Name: Watermelon Mojito
Prep time: 3 min
Ingredients: 2 oz White Rum; 1 cup Watermelon, cut into small pieces; 1 oz Lime juice; 0.5 tbsp Cane sugar; 6 Mint leaves; Club soda; ice

If you're looking for an ice-cold and refreshing cocktail to beat the summer heat, I have the perfect cocktail for you - a Watermelon Mojito. Mojito is undoubtedly one of my personal favorites when it comes to summer cocktails.

Tangy lime juice, white Rum, and fresh mint are such a delicious combination. The soda water to top it off make this drink even more refreshing. And watermelon makes this classic recipe even better.

And one thing you should keep in mind: If you want to use watermelon in a cocktail, make sure it's ripe. If your fruit is not mature enough, it will lack sweetness, and this causes the delicious watermelon taste to get lost in the mix. I'll explain how to figure that out in a minute.

How to use the watermelon in the cocktail?

Melon is a beautiful cocktail ingredient and can be used in various ways. Just think of the Midori Melon liqueur for the Midori Sour cocktail.

When you use fresh watermelon in cocktails, best process the watermelon before you mix the drink. The easiest way to do that is to cut the watermelon into pieces and chuck them in a blender. Then just blend it until it becomes a thick watermelon juice.

Don't freeze the watermelon, though, as the smoothie-like texture wouldn't mix very well. Because there's such a high amount of water in watermelon, it's too icy. And you want to be able to mix it thoroughly with the muddled mint, lime juice, and sugar. Otherwise, the drink won't be as good as it could be. Then all you have to do is mix a Mojito with your watermelon.

How to tell if a watermelon is ripe?

Using fresh fruit comes with the trouble of potentially not being ripe. That is as valid for watermelon as it is for mango if you want to make a Mango Margarita on the rocks or for the fresh passion fruit you need for a passion fruit syrup. And with fruit not native to where you live, it's always harder to tell if they are ripe or not.

For watermelon, you can follow these five easy tips:

Check the bright spot on the rind. If it's white, the melon is not ripe yet. If it's yellow, it can go into your Watermelon Mojito.
Pick the melon up, and knock on it with your knuckle. Does it sound hallow? Then the fruit is ripe and sweet. If it sounds kind of muffled, the watermelon needs some more time to mature.
If the rind is all shiny and polished, the fruit is not ripe just yet. A ripe watermelon loses its shine and becomes dull.
And if you always used to avoid the ones with the brown cracks, don't do it. They are a sign that the melon is full of flavor and perfect for your Watermelon Mojito.
And last but not least, watermelon can be male or female. The oval ones are male. The round ones are female and sweeter in taste.

Make it a skinny Watermelon Mojito

A classic Mojito is mixed with cane sugar. That is an essential ingredient in this cocktail. But there are ways to reduce the number of calories in this delicious drink. The watermelon already plays a crucial part.

If the fruit is ripe, it will transfer this subtle watermelon sweetness into your cocktail. And that works as a substitute for most of the cane sugar from the original recipe. And, of course, if you prefer not-so-sweet drinks, you could make the whole recipe without sugar.

But for me, however, the drink needs a bit of sweetness. And if you're aiming for a low-sugar cocktail, I recommend adding just a pinch of sweetener. My suggestion would be to use stevia as this blends really well with the other elements in this recipe.