It’s hard to beat the summery simplicity of sweet, cold watermelon. 225 food writer Maggie Heyn Richardson tries to keep a big bowl of freshly cut cubes in the fridge, but with a houseful of rabid watermelon fans, that bowl is empty within 24 hours. Even though the summer crop of watermelon isn’t quite fresh just yet, there’s still plenty to find at local grocery stores. And the weather is getting warm enough to call for that refreshing treat.
Maggie tends to set aside a hidden portion to make a fresh, cool watermelon cocktail. It’s festive, fun and couldn’t be a better expression of summer.
While watermelon is almost saccharine sweet on its own, watermelon juice is less so. Sure, it still has lots of sugar, but when you strain it for a cocktail, that sweetness is subtle, and the flavor is reminiscent of watermelon’s cool cousin, the cucumber. Adding triple sec or an orange liqueur plus fresh lime juice and fresh mint neatly balance the more vegetal watermelon-cucumber notes.
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Read on for the full recipe for a watermelon vodka cooler, which originally appeared in a July 2019 edition of 225 Dine.