Watermelon Gin Punch

This knock-you-off-your-rocker Watermelon Gin Punch is super simple to make. It’s just a ratio. So get ready, here we go.

Watermelon Gin Punch

Lyndon and I have been making a watermelon gin punch for a couple of years now and it is — without fail — a huge hit every time we make it. I’m not going to lie to you, neither one of us created this idea on our own. It’s floating around the internet in several places. But we did streamline it, and create a system that will come to your aid when you go to make it because there is just no possible way of knowing how many watermelons you need to buy in order to yield X cups of watermelon juice. Better to just have a ratio of ingredients that you can adapt to whatever quantity of juice your watermelon yields.

Ingredients for watermelon gin punch

The list of ingredients is very short, and aside from the watermelon you probably have everything you need! Other people drown the drink in both ice and mint, and neither is necessary. Do you ever crave ice while eating a watermelon? No, you don’t. Have you ever chomped on some mint while eating a watermelon? No, you haven’t. Are you going to run out and try either of those things now that I’ve mentioned them? No, you’re not. The flavor of the watermelon is spectacular enough on it’s own, so let’s get out of its way and let it shine.

You will need:

• A small seedless watermelon: Why small? Because it’s just easier to cut-up. And why seedless? Because, again, it’s just easier. If you want to go to the hassle of removing every seed from a traditional watermelon — by all means — be my guest.
• Lemon juice: You could get away with using bottled lemon juice, but I really prefer the brightness of fresh-squeezed in this simple recipe.
• Simple syrup: If you don’t have any on hand I promise you that you will be able to make it. The skills required are measuring sugar and water, and turning the stove on. I have a blog post here that will tell you exactly what to do. Estimated active time? 90 seconds.
• Gin: Ah, the botanical garden of your alcohol cabinet. Gin is a distilled liquor that — no matter what other flavors are present — always has the flavor of juniper berries in it. It was originally used as medicine by medieval monks. Can you imagine? “Father, I feel ill.” / “Here, drink this.” Tanqueray is a solid choice if you don’t know where to start.

Could I use vodka instead of gin (and other tips for the best watermelon punch)

• Could I use vodka instead of gin? Well, yes of course you could. But in all fairness there isn’t a vodka drink in the world that can’t be improved by swapping the vodka for gin, so I wouldn’t go in the other direction.
• Why are you giving me a ratio? Why not give me exact measurements? Simple: do you know exactly how much liquid you are going to get out of your watermelon? I don’t. I can give you a rough estimate (which I have!). But because mother nature hasn’t standardized her watermelons just yet I can’t give you a “standard” recipe that doesn’t require you to buy multiple watermelons and waste some precious watermelon juice. Better to just know that if you wind up with X amount of watermelon juice you will need X amount of everything else. IMHO.

How to store your watermelon gin punch

Hard to believe I just typed that. There likely won’t be much storage going on. But if you do want to store it (or possible make your watermelon punch ahead of time) just stick it in the fridge. I do recommend juicing the watermelon in advance of actually needing it as you’ll have some clean-up to do, so just dump the juice into a container and stick it in the fridge until you need it. Fair warning, the watermelon juice will likely separate while its hanging out in the fridge whether or not you’ve added the other ingredients to it. Just stir it or shake it to get everything to come back together.

The juice on its own will keep for about two days in the fridge, and the juice with alcohol will keep for a week.

Parting thoughts on this watermelon punch

A few final thoughts on this drink: First, it’s delicious. Second, there is a lot of alcohol in this recipe. And you won’t taste it, which is either a huge problem or the goal, depending. Third, it’s dead-easy to make. So haul out your blender or food processor, queue up an Uber for your friends, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Enjoy! 🍉😀👍🏻

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