Did you know that Japanese people eat their watermelon with salt? Apparently it’s quite a common occurrence there because their summers are scorching and as a result of the heat and sweat, people lose sodium and eating watermelon with salt will both add flavour to the cold watermelon and replenish a bit of the lost sodium as well.
I’m not sure whether I’m a fan of watermelon with salt, but it did give Yuye the idea to make this recipe and it was delicious. I’m usually not a huge fan of tequila based cocktails (mainly because I haven’t had many good quality tequilas) but the Espolon I can get used to.
The light golden colour in the Espolon Reposado is due to 6 months of careful aging in white oak barrels which gives it a mild wood flavour and that beautiful colour. Espolon also make a non-aged version of the tequila as well.
Yuye only did half a salt rim around the glass because you really don’t need a full rim else it will be too salty. I hope you like this recipe!


- 60ml Tequila (any brand is fine, we used Espolon Reposado)
- 20ml agave nectar
- Juice of 1/4 lime
- 1 cup watermelon (cut into small pieces)
- Sea salt
- ice
- Do a salt rim on half of the glass (run lime wedge on the rim and dip in the salt)
- Pour half of the agave nectar into the bottom of the glass
- Muddle the watermelon in a shaker
- Add remaining half of the agave nectar, Tequila and lime juice to the shaker
- Top up with ice and shake until cold and mixed through
- Strain mixture into the glass gently*
- Garnish with a thin piece of watermelon skin and serve immediately**
- *This will form two layers in the glass and you can mix the nectar into the drink as you like
- Since the watermelon is muddled, it's not completely juiced so you can actually eat the remaining watermelon pieces in the shaker which will be deliciously boozy.
- **The watermelon skin is quite tough and can be used as a stirrer to mix the nectar
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella April 27, 2015, 10:24 am
Great idea! And I can see the watermelon with salt idea working because I love watermelon and feta salad. It’s so refreshing! 😀