Make these 6 fruity drinks to beat the heat

A few years ago, the state of California sponsored what was called a “rethink your drink” campaign. It was a broad attempt to shift us from overconsumption of soft drinks in favor of water.

The campaign included recipes for flavored waters. Local farmers and market managers were invited to submit a recipe and then bring it to the Wednesday night market in downtown Santa Rosa. There were close to a dozen entries. If memory serves, the apprentices at Worth Our Weight, the late Evelyn Cheatham’s popular training program for local youth, took the top prize.

We don’t, of course, need recipes for flavored water. We need just two things: good water and something to put in it. First, try not to use water in plastic bottles. If you pay attention, you can taste the plastic. If you have city water, it’s likely just fine. If you are on well water, you can make the necessary adjustments, with filters or commercial drinking water.

Additions to water can be as simple as a slice of lemon, a few slices of cucumber or a sprig of mint or lemon balm, and as complex and a blend of herbs, spices, vinegar, fruit and, sometimes, vegetables.

These are some of my favorite hedges against the heat. I have developed all of them to suit my own palate. You should feel free to make whatever adjustments you prefer.

As someone without a strong sweet tooth, I find certain flavors are most appealing to me when they are paired with things we don’t normally pair with anything sweet. One of my favorite combinations is strawberry and black pepper. Add a bit of balsamic vinegar, and you’ve stumbled on a traditional Italian pairing. Be sure to use the best berries you can find. They do not need to look good, but they need to have lots of flavor.

My Favorite Flavored Water

Makes 1 Quart

1 cup sliced strawberries

2 teaspoons black peppercorns, lightly crushed

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Put the strawberries, peppercorns and vinegar into a quart jar. Let sit for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or as long as overnight in the refrigerator.

To finish, top off the jar with water and stir. Enjoy over ice.

Taquerias and Mexican cafes always have at least one agua fresca available and typically several. Horchata and jamaica are the two most common, followed by pineapple and melon. Most are delicious but some are too sweet for me, so I typically make them at home, using whatever fruit is at its peak. Whenever you have a bountiful crop, consider this as a simple and delicious way to use part of it.

Apricot Agua Fresca

Makes about 4 to 6 quarts

12 cups pitted, sliced ripe apricots

8 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

3 to 4 slices fresh ginger, lightly pounded

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

Simple syrup, as needed (recipe follows)

Ice water

Several hours or a day before making the agua fresca, put the apricots in a large nonreactive container, add the cardamom pods, stir, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and as long as overnight.

Set a food mill fitted with its smallest blade over a deep glass, ceramic or porcelain bowl and pass the fruit through it. Add the ginger and lime juice and taste. If it’s too tart, add simple syrup, ¼ cup at a time, stirring and tasting after each addition, until it suits you. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or overnight.

Use tongs to remove and discard the ginger.

Pour the apricot mixture into a large pitcher; it should fill the container by no more than about two-thirds. Top off with water, stir and enjoy over ice.

For the best watermelon juice, you need to use a traditional watermelon, that is, one with seeds. Seedless watermelons are grown for that quality, no seeds. They are not grown for flavor or texture. I can easily tell the difference.

Watermelon Agua Fresca

Makes 4 to 6 servings

4 cups chopped watermelon, seeds removed

3 cups spring water

⅓ cup simple syrup (recipe follows), plus more, to taste

Ice cubes

Put the watermelon and 1 cup of the spring water into a tall, narrow glass pitcher. Use an immersion blender to briefly puree the fruit. Move the immersion blender up and down through the fruit so the fruit remains slightly chunky and doesn’t become foamy. Alternately, pass the chopped watermelon through a food mill.

Stir in the remaining water, taste and, if needed, add the simple syrup. Taste again and repeat until it tastes just right.

Chill thoroughly, stir, pour over ice and enjoy. This agua fresca is best the same day it’s made.

Variation: You can use cantaloupe, Casaba, Crenshaw or any ripe, sweet melon. Always taste before adding the simple syrup.

In Wise Concoctions (Chronicle Books, 1999), author Bonnie Dahan offers several summertime tonics, including the recipe that inspired this one. With so many wild blackberries in Sonoma County, it should be easy to gather enough for a double batch. The leaves are in rich in vitamins and minerals, as are the berries.

Blackberry Heatwave Cooler

Makes 2 quarts

8 cups spring or purified water

1 ½ cups fresh blackberries or ollalieberries

1 cup dried blackberry or raspberry leaves

6 fresh spearmint sprigs

Juice of 1 to 2 lemons, to taste

Simple syrup (recipe follows)

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot and remove from the heat. Stir in the blackberries, leaves and mint. Cover the pot and steep for 10 minutes. Strain into a glass pitcher, add lemon juice and taste. If the cooler is too tart, add simple syrup, 2 tablespoons at a time, until it reaches your preferred level of sweetness.

Enjoy right away over ice, or chill before serving.

When we’re hot, we need to replenish the salt we lose continuously by sweating. People in tropical climates know this intuitively, and they mitigate the impact of hot weather in some creative ways. One is with Asian limeade, a drink I tried for the first time in Kuching, on the island of Borneo, in a little cafe in the middle of the town’s war memorial park. Geckos, the same pale green as my limeade, scurried across the walls. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so far from home. I’ve experimented with different combinations to try to capture the exact flavors I remember. This easy, casual version comes closest. For complete authenticity, don’t remove the seeds. In India, you’ll find a lemonade spiked with ground aromatic black salt (kala namak), available here in Asian markets.

Asian Limeade

Makes 1 serving

1 to 2 lemons or limes

2 teaspoons Simple Syrup (recipe follows)

⅛ to ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Ice cubes

Fill a large drinking glass three-quarters full with water. Cut the lemons or limes in half and squeeze the juice into the water. Add the Simple Syrup and salt, stir and fill the glass to the top with ice cubes.

Look for dried jamaica (hibiscus flowers) in the spice and bulk sections of Mexican markets. You can easily double this recipe, which you’ll want to do during the next heat wave. It’s extraordinarily refreshing. Although you can brew this tea using boiling water, tea brewed in the sun has a subtle smoothness and delicacy you’ll notice if you pay attention.

Jamaica Ginger Sun Tea

Makes 2 quarts

1 ½ ounces dried jamaica flowers (hibiscus flowers)

2-inch piece fresh ginger, crushed and chopped

2 quarts spring water

⅓ cup honey or simple syrup, plus more to taste

Ice cubes

Put the jamaica and ginger in a large glass jar and pour the water over them. Close the jar with its lid and set it in a very sunny window or outside where the sun will shine on it. Let it sit until the water takes on a deep scarlet color; it will take 4 to 6 hours, depending on the warmth of the day.

Strain the tea into a pitcher, stir in the honey or simple syrup, taste and correct the sweetness, if necessary. Pour over ice and serve immediately, or chill in the refrigerator.

Simple syrup, sometimes called bar sweetener, is simply sugar and water, simmered until the sugar is completely dissolved. Store in the refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely.

Simple Syrup

Makes about 2 ½ cups

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

Combine the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over high heat. Do not stir. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the syrup is transparent. Remove from the heat, cover and let cool. Store, covered, in the refrigerator and use as needed.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including “A New Cook’s Tour of Sonoma.” Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com