The best of both worlds!
In multiple senses of the words 😉 I’m super excited to bring you this Minty Watermelon Strawberry Refresher today for a couple of reasons:
- It can be made virgin or alcoholic – you choose depending on your situation or personal tastes.
- It combines some of my favorite spring produce (strawberries!) with some of my favorite summer produce (watermelon!)
If those aren’t the perfect excuses for Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and beyond, I don’t know what would be!
I first made this incredibly refreshing beverage for our monthly SB Foodie Gals meetup we had a couple of weeks ago at the Santa Barbara Mission. I love when we host our meet-ups at the Mission because we do them picnic potluck-style…everyone brings blankets, wine, cheese, cookies, you name it, and we relax and chat about our recent trials and triumphs goals for the future, etc. I feel so lucky to have met such a great group of local gals that share so many of my same passions and ambitions.
We were all sipping on this Minty Watermelon Strawberry Refresher, that I had totally made off-the-cuff and with no intention of sharing it on the blog, but after receiving so many rave reviews from the gals and requests for the recipe, I decided I better recreate and share it so everyone can make it for all of their celebrations this weekend!
I love making drinks with watermelon because you can easily “juice” it without a juicer (because unfortunately neither our kitchen nor our budget can handle one right now.) And when I say “juicing,” I mean whirring it up in a blender (with some fresh strawberries, in this case) and then passing the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any seeds or other things that didn’t break down during the pureeing process. Sure, it takes a tiny but of extra time, but the deliciously thirst-quenching result is soooo worth it.
So, I mentioned the watermelon and the strawberry, but there are a few other ingredients that take this Minty Watermelon Strawberry Refresh from “just juice” to over-the-top. We’re lucky enough to have a ton of wild mint growing in our backyard (which also happens to be about the only thing we can keep alive back there) so I threw a big handful into the mix to give the drink an extra hit of flavor. I also added some fresh lime juice to balance out all the sweetness, as any cocktail or mocktail should have.
And last, but not least, the big question: to make it alcoholic or not to make it alcoholic? This is totally up to you! It will taste REALLY good either way you try it. For the non-alcoholic version, simply add sparkling water or club soda. To booze things up, simply use sparkling wine in lieu of the soda! And, if you can’t decide, you can always break the juice into two batches and add club soda to one and sparkling wine to the other. See, so easy!
I am personally becoming quite a pro at making this Minty Watermelon Strawberry Refresher (and subsequently cleaning out our local TJ’s of most of their strawberries and watermelon,) so I think I am definitely going to have to whip up a batch for the weekend. We’re headed over to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for a BBQ on Sunday and I know it will go over well with both the kids and adults alike. 🙂
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend celebrating all of the beautiful mothers in your life! Xo
This refreshing drink filled with fresh watermelon and strawberries can be made into a mocktail OR cocktail. The perfect sipper for spring and summer occasions!
- 8 cups cubed watermelon (about 1 baby watermelon)
- 3 cups hulled strawberries
- Juice of 1 lime
- 10-12 fresh mint leaves
- 2 cups chilled club soda or sparkling wine
Combine watermelon and strawberries in a blender and puree until no chunks remain.
Place a fine mesh sieve over a wide-mouthed pitcher and, in batches, slowly pour the watermelon mixture through to strain. To speed up the process, use a pestle or some other utensil to help push the mixture through the sieve more quickly. It took me about 4 sieve-fuls to get through the entire batch of juice from the blender.
Remove sieve from pitcher and add lime juice and mint leaves. Stir to combine and refrigerate for at least a half hour. Add chilled club soda or sparkling wine right before serving. Serve over ice or neat, up to you!
