Cantaloupe Crush Recipe

Prepare the cantaloupe: halve the cantaloupe, remove seeds, and scoop out the flesh. Reserve about 1 cup of diced cantaloupe for garnish / muddling if desired and the rest for syrup and juice.

Make cantaloupe purée: place roughly 2 cups (about 2–2½ cups diced) of cantaloupe flesh into a blender and blitz until smooth, about 20–30 seconds. If the mixture seems very thick, add 1–2 tablespoons of water to help blend.

Make cantaloupe syrup: in a small saucepan combine 0.5 cups granulated sugar and 0.5 cups water. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves and mixture simmers for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool 2–3 minutes.

Combine purée and syrup: strain the cantaloupe purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl or pitcher, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible (you should get about 3/4–1 cup). Discard solids. Stir the warm simple syrup into the cantaloupe juice/purée until fully combined. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled. This yields about 1 to 1¼ cups cantaloupe syrup (sweetened purée).

Measure for cocktail: when ready to build cocktails, measure 0.75 oz of the chilled cantaloupe syrup per serving (recipe assumes pre-made syrup). If desired, reserve a tablespoon of diced cantaloupe for garnish or light muddling in the shaker for extra texture/flavor.

Build and shake

Add the following to a cocktail shaker: 1.5 oz dry sherry, 0.75 oz chilled cantaloupe syrup, 0.5 oz melon liqueur, 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice, and 3 dashes Luxardo Bitter Bianco. If using, add the reserved tablespoon of diced cantaloupe to the shaker for a short muddle before adding ice.

Muddle (optional): if you added diced cantaloupe, gently muddle 3–4 times to release juices — avoid over-muddling into a pulp.

Add ice: fill the shaker with about 1 cup of fresh ice, cap the shaker, and shake vigorously for 12–15 seconds until well-chilled and the outside of the shaker is frosty.

Strain: double-strain (using a Hawthorne and fine mesh strainer) into a chilled coupe glass or stemmed cocktail glass. If you prefer a slightly more textured drink, fine-strain only; for a cleaner presentation, double-strain to remove any fruit solids.

Garnish: finish with a cantaloupe ball or small wedge on the rim and a lemon twist expressed over the drink. Optionally add a small spritz of Luxardo Bitter Bianco on top for aroma.

Serve immediately: present chilled. Stir gently once if needed before serving.