For A Super Refreshing Mojito To Beat The Heat, Add This Hydrating Fruit

If you love experimenting with affordable ways to give your favorite cocktails a bougie upgrade, watermelon mojitos might just be your go to drink this summer. Mojitos are already fairly light and refreshing, with the subtle bite of white rum, tangy simple syrup, lime juice, and the cool brightness of freshly muddled mint (or skip muddling for a lighter tasting mojito). Adding watermelon to the mix adds a touch more sweetness, along with crisp, slightly floral undertones and lots of delicious hydration since watermelons are 92% water.

This upgrade is a simple one, and a fantastic way to use up leftover watermelon after a barbecue. After buzzing the watermelon into a smooth puree in your food processor (rind and seeds removed, of course), it's just a matter of straining out the solids so your mojitos aren't grainy. You only need an ounce or two of sweet watermelon juice to infuse your cocktail with plenty of flavor and a splash of gorgeous fuschia color — perfect for porch-sipping on a warm summer evening.

To try this combination without purchasing a whole watermelon, you can buy watermelon juice by the bottle, which is also a great option for making these mojitos as batch cocktails. While you can make classic mojitos by the pitcher, add watermelon juice right before you enjoy your cocktail. Otherwise, the watermelon juice may separate and oxidize, unpleasantly affecting the appearance and flavor of your drink.

If you plan to make mojitos with fresh watermelon, it's important to understand how to choose a perfectly ripe watermelon. Look for wide, dark green stripes on a matte rind; skinny stripes and a shiny rind can indicate the watermelon was picked too soon, and it may taste bland and bitter instead of lush and sweet. The field spot, where the watermelon rested on the ground as it grew, should also be a creamy yellow color, not white, for the same reasons.

You can also take advantage of fresh summer produce to elevate your mojitos even further. A few blueberries or blackberries muddled with the mint offsets the watermelon's sweetness while shavings of fresh ginger, or even thinly sliced jalapeños, bring heat that enhances the flavor without dulling the drink's freshness. A cube or two of fresh pineapple takes this drink straight to the tropics — just use a light hand since pineapple can overtake the drink if you use too much.

This is also the perfect drink to adapt into a tasty mocktail since the alcohol is a background component in terms of flavor. Swap out the rum for unsweetened lime, coconut, or watermelon seltzer to keep things zesty but zero proof, or try using a base of unsweetened coconut water for the ultimate hydrating summer sipper.