If you’re feeling hot and muggy in warm weather, try making ‘agua fresca’, instead of our English equivalent (store-bought Slush Puppies, which use blue dyes to make raspberry flavours?) These drinks contain artificial sweeteners (the blue dye which can trigger asthma attacks in some, is used to distinguish it from the red cherry flavour).
In Mexico, everyone drinks agua fresca. It’s basically a mix of water, sugar and fresh fruit sugar. This strawberry agua fresca (Broke Bank Vegan) is an inspiring way to use up that glut of fresh strawberries, if you went overboard at the PYO farm. You can also make it with raspberries, though it will be more tart.
Avoid unpasteurised juice for pregnancy/nursing or weak immunity.
This is a simple case of hulling your strawberries and then blending them up with some water, adding optional lime juice, and adding a natural sweetener like agave syrup (this is also Mexican, related to the cactus plant). You could alternatively use stevia powder, but only a little, as it’s very very sweet.
This is a good drink to try if you tire of plain water but don’t want to keep drinking fizzy pop. This is also a great drink to get hydrating into people who don’t drink enough water, and those who won’t eat their fruit!
A Tropical Agua Fresca
If you fancy going tropical or have some exotic fruit to use up, try this Guava Fresca. These tropical fruits tastes a bit like a cross between a pear and a strawberry.
You don’t need to spend £200 on an expensive blender. But if you do like making homemade drinks, go for a good one (say Russell Hobbs brand at around £50) with a glass jug. This way you won’t burn out the motor and have to replace it.
Know that when you buy new electrical appliances in the UK, it’s the law that the store you buy from has to take back your old one. So if you have a cheap plastic jug blender with frayed wires in the cupboard, take it with you to the kitchen shop, supermarket or Argos and they will recycle it on for you.
