Before we moved to California, we had a period of apartment limbo and ended up staying with John's parents for most of the summer. John's dad gardens, and what he gardens is food, so we ate all kinds of fantastic homegrown things: beans, zucchini, squash, basil, tomatoes, and melon, melon, melon.

Melon dominated the entire summer. We had red watermelon, yellow watermelon, moon and stars, muskmelon, cantaloupe. We ate melon at nearly every meal, and not just pieces in salad or inch-wide slivers on the side of the plate, but entire halves. They were huge and succulent and delicious, and I couldn't eat them. It was so hot I had lost my appetite.

This would have been the perfect solution. We went through gallons of ice water; why not go through gallons of melon juice? If only I'd been used to thinking in terms of blender.

Melon in a blender

melon
fresh mint
ice cubes
water, or gin/vodka if you want to make it alcoholic
maybe some lemon juice to adjust taste

This should work with any melon. Maybe not bitter melon, but you know. I just got cantaloupe because it sounded best with the mint right then. Besides, I can carry a cantaloupe home in my backpack much more easily than I can ever carry a watermelon.

Seed and chop up the melon. Rip several handfuls of mint off the stem. Put everything in the blender with some ice cubes and a cup or so of the liquid of your choice. Blend until liquid and frothy. Drink it.

Clearly, this is going to be sweet. If you want something more savory, you can always experiment with peeled, seeded tomatoes and basil or thyme. The cucumber route might also be good. Cucumber, lemon zest, lemon peel, and a dash of bitters, or maybe even worcestershire? Cucumber and radish, strained, for a really astringent gin and not tonic, or with Pimm's? I'm going to have to try some things.