Skip to main content

Watermelon-Hibiscus Agua Fresca

 I am not sure if I am the only person who likes fresh watermelon (if it is nice, ripe and sweet) - but is usually disgusted by watermelon juice.

It is a catastrophe - and it is independent if it is a pasteurized juice (there are few - maybe because of exactly this reason) - if it is purchased fresh - or homemade juice.

A slow juicer makes it a bit better - but I would still rather drink any different juice.

I believe, that it is a) the lack of acidity and b) the seeds, which introduce some "tannins" into the juice, which doesn't work with the overall fruity and refreshing aroma of watermelon.

I tried basically everything possible (so I thought) to come up with a solution, which taste great. But basically by accident I found the solution: mix the watermelon with some hibiscus infusion.

The idea originally was to make a watermelon aguafresca - blended with water and a bit sugar and strained. However I thought, it could not hurt to add a bit flavor. And as I needed anyway something a bit acidic, hibiscus came to my mind. This also adds nicely to the color.

My expectations were totally exceeded when I found the right balance. It is still refreshing like a watermelon juice, however has the unique floral notes of hibiscus, has some sweetness and some acidity (with only a little additional lime). Perfect!

Watermelon & Hibiscus Agua Fresca

750ml water
15g hibiscus
120g sugar
+ Watermelon juice (slow squeezed) & lime 

Heat water and add hibiscus and let it infuse. Best way is to use the immersion circulator and "sous vide" it for about 3 hours. Strain and add the sugar while warm (dissolves easier).

Add 45ml of sweetened hibiscus infusion into an ice filled highball glass. Fill up with watermelon juice (ca. 150 ml) and stir. Squeeze a lime wedge over it and garnish.

It is super refreshing, slightly sour - but also sweet. Off course depending on the watermelon you can add more or less sugar to the hibiscus. And the additional advantage is, that you could drink the hibiscus without watermelon as Agua de Jamaica - just add a bit of water.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution!  But when Chris, over at A Bar Above  discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez

King Robert II Vodka

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re