Honeydew sparkling water, three ways
The unsweetened infusion, the syrup, and the ratio that makes the finished drink.
In season: July to October. A ripe one has a rind that feels slightly tacky under the fingers and a blossom end that gives when you press it.
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Infused, unsweetened
Use
3 cups cubed honeydew per 1 litre of water
Method
Scrub the rind before cutting, same as cantaloupe. Cube the flesh, cover with cold still water, refrigerate. Honeydew is the mildest of the three melons and wants company: 4 mint leaves or a few ribbons of cucumber in the jar with it.
Time
3 hours, 6 hours at the outside
Sparkling
Still water for the infusion. Honeydew is delicate enough that heavy carbonation buries it, so finish at 2 parts infusion to 1 part sparkling.
Keeps
1 day refrigerated. Same rule as cantaloupe: cut melon stays cold.
The syrup
Ratio
3 cups cubed honeydew : 1 cup sugar : 1/2 cup water
Method
Simmer 10 minutes, steep 20 minutes off the heat, strain without pressing. It comes out pale green and stays that way if you keep it dark.
Keeps
10 days refrigerated, 6 months frozen
Note
Honeydew syrup browns inside a day in a clear bottle on a sunny counter. Keep it at the back of the fridge or in something opaque.
The finished soda
1 part syrup to 4 parts sparkling water, over ice, with lime and a ribbon of cucumber
Lime, and one basil leaf bruised between your fingers before it goes in.
The shrub version
3 cups cubed honeydew and 1 cup sugar, covered in the fridge 2 days, strain, stir in 1/2 cup rice vinegar, rest 5 days. Rice vinegar is mild enough to leave the honeydew standing.
What doesn't work: Buying honeydew on looks. A hard, pale, perfectly smooth one was picked green and will never ripen further, and cutting it up gets you crunchy water. The rind on a ready melon is creamy yellow-white and slightly sticky.
Goes with: CucumberLimeMintBasilGinger