The colour of this drink will depend entirely on the type of melon that you use. Watermelon will give you a pink drink, Charentais melon will make it orange and Galia or Ogen melon will turn it green.
Makes enough for about 8 glasses
13 limes
450 g (1 lb) peeled and seeded melon flesh such as watermelon, Charentais or Galia melon
100 g (4 oz) caster sugar
2 trays of ice cubes (about 750 g (1½ lb), crushed
chilled sparkling mineral water
Cut 1 lime in half and slice very thinly. Set aside. Finely grate the zest of another 2 limes and then squeeze out the juice of all 12.
Put the lime zest, lime juice, melon flesh and sugar into a liquidizer or food processor and blend until smooth.
Put the crushed ice cubes into a chilled 1.75 litre (3 pint) glass jug, pour in the limeade and top up with sparkling water. Add the lime slices, give everything a quick stir and serve.
This drink is flavoured with fresh ginger and then topped up with sparkling ginger beer.
Makes enough for about 8 glasses
75 g (3 oz) caster sugar
150 ml (5 fl oz) water
8 slices fresh root ginger
1 small, very ripe fresh pineapple or 550 g (1¼ lb) prepared pineapple
1 ripe mango
juice of 2 small lemons
plenty of ice cubes
450 ml (15 fl oz) sparkling ginger beer
Heat the sugar and water in a pan until clear. Add the sliced ginger, bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 2 minutes. Leave to cool and then chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
If you are using a fresh pineapple, slice off the top and the bottom and cut away all the skin and the little brown ‘eyes’. Cut it into quarters, remove the core and roughly chop the flesh. Simply discard the core from the prepared pineapple and then chop. Peel the mango and slice the flesh away from the stone.
Put the pineapple and mango into a liquidizer or food processor and strain over the chilled ginger syrup. Blend until very smooth.
Fill a chilled 1.75 litre (3 pint) glass jug with ice and pour over the pineapple mixture and the lemon juice. Top up with the ginger beer, give everything a good stir and serve.
TIPPLE TIP Add a dash of white rum to each glass.
This is probably the best version of lemonade in the world!
Makes enough for about 8 glasses
8 lemons
225 g (8 oz) caster sugar
plenty of ice cubes
900 ml (1 ½ pints) sparkling mineral water
Remove the zest from 4 of the lemons in long thin strips with a cannelling knife and set aside. Coarsely grate the zest off the rest of the lemons.
Squeeze the juice from all the lemons and mix it with the lemon zest and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Fill a chilled 1.75 litre (3 pint) glass jug with ice cubes, twisting the long strips of zest in amongst them. Add the lemon mixture, top up with the sparkling mineral water and give everything a good stir before serving.
TIPPLE TIP Add a dash of gin to each glass.
The apple and mint ice cubes are not essential but they do add a nice fruity tang to the finished drink.
Makes enough for about 8 glasses
450 g (1 lb) cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
150 ml (5 fl oz) water
300 ml (10 fl oz) apple juice or water
25 g (1 oz) fresh mint sprigs
6 apple-flavoured tea bags
1.2 litres (2 pints) boiling water
5 tablespoons caster sugar or to taste
2 Granny Smith apples, sliced
Put the cooking apples into a pan with the water. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Set aside to go cold.
Spoon the purée into a food processor and add the apple juice or water and the leaves from 4–5 sprigs of the mint. Blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into 2 ice cube trays and freeze until hard.
Place the tea bags and another 6 large sprigs of the mint into a heatproof jug. Pour on the boiling water and leave for 5 minutes.
Lift out the tea bags and the mint and stir in the sugar. Leave until cool, then chill in the fridge until icy cold.
Tip the apple and mint ice cubes into a 1.75 litre (3 pint) glass jug and add the remaining mint sprigs and the sliced apples. Pour in the cold tea, give everything a good stir and serve straight away in tall glasses.
TIPPLE TIP Add a dash of dark rum or bourbon to each glass.
Rock and Whizz Papaya Smoothie
Smoothies are so simple, and if you choose ripe, sweet fruit, you won’t need to add extra sugar. This one is based on an Indian-style mango lassi, so I’ve added a pinch of salt. In Brazil I made one just like this using juicy local mangoes – scrummy.
Serves 2
1 papaya or mango, skinned, seeded and diced
1 x 150 g (5 oz) carton natural yoghurt
200 ml (7 fl oz) cold water
¼ teaspoon salt
ice cubes to serve
Place the fruit in a food processor or liquidizer and whizz until puréed. Add the yoghurt, water and salt and whizz until well blended.
Fill a tall tumbler with ice, pour over the smoothie and serve.
This is a zingy and refreshing long drink – ideal for cooling down on a summer’s day. Rosemary has lots of medicinal properties but is also a great flavouring ingredient, especially in my wonderful limeade.
Serves 4
150 ml (5 fl oz) water
50 g (2 oz) caster sugar
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
juice of 4 limes
To serve
ice
lime twists
600 ml (1 pint) soda water
Place the water, sugar and rosemary in a small pan and gently bring to the boil, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Strain into a small jug, stir in the lime juice, then chill until ready to serve.
Pack 4 tall glasses with ice, then pour over the rosemary and lime syrup. Top with the soda and decorate each glass with a twist of lime.
This is a great drink to prepare ahead: simply freeze the watermelon and store the syrup in the fridge for up to five days, until ready to whizz together and serve. Don’t forget to save the watermelon rinds so you can make the juicy pickle here.
Serves 4
400 g (14 oz) watermelon flesh, seeded and diced
200 ml (7 fl oz) water
25 g (1 oz) caster sugar
2 sprigs of fresh tarragon
juice of 1 lime
Freeze the melon dice for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Place the water, sugar and tarragon in a small pan and gently bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Strain into a small jug and chill.
Place the frozen watermelon in a food processor, switch on, and while it is running, pour in the syrup until the mixture forms a lovely slush. Add lime juice to taste and serve in tall glasses with straws for sucking up the crystals.
