Fruit Coolers

It was quite a hot August in Brisbane, the weather was (and still is!) quite summery. It was quite hot where Deb from Smitten Kitchen is too, and she made these melon coolers in an attempt to cool down.

I am a big fan of unsweetened fruit drinks. I hate the syrupy sugary taste of bottled drink, whether it be fruit drink or soft drink. Unfortunately, I do have a weakness for Coke, but I can only drink it while it's still really fizzy because if it sits it just becomes a syrupy goopy nasty concoction. This is a good thing, because it means I can rarely drink a full bottle and I prefer the new small 200ml can sizes. Anything that limits my intake of that much sugar and processed crap is a good thing, I just can't seem to kick it entirely.

Anyway, back to fruit. Fake sweetness really turns me off, but I love fruit juice. I have to be careful, as some juices can trigger migraines but I still really love fruit juice. I've never had a melon drink, but it was really hot and the thought of an icy fresh fruit cooler was way too tempting to ignore.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any honeydew or rockmelon, so I gave this a try with some ripe pawpaw. Pawpaw probably wasn't the best idea as the fruit is quite soft, and once pureed it didn't want be strained through my cheesecloth, the solids persistently seeped through when I attempted to squeeze it. I don't think I got the maximum juice out of my fruit. I used a bit more lime to make up for the pawpaw's more subtle flavour and it turned out really really well. It's a bit more effort than I would normally go to for a summer drink, but it would be spectacular for entertaining as it looks gorgeous.

If you want to try this for yourself, see this post on Smitten Kitchen.