Name: Chamomile Cantaloupe Refresher
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 370 g (13 oz) ripe cantaloupe, cut into cubes; 112 g lemon juice (~4-5 medium Meyer lemons); 1 tsp lemon zest (~1 medium Meyer lemon); 70 g (1/3 cup) honey or 67 g (1/3 cup) cane sugar; 1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt; 300 g (1 ½ cups) hot water, at 190°F; 8 g loose-leaf chamomile flowers/ tea; Gerolsteiner or sparkling water

Description

This chamomile cantaloupe refresher is one of my favorite drinks to make during peak melon season, plus it’s a great way to use overripe cantaloupe.

Ingredients

Scale

370 g (13 oz) ripe cantaloupe, cut into cubes
112 g lemon juice (~4-5 medium Meyer lemons)
1 tsp lemon zest (~1 medium Meyer lemon)
70 g (1/3 cup) honey or 67 g (1/3 cup) cane sugar
1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
300 g (1 ½ cups) hot water, at 190°F
8 g loose-leaf chamomile flowers/ tea
Gerolsteiner or sparkling water

Instructions

Add the chopped cantaloupe, lemon juice, honey (or sugar), and salt to a blender. Blend on low, slowly ramping the speed up to medium-high. Blend for a total of 1 minute. Strain the cantaloupe juice mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher.
Brew 8g loose-leaf chamomile tea with 1 ½ cups hot water (190°F), steep for 10 minutes, then strain into the pitcher with the cantaloupe juice mixture. Pour the concentrate into a large jar with a lid and refrigerate to cool.
To serve, pour 2 parts concentrate over ice, followed by 1 part sparkling water or club soda — a serving is 2/3 cup concentrate and 1/3 cup sparkling water. Gerolsteiner is my go-to for sparkling water.