Cantaloupe juice is a terrific summer drink. 
Take a nice sweet, juicy and ripe melon and slice it in half. Use a melon scraper to turn the flesh into long strips. Don’t go too deep to the tasteless rind near the skin. Place the melon strips in a pitcher and add any juice run-off from the melon. Add sugar water if necessary (usually is, unless you have really sweet melons) made by melting equal parts sugar and water until a syrup is formed and cool this down before using. Add the juice of a few kalamansi or a lemon to brighten the flavor, some water and lots of ice and serve in wide-mouth glasses with a spoon. Garnish with mint if you’re feeling fancy. Brings back more childhood memories, doesn’t it? So simple, so delicious and yet when was the last time you made some? One large melon should make four servings.
With melons nearing their summer peak in the Philippines, 
now is a good time to dig out that scraper from the back of your kitchen drawers. Here are some tips for a better melon drink… First, pick really good melons – if they are mediocre your juice will really suffer. Second, wash the melons well before you slice into them. For some reason, local melons have a really earthy musk to them (soil or organic fertilizer?) that sometimes gets to the sliced fruit and the flavor and smell is off-putting to say the least. Third, slice the melons with a clean knife (not one with eau de garlic on it) and gently scrape out the seeds and membranes in the center cavity. Scrape the melon and transfer the strips into a clean bowl as you go.
Personally, I find only 1 out of 3 local melons to be truly delicious. Many are watery, lack flavor and sweetness… I guess that’s why a lot of sugared water is added in most cases. I like the dense, sweet and heavy melons and I haven’t found a consistent source of them yet… until then, I have to go with my hit and miss 1 out of 3 record. Cantaloupes are highly nutritious and relatively low calorie, they have tons of Vitamins A and C. Enjoy this melon cooler!
6 Responses
We usually get the “innards” (seeds and all) of the melon and strain them because they are quite juicy and they add to the flavor.
Thanks. I just got myself a melon about the size of two balled fists for 25 bucks and I don’t know if that’s a good price to pay for melons at this time.
Good idea for the “innards” ajie; I like it. Bugsybee, large melons are about 3 for PHP100 in Manila now. Smaller ones at 4 for PHP100. Really big ones at Pricesmart were PHP55 each and they weren’t very good the last time I purchased them. Seems like you paid the right price…
there is a melon variant that’s called melon tagalog in the
Bulaca / Nueva Ecija provinces. It can be prepared in the same manner, slightly different taste nuance and the colour of the juice will be white – milky white as milk is traditionally added to it.
i miss the philippines. any other filipino desserts or sweet drinks?
Been trying to find a melon scraper in Toronto, Canada to no avail. Do you have any recommendations on alternatives? Thanks!