Watermelon Lemonade

Watermelon Lemonade

One of the things that I really enjoyed when I went to Mumbai with my mom was the drink culture. Every time we went to a restaurant, they would serve us a new drink known as a 'Welcome Drink'. These drinks apparently were most from cordials but each drink was different from the last and the next. As someone who abstains from alcohol, I really appreciated the creativity that went into creating these non-alcoholic options. I also enjoyed the variety offered.


One of the things that I have been doing as Ramadan started is creating drinks to break fast every night. I have mostly created fruit blends from watermelon so far. I intend to play around some more as Ramadan proceeds and after. The particular drink I am putting up today was inspired by a drink sampled at the grocery store I work. It is a watermelon lemonade. At work, they also sampled a watermelon lemonade from a bottle. Although it was okay, I was wondering where all the subtle flavors of the watermelon went. So I took the idea and converted it into a fresh version.

I prefer the fresh version because no matter how well you preserve flavor in a bottle, it is not as awesome as having something fresh. The little play on tanginess and sweetness from the lemon and sugar is enhanced by the watermelon full but soft flavors. I'm definitely going to be trying more drinks featuring watermelon.

Fresh Watermelon Lemonade

6 Cups of Watermelon Flesh

1 Cup of Simple Syrup*

1 Lemon juice and zest

Instructions
1. Add the watermelon flesh into a big bowl along with the lemon juice and zest. Crush the watermelon flesh either with your finger or with a clean potato masher.
2. Strain the watermelon pulp out. To get a clear drink, strain a second time using cheese cloth.
3. Mix the strained juice with the simple syrup. Chill and serve cold.

*Simple syrup is normally equal part sugar and water boiled together until the sugar crystal are fully dissolved. For my simple syrup, I use 1 cup of sugar to 2 cups of water because I don't like too much sweetness in my drinks.