Wonderful watermelon alcohol free cocktail: an easy to make, refreshing summer drink perfect for entertaining.
Watermelons are among the most refreshing fruits you can find.
Made up of over 92% water and with a delicate, sweet taste, biting into a watermelon is a sure way to quench your thirst fast and they also come with an extra perk: their colors and shape are so distinctive and fun, you can serve watermelon at any party and make sure you they will get a smile on your guests’ faces in no time!
You can serve watermelon in many ways and, for this recipe, we have used its pulp to make it into a drink. Before we get into the details of how to do it, we need to address an important point that will make or break you watermelon mocktail: how to pick the perfect watermelon!
How to pick a watermelon from the shop
Picking a watermelon can be tricky but there are way to know how ripe a watermelon is without tasting it.
How to pick a whole watermelon from the grocery store
These are you three steps to choosing the perfect watermelon from the shops:
Check its skin: You want the skin of your watermelon to be dark green with yellow stripes.
Look for the yellow spot: watermelons grow on the ground and this means the part of their skin that touches the soil naturally turns white or yellow rather than green like the rest.
When looking at your watermelon, make sure you identify this yellow spot: if you cannot find one, it means the watermelon didn’t have time to naturally ripe on the plant and is not ready.
Check its stem: You want the stem of your watermelon to be yellow-brown in color. A green stem means the watermelon hasn’t had time to grow on the vine and is therefore lacking in taste and sweetness.
Pick it up: a ripe watermelon is made mostly of water and this means it feel pretty heavy for its size once ripe. While not a precise science, if you pick up a watermelon and feel it is surprisingly light, then chances are there is little juice inside and you should move to the next one!
Knock on it: Knocking on a watermelon can also give a good indication about how ripe it is. A ripe watermelon has a nice, hollow sound. An under or over ripe one doesn’t.
Press on it: press on the watermelon skin with your thumb. A ripe watermelon will have a little give
How to pick the best watermelon slice
Many stores sell watermelon slices, already cup up for convenience. While these can be an option if you only need a small amount, these are usually not ideal when it comes to taste.
Watermelons are mostly made of water and having htem open and exposed to the air, even if possibly protected by cling film, means part of that water gets lost.
However, slices do have several advantages, one of them being that you can see what the watermleong looks ike inside and pick the best one.
When choosing a watermelon slice, make sure that is a dark vibrant pink and that it is full of water. This will give you the best chance of having a perfectly ripe, sweet watermelon and the most delicious drink!