This fanciful cocktail was featured in the June, 2016 Food and Wine Magazine. Tastes like a watermelon margarita on the rocks! Use good quality tequila in this recipe to make a fabulously refreshing cocktail. “Aguas Frescas” is “Fresh Waters” in Spanish. Fruits, flowers, cereals and seeds are combined with sugar and water to make refreshing beverages often sold by street vendors in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and the United States.
Tequila-Watermelon Aguas Frescas with Prosecco
Makes 12 drinks
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 chilled seedless watermelon (15 lbs.), rind discarded and watermelon cubed (20 cups)
3/4 cup tequila blanco
6 limes, thinly sliced
3 mint sprigs, plus mint leaves for garnish
Ice
1 bottle chilled Prosecco
- In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Transfer the simple syrup to a heatproof bowl and let cool.
- In a food processor or blender, puree the watermelon in batches until smooth. Strain the puree into a large bowl or pitcher. Stir in the simple syrup, tequila, lime slices, 3 mint sprigs and 1/2 cup water.
- To serve, pour the watermelon agua fresca into ice-filled glasses, leaving 1 inch at the top. Top off the drinks with Prosecco and garnish with mint leaves.
Make ahead: The strained watermelon juice can be refrigerated overnight.
Here’s a fun peachie drink to enjoy while we wait for fresh peach season to arrive:
Peachtree City
1 oz vodka
3 or 4 oz lime juice
1 oz berentzen peach schnapps
1 or 2 oz cranberry juice
1 or 2 oz simple syrup
Add all ingredients to shaker tin, fill with ice, and shake. Double strain into cocktail glass and garnish with channel knife lime peel.
The name Szigeti is intriguing…this lovely Austrian sparkling wine tickled my taste buds. I was pleasantly surprised at the first sip – creaminess on the palate with crisp apple notes.
Grape Varieties: Grüner Veltliner
Region: Lake Neusiedl – Burgenland
Tasting Notes from website:
Lovely golden colour with light green tinges. Delicate aromas of apple with a touch of white pepper. Dry with crunchy acidity, hint of honeysuckle and kiwi over elegant lime notes.
My notes: Creamy, fruity with apple notes.
Locally sourced at Mr. Bill’s Wine Cellar, Roanoke, Virginia ($21.00 range)
From Karen MacNeil’s WineSpeed Newsletter:
Wine question of the week: Which of the following is the driest style of Champagne or sparkling wine?
A. Brut B. Extra Dry C. Demi-sec D. Extra Brut
Answer: D. Extra Brut is a very dry Champagne or sparkling wine with less than .6 percent of sugar per liter. Brut is a dry to very dry style containing less than 1.5 percent sugar per liter. Extra Dry is slightly sweeter than Brut. And Demi-sec, with 3.3 to 5.0 percent of sugar per liter, is sweeter than Extra Dry.
Tagged: champagne, cocktails, entertaining, foodie, rose sparkling wine, wine
This watermelon cocktail sounds so amazing and the presentation is beautiful! Love the way you flipped the watermelon slice completely differently than we usually would. Can’t wait to try this for a summer party!
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Hi Becky, I remember running into you as a cashier at Walmart! Im definitely am going to try the Tequila-Watermelon Aguas Frescas with Prosecco! That looks so good! Me and my wife had fell in love with watermelons, so much that we’ve probably had like 10 of them once they hit season. This will certainly put a twist to our new affair.
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So good to hear from you and thank you for following my blog. I agree, watermelon season is the best, happy Summer!
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