Watermelon Soju-tinis

Did you check out our last Sunday Family Dinner?

If you did, you may have said to yourself…. “Huh…something’s missing. Where are the cocktails????”

And rightfully so! Because what’s a Sunday Fam-Din without a specialty cocktail? Not one of ours for sure!

Since Korean fare was the theme for August, I knew I wanted to use soju for our signature cocktail. Soju is a distilled alcohol and is traditionally made from rice. To me, I liken it to the flavors of sake–but I’m no expert. So for all of you soju aficionados–don’t bust my chops!

At a family party last year, my younger cousin NhuMy picked up some fresh watermelon agua fresca and turned it into delish watermelon martinis. My seester T and I loved it so much that I wanted to take the same flavors to make Watermelon Soju-tinis.

Using fresh watermelon that eldest seester, N, had in her fridge (my niece, Nina, is a watermelon-monster), I made a refreshing and light agua fresca. Thrown into a shaker with some lime juice, soju, zest and ice—and we had fantabulous cocktail.

Looking for a mocktail? No worries! The agua fresca chilled with ice is just as delish!

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Watermelon Soju-tinis
Serves 2

Ingredients:

5 cups fresh watermelon, cut into large chunks
1/2 cup chilled water
juice of 1 lime
1-2 tablespoons sugar (optional), depending on sweetness of the watermelon
ice
4 ounces soju
lime zest
watermelon wedges for garnish

In a blender, add the watermelon chunks, water, lime juice and sugar (optional). Blend until smooth. Pour liquid through a sieve to strain.

Fill a large shaker with ice. Add the soju, 5 ounces watermelon agua fresca, and 1-2 pinches lime zest. Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds and strain the contents between 2 glasses. Garnish with watermelon wedges. Cheers!