It's time for Endless Summer. Get the most out of the season while it's still here.
The award for summer's most popular fruit? Watermelon -- by a landslide.
The trick to ingesting more watermelon all season long? Spike, scoop and juice it into blush-pink cocktails.
Watermelon's sweet flesh marries well with most spirits. Rum, gin, tequila--even cachaça wants in on the melon action. So go ahead and give the people what they want: Thirst-quenching watermelon coolers that beg to be drunk dockside, beachside or afloat in any large body of water.
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1
The building blocks of your summer are as follows: cubes of juicy watermelon, fresh ginger coins and vibrant basil. Give ’em the old muddle-muddle, shake with vodka and lime and send them off with a ginger ale salute.
Get the recipe for the Basil Watermelon Cooler.
Get the recipe for the Basil Watermelon Cooler.
2
No one will see this black pepper–honey syrup coming. The spice of the peppercorns balances the natural sweetness of fresh watermelon juice, rounded out with an herbal base of gin that’s oddly alluring and undeniably refreshing.
Get the recipe for the Peppermelon.
Get the recipe for the Peppermelon.
3
Speaking of spice, what happens when you corral cachaça with slices of jalapeño and watermelon orbs? An explosive reaction in a cocktail glass, to be clear. Mellow the heat with a sugared rim and a hint of lime, then savor the slow burn.
Get the recipe for the Spicy Cachaça and Watermelon Cooler.
Get the recipe for the Spicy Cachaça and Watermelon Cooler.
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4
Don’t put baby watermelon in a corner. Blend its tender innards with aged rum, coconut water, Aperol, celery bitters and a bit of salt tincture (salt dissolved in warm water). Pour that foamy nectar back into the hollow watermelon and garnish with a float of rum and all the colorful straws and tiki adornments you can find.
Get the recipe for the Watermelon Rum Bomb.
Get the recipe for the Watermelon Rum Bomb.
5
Want to layer your cocktails with spice without dumping a jar of cayenne into the glass? Ancho chile liqueur hits its high notes when paired with sweet watermelon juice and tequila. Add a slug of honey and chile powder rim and bring this cooler into sharp, tingling focus.
Get the recipe for the Spiced Watermelon Cooler.
Get the recipe for the Spiced Watermelon Cooler.
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