Aguas frescas: Mexican-style drinks to quench your thirst

  Warm weather and sunshine mean two things: prolific plant growth and thirsty people. So why not kill two birds with one stone, so to speak?
 Use warm weather blooms and produce to make cool, sweet drinks called aguas frescas.

  Hibiscus flowers are blooming all around Yuma right now. Called jamaica (hah-mike-ah) in Spanish, hibiscus flowers can be gathered, dried and used to make a refreshing tea (dried jamaica can also be purchased).

  Likewise, melons and other produce available during warmer months are good for making naturally sweet drinks. It's as simple as pureeing cubes of watermelon with cubes of ice and a splash of water to make it all blend more easily. The same thing can be done with cantaloupe, other melons, mango, strawberries and whatever fruits are in season.

  It's fun to get creative, too. Combine strawberry with mango for a super sweet treat. Or puree cucumber with watermelon to curb the sweetness. Try adding a few squirts of lemon or lime juice to further tweak the taste buds. Some aguas frescas recipes call for added sugar, but in-season melons, fruits and berries are naturally very sweet. So why add something not so healthy, such as refined sugar, to something very healthy, such as high-fiber, nutritionally dense produce?

  The watermelon recipe included with this article does not require any added sugar. The Jamaica tea recipe does, however.

   Jamaica tea has a naturally tart, tangy flavor, which many find quite refreshing. Still others like it with an abundance of sugar. The recipe I use makes a semi-sweet, tangy tea, so feel free to add more sugar or sweetener to suit your own taste.

  Horchata is another popular agua fresca, although it's not made with fruit. It's a rice water base with cinnamon, vanilla and sugar added for flavor. Since it's time consuming to make, I have not included a recipe for it, but I do recommend buying a dry mix that can be easily mixed with water.

  With hibiscus flowers blooming and local produce ripening all around us, there's no better time to make aguas frescas. Experiment. Have fun. And the next time you're outside enjoying the warm weather, be sure you have a cool agua fresca to slake your thirst.

--
Nancy Gilkey can be reached at nancygilkey@q.com, or 261-9144.

--

JAMAICA TEA (HIBISCUS FLOWER TEA)

•1 cup dried Jamaica flowers, rinsed well and drained

•2 quarts of water, divided.

•1 / 2 cup water

• Bring one quart of water and well-rinsed and drained jamaica flowers to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Cover pan and simmer on low heat for about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Carefully pour hot liquid through colander into another saucepan. Discard flowers. Add second quart of water to liquid in saucepan, and set aside to cool down a bit. After liquid has cooled to about room temperature, pour into a pitcher and chill in fridge for several hours. Pour chilled Jamaica tea over ice and add additional sweetener if desired.

--

AGUA SANDIA (WATERMELON WATER)

•Makes one glass; multiply recipe for more

•1 cup of cold, cubed watermelon (without rind)

•3 to 4 ice cubes

•About 1 / 4 to 1 / 3 cup of water

•Optional: a few cubes of watermelon to add to drink

•Puree all ingredients in blender until ice is completely crushed. Pour into glass, garnish with a watermelon slice and enjoy immediately. Add a few extra cubes of watermelon to the beverage, if desired.