The sun is shining, it’s seriously hot outside, and you’re craving a deliciously fruity yet incredibly refreshing cocktail. How about a Watermelon Cocktail?
This delectable summer drink ticks all the necessary boxes. It’s fruity, it’s hydrating and refreshing, and it packs a vodka punch. Our watermelon drink recipe is a delightful mix of watermelon juice, lime juice, and of course, your favorite vodka.
Add a few garnishes, a little sweet syrup, or some fizzy Club Soda, and you’ve got yourself a real winner with a watermelon mixed drink to enjoy. Serve this one in a highball, or better yet, prepare a pitcher for you and all your friends.
Keep reading, and discover the refreshing delights of the Watermelon Cocktail.
How to Make a Watermelon Cocktail
Watermelon Cocktails are delicious, and they are super easy to prepare at home. You’ll need a cocktail shaker for the best results and plenty of fresh ice from your ice ball maker. You can easily customize this recipe to include more fruit and different spirits, but the basis for this cocktail is watermelon juice and vodka.
We recommend preparing a large pitcher of this watermelon juice cocktail because it does go down a treat. Your friends will love it, we guarantee!
Let’s take a quick look at the significant ingredients you’ll need to gather and the substitutes you can try out.
Watermelon
What’s the main ingredient in a Watermelon Cocktail? It’s watermelon juice, of course! Now, you can try a few different types of watermelon juice when you’re mixing this beverage.
The easiest option is to purchase watermelon juice from the store. Almost all supermarkets and stores sell this type of juice these days, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding it. There are plenty of brands out there, and there’s very often a choice between still watermelon juice and sparkling watermelon juice.
The second option is to prepare your own watermelon juice at home. This is the freshest option but can take time. All you will need is a fresh watermelon and a blender. Remove the flesh from the skin, and try to get rid of the seeds (if you don’t like seeds, that is). Blend it up, then strain the juice out.
You can use the leftover watermelon as a nice refreshing garnish if you wish.
Vodka
Watermelon vodka drinks are the best, so our choice of spirit for this cocktail will always be vodka. It’s a rather neutral-tasting spirit, and so it really compliments the watermelon well.
You can pick your favorite vodka for this recipe, and you’ll need at least 2 ounces per cocktail (we won’t tell if you add more, though!). If you’re not a fan of vodka or don’t have any vodka left, you can substitute vodka for other white spirits.
White rum adds a Caribbean flair to the cocktail (and works really well!), while gin is always an excellent choice.
Top tip: keep your vodka in the freezer for a super chilled cocktail (vodka doesn’t freeze!).
Lime juice
Lime juice is the third integral ingredient for this cocktail, and we highly recommend that you squeeze fresh lime juice into your watermelon drink.
This is a fruity cocktail, but a dash of lime juice adds a little fruity bitterness to the mix and really complements the sweetness of the watermelon juice.
If you’ve got no limes, then freshly squeezed lemon juice works well, too. If you have to, then lemon or lime juice from a bottle works, as well.
Club soda
Club soda is the final ingredient (garnish aside) which you’ll need to finish your Watermelon Cocktail. This dilutes the cocktail a little bit but also adds a welcome sparkle to the drink.
If you’re not a fan of sparkling cocktails, then leave the club soda out. Alternatively, it’s OK to try other sparkling mixers such as sparkling water or fizzy lemonade.
Garnish and ice
Finally, don’t forget the garnishes and the ice. No Watermelon Cocktail is ever complete without these vital final touches!
Many great garnishes work well with this cocktail, but the most obvious is a slice of watermelon. Other great choices include fresh mint, a slice of lime, or a slice of lemon.
You need enough ice to fill your highball glass, and we recommend using crushed ice for the best results.
If you enjoy a sweet cocktail, then add some agave syrup or sugar syrup to the drink.
Watermelon Cocktail recipe
The following Watermelon Cocktail recipe prepares one serving, but it’s easy to scale this recipe up to make multiple cocktails, or better yet, a pitcher to share with friends!
Ingredients
- 2 ounces of watermelon juice
- 2 ounces of vodka
- 1 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice
- Club soda
- Optional garnishes and sweeteners
Directions
- Measure watermelon juice, vodka, and lime juice into your cocktail shaker. Give it a good shake to combine all the ingredients.
- Pour the mixed cocktail into a highball glass, then add any sugars and extra garnishes before filling the glass with crushed ice.
- Top the cocktail up with club soda to finish.
- Serve ice cold!
What other fruits go well with watermelon?
We suggest using lime juice for this cocktail, but many more types of fruits go very well with watermelon.
If you want to vary the recipe and make it extra fruity, you can try adding extra fresh juices or slices of fruit to this cocktail.
Here are a few great fruits and juices to try:
- Strawberries
- Bananas
- Mangos
- Pineapples
If you’re preparing a pitcher, slice up fresh fruit and place it into the pitcher to soak up some of the cocktails before serving. Don’t forget to add lots of ice!
What other mixers can I try?
There are lots of other mixers that you can try in this cocktail, too. Besides different types of fruit and fruit juices, you can consider mixing your Watermelon Cocktail with other soft drinks and classic cocktail mixers.
For example, why not try the following instead:
- Coconut water
- Sprite or other fizzy lemon drinks
- Sparkling water
- Tonic
- Ginger ale
- Grenadine
What other spirits can I try?
We already suggested swapping out the vodka for other white spirits, such as white rum or gin, but you can also try mixing different spirits together.
We don’t suggest mixing gin and vodka (that’s a potent combination!), but you can mix certain liquors for an excellent finish.
Try 1 ounce of vodka, and 1 ounce of any of the following spirits (simply mix them together in the cocktail shaker, for the best results):
- Triple sec
- Drambuie
- Cointreau
- Tequila
What’s the best sort of ice for a Watermelon Cocktail?
The best ice to use in this cocktail is pure ice. As the name suggests, pure ice is free of imperfections, which ensures that it lasts longer before melting and tastes incredibly neutral!
We suggest using an ice ball maker to prepare fresh ice for this cocktail!
Watermelon Cocktail: let’s start mixing!
Watermelon alcoholic drinks are some of the most refreshing beverages you could mix up, so this is one cocktail recipe that you simply have to save for the summer months!
Hydrating, sweet, and packing that vodka punch, this is one of our favorite cocktail recipes. Mix it up with a dash of club soda, and don’t forget to garnish the glass with extra slices of watermelon.
If you’re looking for the perfect summer cocktail, then don’t hesitate to try our Watermelon Cocktail recipe!