Cantaloupe Cocktail
It’s cantaloupe season, and while I’m perfectly happy just cutting it up and eating it up, I do like adding it into some recipes. It’s a flavor that does well with stronger flavors, salty flavors, and, yes, alcohol like this cantaloupe cocktail (that’s really a sangria).
I originally got into sangrias for our wedding (10 years ago this week!!). The place we got married only permitted beer and wine. My husband and I had thought it’d be fun to have two cocktails at our wedding – like a his and hers.
With the reality of only beer and wine, we switched it up to sangrias, so we could have the best of both. I had a year or so of creating lots of sangria recipes. Originally I planned to have one red and one white option. In the end, however, our two favorites were the Strawberry Sangria (with pinot grigio) and this cantaloupe sangria (with Chardonnay).
Part of the reason we picked these two were how easy they were to make – perfect to pass on to my caterers!They both have three ingredients and the fruit and wines highlight each other perfectly! And the colors are so beautiful!
CONTENTS
Cantaloupe Cocktail
One of the things I really like about this cantaloupe sangria cocktail is this fresh fruit. We don’t drink a ton of juice, but when we lived in LA, I did discover a few juices that I now love. One is watermelon juice and the other is cantaloupe juice. Cantaloupe has so much natural sweetness that you don’t need much else in terms of sweetness or flavor.
Making juice from these two fruits is so very easy. I pureed some ripe melon to make the juice and then cut up very small pieces in the mixture to maintain that sangria feel with fresh fruit.
Cocktail or Sangria? A sangria is a type of cocktail. And, traditionally, sangrias have a spirit in the ingredient list. So whatever suits your fancy – sangria, beverage, cocktail, libation – you do you!! I think it makes it look more like a cocktail with the curl of cantaloupe on the skewer! Who doesn’t love a little bit of accoutrement!
Cantaloupe Season
Cantaloupe is absolutely a summer fruit. It’s planted in late spring and vines around any garden. It’s interesting and many of the plants that grow like this in the summer are known for fall and winter produce (think pumpkins, winter squash, etc.).
If you’ve ever wondered how to tell if a cantaloupe is ripe – I have 2 tricks. The first (from my mom) is to check where the stem came off the melon. If you can see where the stem was cut off, it was picked too early – not as ripe. You want to see an indent where it just about fell off the vine – that’s perfectly ready.I also like to give a little sniff at that spot as well. You’ll smell cantaloupe if it’s really ripe!!
Melon Sangria
Because the fruit and the ‘juice’ are really the same in this cantaloupe cocktail, the time it takes to marry all the flavors is minimal compared to other recipes, which is even better when you want a tasty cocktail on a hot summer day. I don’t know about you, but my patience is minimal in the heat!
Cantaloupe Recipes
Want more sangria recipes? Other summer favorites include plum sangria, strawberry sangria, nectarine sparkling rose sangria, cherry sangria, and watermelon sangria! For the cooler months, try raspberry sangria with thyme (made with frozen berries), winter sangria made with white wine, and Riunite Lambrusco sangria! And don’t miss my brunch sangria – great any day of the year!
CANTALOUPE COCKTAIL
Ingredients
- 1½ cups cantaloupe juice
- 2 cups bite-sized cantaloupe pieces*
- 750 mL Chardonnay wine
- ½-1 cup sparkling water to taste
Instructions
Cantaloupe Juice
- Puree small chunks of very ripe cantaloupe in blender or food processor. 1 small cantaloupe should yield roughly 1½ cups juice. Use two small or 1 large cantaloupe for recipe.
Sangria
- Combine cantaloupe juice, cantaloupe pieces, and chardonnay in large pitcher. Refrigerate 3-5 hours.
- Add sparkling water to taste – less water for a stronger chardonnay taste.
- Serve chilled.
