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Half a watermelon, going soft at the edges, sat on the bench at the Belmore Road fruit shop near where my sister lives, marked down to four dollars because nobody wanted to carry a whole one home on the bus. I bought it anyway. That’s the watermelon and lime cooler sorted for Saturday’s barbecue before I’d even decided we were having one.
We host a lot of barbecues through summer, partly because my husband likes an excuse to stand near a hot flame holding tongs, and partly because it’s the cheapest way to feed a backyard full of kids and their parents without anyone having to dress up. The food side I’ve got down. The drinks side used to mean a sad eskki of soft drink cans and a jug of cordial that nobody touched because it was too sweet and too warm by 2pm. This cooler fixed that problem for us about three summers ago and it’s stayed in the rotation since.
Why this one earns its spot on the table
Watermelon is close to 92% water, which is part of why it works so well as a base for a cold drink rather than a smoothie you need a spoon for. CSIRO’s nutrition research has long pointed to high-water-content fruit as a smart way to help with hydration in hot weather, and frankly you don’t need a research paper to tell you that a cold slice of watermelon on a 34 degree day in Newcastle does something a can of soft drink doesn’t. It’s not dessert-sweet either, which means you can lean into the lime without the whole thing turning sickly.
The other thing going for it is colour. Kids drink with their eyes before anything else, and a jug of hot pink watermelon cooler with lime wheels floating in it gets noticed on a trestle table before the snags are even off the barbecue. My youngest, who is suspicious of anything green and refuses most vegetables on sight, has never once questioned a glass of this.
Ingredients
- 1kg watermelon flesh, seeds removed, roughly chopped (about half a small seedless watermelon)
- 3 limes, juiced (around 80ml juice), plus extra lime wheels to serve
- 2 tablespoons honey or pure maple syrup (adjust to taste, depending on the sweetness of your melon)
- 500ml chilled soda water or sparkling mineral water
- A small handful of mint leaves, plus extra sprigs to serve
- Ice, plenty of it
Method
- Blend the watermelon flesh, lime juice, honey and mint leaves until smooth. A stick blender in a jug works fine if you don’t want to drag the big blender out.
- Strain through a fine sieve into a large jug if you want it completely smooth, though I usually don’t bother for a backyard crowd. A bit of pulp never hurt anyone.
- Taste it. This is the step people skip and regret, because watermelons vary enormously in sweetness depending on the season and where they were grown. Add a touch more honey if yours is underwhelming.
- Top the jug with soda water, give it one gentle stir (too vigorous and you’ll lose the fizz), and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.
- Fill glasses with ice, pour over the cooler, and finish with a lime wheel and a small sprig of mint.
Serves: makes about 1.2 litres, enough for 4-6 glasses depending on how generous you are with ice.
The make-ahead bit that actually matters
You can make the watermelon and lime base up to two days ahead and keep it in the fridge in a sealed jug or bottle, which is the only reason this works for a barbecue where you’re also meant to be doing eight other things. What you don’t do ahead is add the soda water. Do that right before serving or you’ll end up with a flat, sad jug by the time anyone’s actually thirsty. I learned this the hard way one Australia Day when I topped it up at 11am for a 1pm start and served what was essentially watermelon cordial with no fizz left in it.
If you’re feeding a crowd, double the watermelon base and keep it in two separate jugs rather than one giant one. It stays colder longer that way and you’re not constantly topping up a jug that’s gone warm in the sun.
A serving idea for the actual barbecue
Put the jug in an esky or a deep bowl of ice on the table rather than just in the fridge, because once it’s out in the Newcastle sun for an hour it goes from refreshing to tepid pretty fast. I also like setting out a small bowl of extra mint and lime wheels next to the jug so people can dress their own glass. It looks more generous than it actually is, which I’m fine admitting.
This pairs nicely alongside something off the barbecue that leans savoury and a bit charred, so the sweetness of the drink has something to cut against. We’ve served it next to garlic and herb baked flathead when the weather’s been kind enough for fish on the barbecue, and honestly the sweet-tart contrast works better than you’d expect.
A variation worth trying
Swap the mint for a small handful of Thai basil if you’ve got it growing, which gives the whole thing a slightly aniseed edge that’s genuinely good with barbecued meat rather than just dessert. For the grown-ups’ table, a splash of this over ice with a wedge of lime and nothing else added makes a decent non-alcoholic option for anyone driving or just not drinking that day, which matters more at a family barbecue than people always plan for.
If you want something with more staying power for a hot afternoon that stretches into evening, I’d put this on rotation alongside iced hibiscus and mint for the really hot afternoons. Different flavour entirely, same job: cold, low-sugar, and something people actually want a second glass of.
What I’d skip
I wouldn’t bother with artificial watermelon flavouring or cordial as a shortcut. It tastes nothing like the real thing and defeats the point, which is using an actual piece of fruit that’s in season and often going cheap at the end of a market day. I’d also skip adding sugar on top of the honey unless your melon is genuinely bland, because good watermelon doesn’t need the help.
One small opinion I’ll stand by: bottled lime juice has no place in this recipe. The fresh stuff changes the whole character of the drink, and limes are cheap enough at most Woolworths or your local greengrocer that there’s no real excuse.
For general guidance on hydration and why water-rich foods matter more in summer, healthdirect’s page on dehydration is worth a look, as is the Eat for Health guidelines if you’re after the broader picture on fruit intake. Neither will tell you anything revelatory, but they back up what most of us already know: on a stinking hot day, water-based fruit drinks beat sugary soft drink every time, and your kids will take longer to notice the swap than you’d think.
This one doubles well for lunchboxes too, if you’ve got leftovers, though it rarely survives that long in our house once the barbecue crowd gets to it.
– Nicole Barnes, Golden Door Living kitchen
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