Agua Fresca Is the Most Versatile Drink You Can Make This Summer

Whether you’re the kind of person who loses themselves in the bounty of fruits and vegetables at the farmer’s market, or simply want to find more creative ways to hydrate as the temperatures rise, aguas frescas belong in your recipe rotation. “Aguas frescas were born out of resourcefulness,” explains Yana Volfson, beverage director at New York City’s Cosme and ATLA. “They are popular in Mexico due to its generous climate, which provides an abundance of different fruits throughout the year. Combining them with water is just one more way to consume the fruit. It is a wonderful fresh tradition shared by the entire country and is a perfect drink to have when a fruit juice would be too much, or plain water too boring.”

When it comes to making an agua fresca, which literally translates to "fresh water," the three components are fairly straightforward: fruit, water, and some kind of sweetener, like granulated sugar, or in the case of this peach agua fresca from Austin's Nixta Tacqueria, rosewater. While aguas frescas are traditionally non-alcoholic, you can add different spirits depending on the fruit or flavorings of the agua. The herbaceous, spicy notes of this pineapple jalapeño agua fresca play well with mezcal, and we’re partial to adding a bit of white rum to this peach agua fresca, as well as to this blueberry pomegranate colada from All Day Baby, in Los Angeles. 

For most of the aguas frescas below, all you need is a high-speed blender and a fine-mesh strainer to make sure every sip is smooth. Read on for five of our favorite aguas frescas that pack a ton of flavor and couldn't be easier to make.