Watermelon Cordial Recipe… with salt?
Ever tried the flavour combination salt and watermelon? If you haven’t, you need to. Anyone who loves watermelon needs to give this a go. This, is the ultimate watermelon cordial recipe.
Salt and Watermelon - Does it go?
The easiest way to try this out is to simply sprinkle some salt over a slice of watermelon and wait 5/10 minutes for that salt to dissolve before trying a bite.
However, this is Smartblend. So we are focusing on how to use this combination in drinks. The best way to do so is to use my “best ever” salted watermelon cordial.
But first, here’s a few important things to note…
You Don’t Want to Taste Salt
Wait, what? What’s the point of even adding salt if you can’t taste it.
Allow me to explain. This flavour combination is less a combination of flavours and more a combination of ingredients, as we don’t actually want to taste salt. Most people who have tried salt and watermelon and don’t like it, are the people who use to much salt. You see, watermelon is made up of 3 tastes: Sweetness, Bitterness and Acidity.
These are the tastes that structure the flavour of a watermelon. Salt, as well as being a flavour also acts as a flavour modifier and enhancer. Its why salt is used so much in the kitchen. Its ability to change and enhance whatever you add it to is damn near magic.
In the case of the humble watermelon, adding just a little salt will help supress the bitterness, balance the acidity and enhance the sweetness. Making your watermelon taste that much juicer, that much flavoursome and filled with added sweetness even though we haven’t added any sugar.
That’s why when trying salt sprinkled on watermelon we want to wait 5 to 10 minutes for it to dissolve. So we don’t just get flakes of salt.
And it’s not just watermelon drinks that salt enhances. Check out this guide on why salt is the secret to great tasting drinks.
Citric Acid
For this cordial we will be adding citric acid. Citric acid is an organic compound found naturally in citrus fruits. Its used widely in sweet making and soft drink making to both replicate the flavour of lime and lemon, add acidity and preserve.
Using it in our cordial will give our cordial its acidity that we associate with cordial. You can use fresh lime juice in place of citric acid however, there are some things to keep in mind:
Using fresh lime will not only add acidity, it will also add the flavour of lime. Which we don’t want with this cordial. We want it to be fully focused on watermelon
Adding fresh lime juice will keep your cordial fresh for 2-3 days. Citric acid will keep your cordial fresh for a month. So if you’re not planning on using the entire cordial in the next few days, you want to add the citric acid.
You can buy citric acid very cheap. Its a homebrewing shop essential that you can also pick up at Wilko if you’re UK based. Failing that, you can get it very cheap on Amazon UK here and very cheap on Amazon USA here.
Salted Watermelon Cordial Video Recipe
Ingredients and Equipment for Watermelon Cordial
Watermelon Cordial Recipe
Watermelon Cordial
Ingredients
Instructions
- Peel, deseed and cut your watermelon into chunks. Measure out your watermelon then add to a blender with half the weight in water (I had 400g of watermelon so I added 200g of water) That’s a 2:1 Ratio
- Blend till smooth and strain out any pulp. You now have delicious watermelon juice, congratulations. To create the salted cordial you first need to weigh out your finished yield of juice as straining out the pulp may of changed it. Work out what 1% of that measurement is and add that in salt (I had 600g of juice so I added 6g of salt)
- Add half a teaspoon of citric acid per 200g of juice (I had 600g so I added 1 and a half teaspoons of citric acid) This will help acidify your cordial as well as preserving. If you don't have or want to use citric acid, you can use fresh lime juice at a rate of 30ml per 200g of juice. However, if using fresh lime juice, your cordial may last 2-3 days. As citric acid is a preservative, opting for the citric acid route will keep your cordial fresh for 4+ weeks.
- Add a 3rd measurement of white sugar. (Because I had 600g of juice I added 200g of sugar) Bring your mixture up to temperature, just below a boil and hold that for 10 minutes whilst stirring to dissolve the sugar, salt and citric acid.
- Cool and bottle up. strain through a muslin cloth to make sure no bits of watermelon get through. This is optional however it will keep your cordial fresher for longer.
Notes
Keep scrolling for alcoholic cocktails and non alcoholic cocktail serving suggestions.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
89.3Fat
0.12 gSat. Fat
0.01 gCarbs
22.94 gFiber
0.16 gNet carbs
22.78 gSugar
22.44 gProtein
0.24 gSodium
20.98 mgCholesterol
0 mgThe nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
How to use your salt and watermelon cordial
Non-alcoholic Watermelon cordial drinks Recipes
#1 Best ever Watermelon soda
50ml Salt watermelon cordial
Soda water
Fill a tall glass with ice and add ingredients. Garnish with a watermelon sail and sprig of mint for extra freshness
#2 Watermelon Livener
50ml Three Spirit Livener
30ml Salted Watermelon Cordial
Add both ingredients to a rocks glass with ice and stir to combine and dilute
Watermelon Cocktails Recipes
#3 Watermelon Margarita
50ml Blanco Tequila
30ml Watermelon Cordial
Add ingredients to a shaker and shake well with ice. Fine strain into a chilled coup
#4 Watermelon Gimlet
50ml London dry gin
30ml Watermelon cordial
Add ingredients to a mixer glass with ice and stir to chill, dilute and combine.
Strain into a chilled nick and nora glass
#5 Watermelon Negroni
25ml London dry gin
25ml Campari
25ml Watermelon Cordial
Add all ingredients to a rocks glass with ice. Stir and enjoy
#6 Watermelon Mezcal Highball
25ml Mezcal
25ml Watermelon Cordial
Soda water
Add all ingredients to a tall glass with ice, stir and garnish with a watermelon sail and mint sprig.
#7 Watermelon Mojito
50ml White Rum
50ml Watermelon Cordial
Mint leaves
Soda water
Add the rum and cordial to a tall glass. Add 3-4 mint leaves and top with crushed ice.
Stir well and top with crushed ice if needed. Top the rest of the way with soda water.
Garnish with a watermelon triangle and mint sprigs.
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