After one month living in a Mexican home, I finally learned how to make one of my favorite drinks – Agua de Sabor, more commonly known in the US as Agua Fresca. Agua de Sabor makes a lot more sense in translation as it translates to “flavored water” and the name adopts whatever fruit is used. For example, using pineapple would make it an Agua de Piña, or sometimes, like in my house, it’s just called Agua.
Each fruit has a different water content and sugar content so will require more or less water and sweetener. As you get comfortable with the ratio of ingredients, you could play with mixing different fruits, herbs and even veggies together to create infinite versions. My host makes an Agua de Sabor every day for lunch. We’ve had guava, pineapple, strawberry, watermelon, lemon with chia and a surprisingly delicious version using cucumber and celery.
The riper & sweeter the fruit you use the better, so fruit that’s in season will offer the best flavor. Check out the website for your local farmers market to find a seasonality calendar and consider planning your recipe around it.
Once you get this recipe down, it will only take 5 minutes or less!
Gather:
- One type of fruit – I recommend watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple or strawberries
- Sweetener – I recommend sugar or agave syrup
- Filtered water
- Blender
Directions:
- Peel and cut the fruit so it’s ready for the blender, removing any rinds, seeds and leafy tops. For the pineapple, only use the fruit around the core.
- Fill the blender to the top with the fruit, or as much as you have – be careful not to overfill it. Add enough water to help blend the contents, about half the height of the fruit.
- Blend until it’s completely smooth (don’t rush this part).
- Add sweetener to taste or skip it altogether if the fruit is already super sweet.
- If you used a fibrous or seedy fruit, you may prefer to strain the juice to remove extra pulp or seeds. Use a spoon to push the mash through the strainer.
- Pour the puree into a pitcher and add enough water to double the contents, or to the consistency you prefer. The traditional version is watery, more like juice than a smoothie. Play with the water/sweetener ratio which differs per fruit and personal preference.
- Pour over ice, find a fun garnish and enjoy!
