Watermelon aguas frescas with lime, mint & basil syrup

Sunday. Sleepy, slow, lazy, hidden in the shadow of the closed window blinds to keep out the heat, walking barefoot to get the fresh sensation from the terracotta tiles,  a movie that goes in the background, a book, a fan… then it’s 6 o’clock  in the afternoon and we start dancing! Uncles are coming, each one with a story to tell or a joke to make, then aunts who comment on their recent lunches or on progresses made by their grandchildren, and later on children and grandchildren, especially cutie little Giada, the youngest, one year old yesterday, a concentration of cheerfulness and chubbiness, with a five teeth smile that makes you melt more than the midday sun!

During winter, there is always a tart, or a cake or a tray of muffins and a hot pot on the fire for them to enjoy on the couch in front of the fireplace, but now we need to change! Frozen desserts, ice cream, cheesecake and cool drinks to give a bit of relief and enhance the slight breeze that always blows at me around six o’clock in the afternoon. This year, along with iced tea and orange juice, there’s a new entry, aguas frescas, dad’s new passion, who considers this drink our non-alcoholic version of mojito!

I heard for the first time of aguas frescas from Zested, one of my lately favourite blogs for freshness and originality. Aguas frescas are a mixture of fruit, cereals, seeds, water and sugar mixed together and sieved to create a refreshing drink typical of Mexico and Central America. Who’s more expert than them in refreshing drinks? I then gave full credit to the proceedings and .. Well, judge you the results!

Ingredients for lime, mint and basil syrup:

• water, 500 ml
• sugar, 4 tablespoons (100 gr)
• mint, 2 sprigs
• basil 5 leaves
• lime, 1 juice and peel
  

Put in a saucepan sugar, mint, basil, lime juice and lime zest, cover with about 500 ml of water and then bring to the boil and let it boil until it is reduced by half (about 20 min on high heat). Let it cool completely and then strain it.

Ingredients to make aguas frescas:

• watermelon
• cold water (still or sparkling, as you prefer)
  
• lime, mint and basil syrup
  
• ice cubes to serve
  

Blend watermelon in a mixer and strain the puree to remove seeds. Combine in a jug watermelon juice, cold water to taste, syrup and ice cubes. Garnish with some mint leaves or lime slices and serve.

A few tips: if you have patience and want to remove manually all the seeds, you can avoid straining the watermelon puree, leaving more substance to drink. You can replace watermelon with any fruit you like, I tried it with peaches and it was just as good! I would suggest adding cucumber, or maybe a few ice cubes made with cucumber juice as I saw a few nights ago on tv.. genious! I think would be  fantastic and refreshing!