Cocktails with Melon
Melon means the sweet aromatic melons, such as cantaloupe, charentais and honeydew, used in drinks as juice or flesh. Watermelon is not one of them.
How it's used
Juice or muddle it to order: melon juice keeps its scent only a few minutes before it tastes like sweet water. It has gentle sweetness and almost no acid, so a drink built on melon needs lime alongside. Cachaça, vodka, gin, white rum and mint all work with it.
Substitutes for Melon
Cantaloupe, honeydew, or charentais
Replace one another by weight. An eighth of a medium cantaloupe is about 70 g, a small honeydew about 125 g. Thawed frozen melon works too.
Less sugar, and without the musky perfume. Swapped by weight, it gives less sweetness and scent, so add a little syrup.
Melon liqueur
Brings melon flavor and color but no fresh juice. In place of fruit, 15 ml adds some alcohol and sugar, so cut any syrup in the drink by about 4 ml.
Storage
Buy it ripe: a melon gets no sweeter after picking, though it keeps softening and its scent develops. Once cut, wrap it closely, refrigerate and use it within three to five days. Cut melon picks up other fridge smells quickly.
