Watermelon’s delicate flavor benefits from a light touch. This syrup uses fresh juice and sugar without heat, preserving the fruit’s bright, refreshing character. A masticating juicer works well, but a blender and fine-mesh sieve are all you need.
Ingredients
- 2–4 cups cubed seedless watermelon, enough to yield 1 cup strained juice
- Granulated white sugar, equal in weight to the strained juice
Method
- Extract the juice. Place the watermelon in a blender and blend just until liquefied. No added water is needed.
- Strain. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing gently to extract the juice. Discard the remaining pulp.
- Weigh and sweeten. Weigh the strained juice and add an equal weight of sugar. For example, use 250 grams of sugar for 250 grams of juice.
- Dissolve. Stir, shake in a closed container, or briefly reblend until the sugar has completely dissolved. If blending creates foam, let it settle before bottling.
- Bottle. Transfer to a clean bottle, cap, and refrigerate.
Why This Method Works
Heat changes watermelon’s fresh flavor. Cold extraction keeps the process simple and preserves the character we want in the finished drink; sous vide adds little benefit here.
Weighing the strained juice makes the recipe easy to scale. Although the added juice and sugar are equal in weight, watermelon juice already contains natural sugars. The finished syrup is therefore slightly richer than a conventional 1:1 simple syrup made with water.
Where to Use It
Use it in Sidewinder’s Watermelon Cucumber Gimlet, where fresh lime and cucumber balance the watermelon’s sweetness. It also makes a refreshing drink with sparkling water and a squeeze of lime. Start with a small measure and adjust to taste.
The syrup may separate as it stands. Shake before using, and keep refrigerated.