Genius watermelon cubes chill cold drinks without diluting
Ice is genius. The cube is genius. The ice cube is genius times two to the third. No doubt a large number. And yet, the ice enthusiast maintains aspirations.
Like transparency. Many a cocktail engineer employs distilled water, double-boiled water, double-boiled distilled water or an enormous machine that squeezes out the air bubbles, yielding perfectly clear ice. He carves the crystal into big, bold blocks that make drinks colder—and cooler.
On the flip side, many an ice aficionada fills her trays with berries, flowers and herbs—frozen fossils that dress up chill concoctions.
Both approaches suffer from the same design flaw. Ice is crafted from water, and water tends toward watery. In a tumbler of scotch, a bit of melt is the goal. In everything else, it’s a nuisance. Which explains the current craze for redundancy: Coffee cubes for iced coffee, chai cubes for iced tea, cookies-and-milk cubes for no good reason at all.
Watermelon is one step ahead: Just cut and freeze. The cubes tumble out pretty, tasty and incapable of diluting a drink. Genius, minus the fuss.
LIMEADE
Prep: 15 minutes, plus 2 hours freezing and chilling Cook: 5 minutes Makes: 5 cups syrup, serves 10 4 big slabs watermelon 2 cups water 2 cups sugar Finely grated zest of 4 limes 2 cups freshly squeezed lime juice 10 fresh mint leaves Sparkling water, optional
1. Freeze: Cut watermelon into neat 1-inch cubes. (No need to remove seeds—they’re cute.) Set cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze firm, at least 2 hours. Pile into a zip-close bag, and store in freezer.
2. Simmer: Measure water and sugar into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir until sugar has dissolved and syrup turns from cloudy to clear, 3 to 4 minutes. Pull pan off heat. Stir in zest. Pour into a heat-proof jar and allow to cool to room temperature, uncovered. Transfer to refrigerator to chill, covered. When cold, stir in juice. Keep tightly covered in the refrigerator.
3. Serve: For each drink, pile frozen watermelon cubes into a tall glass. Add 1 mint leaf. Pour in equal parts water (or sparkling water) and lime syrup. Stir. Sip. Smile.