As watermelons begin to arrive in stores when summer arrives, you should also be on the lookout for some fresh mint leaves to make this refreshing watermelon cocktail for summer parties. Guests love to see a festive, carved-out watermelon with floating melon balls infusing with a spiked fruit juice andfloating mint. Not only is the presentation crowd-pleasing, but the balance of flavors keep people coming back for more.
The combination of watermelon juice and mint is a refreshing duo, but white cranberry juice is also something to rave about. It’s made from white grape juice and cranberry juice concentrates, a combination that results in the a cranberry flavor minus the tartness of red cranberry juice. For that reason, it serves as a successful neutral ingredient to use as a base for any type of punch. Even better, it has NO high fructose corn syrup!
Vodka Watermelon Cocktail with Mint
Ingredients
- 1 medium watermelon
- 1.75 Liter bottle Ketel One vodka
- 1 quart white cranberry juice
- 1 bundle of fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- Cut watermelon in half crosswise to create 2 bowl-shaped melons. On the bottom round side of each half, slice off a small piece of the rind to create a flat surface. This adds stability each watermelon “bowl”.
- Using a melon baller, scoop out the flesh creating melon balls until both halves are hollow, keeping the melon balls in a large bowl. Put any non-balled watermelon in a blender, puree it, then strain the pulp out with a mine mesh strainer to yield a thin watermelon juice.
- Pour vodka and blended watermelon juice into the watermelon bowls equally. Add as many reserved melon balls as the space will allow. Roughly chop mint leaves and add to mixture at this point if you want a strong mint flavor. Store extra vodka and watermelon in a container for later refilling.
- Place bowls in refrigerator and allow the watermelon soak up the vodka for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight if you can plan accordingly.
- For each drink, add add 3 skewered infused melon balls to each glass. In a martini shaker, combine equal parts infused vodka, white cranberry juice, ice and freshly chopped mint leaves. Shake thoroughly and pour into prepared glasses.
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