Thunderstorm low 78°F high 91°F
Chance of Rain low 78°F high 93°F
Chance of Storm low 77°F high 93°FKeeping oneself hydrated at this time of year – and throughout the summer – takes on added importance when the temperatures soar and then stay there. Although I like plain water (yes, I’m weird like that) recently I’ve been experimenting with making my own agua frescas, simple blended and strained fruit and water with a little sugar added. That’s all fine and dandy, but when you’re out and about, sweatin’ up a storm, what’s a girl to do? Check out these non-alcoholic drinks and find your own favorite.
I’ll admit it, I’m an iced coffee kind-of-a-gal; no shame in that. This was never an issue till I moved to Mazatlán, where, apparently, the kind of iced coffee I’m used to – cold coffee or espresso over ice, with add-it-yourself milk or sugar – is a strange, bizarre and unknown thing. (The good part of this is I’ve learned a lot of Spanish trying to explain what I want in coffee shops and cafés all over town, but that’s beside the point.) There are a trio places that get it, though: Rico’s, Looney Bean and yes, the venerable Starbucks. Simple iced coffee, sans sprinkles, whip cream and condensed milk can be had, easily and inexpensively; gracias a Dios! Rico’s goes one step further in ensuring my continued love by offering an Espresso Fizz – fresh espresso poured over ice, with mineral water added. Coffee soda - yum!
Lunching with a friend at Altazor, the hip café and lounge tucked between the restaurants in the Plaza Machado, I inquired what his tall, cool, pink drink was; the rest, as they say, is history. While these liquados – basically simple fresh-fruit smoothies – come in several (or many) flavors, depending on the day, my personal favorite is the melón made with agua. The pale coral color is refreshing just to look at, and topped with its own frothy foam, it’s delicious, thirst-quenching and thankfully non-alcoholic. All the liquados can be made with your choice of either leche (milk) or water, and one fruit or a mixture, and cost about the same as a soda. What’s not to love?!
La Cueva del Leon, the little Olas Altas café that could, won its first Mazzie Award for Best Margarita in Mazatlán – but if you can tear yourself away from those, there’s another delightful drink here. The Agua de la Cueva mixes strawberries, fresh lime juice, fresh mint and ice in the blender to make a refreshing, non-alcoholic bebida (beverage). It goes well with anything on the menu, but is equally satisfying all by its lonesome. Add a sunset and a friend or two, and you’re set.
My history with lemonade goes back a long way; I remember my mother making it from scratch, cutting and squeezing lemons into a glass pitcher at our summer cottage on Long Island. The aroma would fill the house, signaling all things good in my then-child’s life. So drinking made-from-frozen-concentrate lemonade, or even worse, made-from-powdered-mix lemonade is something I’ve avoided like the plague. (If this makes me a lemonade snob, so be it.) In Mazatlán, it’s easier than ever to make your own, what with fresh limónes available year-round, for just pennies. Why fresh lemonade is not more widely available at local restaurants I don’t understand, but hey! What I have discovered, though, is that limonada made with agua mineral instead of agua natural will be less sickly-sweet and tons more refreshing. Try it and see.
Janet Blaser has been eating for a living and writing about it for 20 years. Send comments, suggestions, recommendations to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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