We've been having both beautifully sunny blue skies, and through downpours with some seriously hot, oppressive temperatures. Due to this sunny but wet weather we've picked a lot of cucumbers from our garden. Needless to say over the past few days we've been incorporating cucumbers into almost every meal!

One of my favorite refreshing summer drinks for these kinds of days are agua frescas. In Spanish, "Agua Fresca" means 'Cool Water', it's a cool drink simply made of fruit, water, and sometimes sugar. I've made them with a variety of different fruits like Strawberry-Cucumber, but this is the first time I've used Honeydew Melon.

This Agua Fresca is a great summer cooler, the cucumber melon flavors meld to offer a refreshingly crisp and light beverage; the addition of gin adds an extra layer of floral flavor for those hot summer nights. It's a great batch drink for parties and BBQ's.

Here is my recipe for this Refreshing Cucumber Melon - Agua Fresca:

Cucumber Melon - Agua Fresca

By Emily (Cooking for Kishore)

Ingredients

• 1 Honeydew Melon, cubed
• 1 Medium Cucumber, peeled & cubed
• 3 cups Water
• Ice
• 2 oz. Gin

Instructions

1. Blend melon and cucumber together into a puree.
2. Add cool water to the puree and sieve through a strainer.
3. Pour the strained melon mix into a pitcher, add the gin and stir throughly. Add ice, and cucumber slices to individual glasses before serving.

Yield: 1 Quart
Prep Time: 10 mins.

Total time: 10 mins.
Tags: cucumber melon, agua fresca, cucumber melon agua fresca, drink recipes, cucumber melon gin cocktail, mixed drink, cool drink, summer drinks, vegetarian, vegan