthouse, we also purchased unminted watermelon lemonade from Whole Foods Market (365 Brand, organic and kosher certified) and infused it with fresh mint.

Then, we created the more arduous from-scratch recipe below. (It’s arduous getting all the seeds out of the watermelon, even the “seedless” variety.)

Learn more at Bolthouse.com.

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*The label says that the dragonfruit is for color. Most dragonfruit flesh is white with tiny black seeds, but there is a version with pink flesh. Here’s a photo.
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Get it while supplies last, or prepare to make your own. Photo courtesy Bolthouse.

RECIPES WITH WATERMELON LEMONADE

Perhaps the best thing we did with the two “replacement” bottles of watermelon lemonade was play with different ways to use them.

Cocktails: Just add gin, tequila or vodka.

Fruit Soup: For a refreshing dessert or snack, dice or slice any fresh fruits and place them in a mound in the center of a soup bowl. Pour the watermelon lemonade around the fruit. Garnish with optional chopped mint or basil.

Slushie: Add scoops of sorbet to a tall glass of watermelon lemonade. We couldn’t find watermelon sorbet, so we tried lemon, orange and raspberry. They all work.

What would you do with watermelon lemonade?

watermelon-mint-lemonade-bootranch-texas-230

Rosy and refreshing: watermelon mint
lemonade. Photo courtesy Boot Ranch | Texas.

RECIPE: WATERMELON MINT LEMONADE

Ingredients For 16 Servings

6 cups 1-inch cubes seedless watermelon (from a 5-pound melon)

10 ounces lemon juice (WFM used bottled lemon juice, we squeezed fresh juice)

6 cups water

3/4 cup cane sugar†

Crushed ice

1 large bunch mint

Garnishes: lemon wheels, mint sprigs, watermelon wedges

†If the watermelon is very sweet, reduce the sugar. You can always add more.

Preparation

Our method of preparation is a departure from the original Whole Foods recipe. To get more mint flavor, we infuse the mint in the water before making the beverage.

1. INFUSE mint in water. Reserve 20 sprigs for garnish, then crush the remaining mint and place in a pitcher with the water. Allow to infuse for a few hours or overnight.

2. PURÉE watermelon and lemon juice in blender until smooth, working in batches as necessary.

3. TRANSFER to a large container. Add water and sugar; stir until dissolved.

4. SERVE: Pour over ice in tall glasses. Garnish with mint and thin slices of watermelon and/or lemon, as desired.

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