What To Do with an Overripe Melon: Cantaloupe Agua Fresca

I know, I know, the best thing to drink is tap water.  It costs basically nothing and it has no calories.  I try to get enthusiastic about it but I really can't.  I like my drinks to have a little flavor and sweetness.

There's a Filipino melon drink that's called ... melon drink.  That's what I've always called it, anyway.  It's just grated cantaloupe mixed with water or milk and sugar to taste.

I made it the other day with one very overripe melon whose texture was starting to get mushy, and then realized if I strain out the less than appetizing solids, I end up with perfectly yummy cantaloupe aqua fresca. Agua fresca is just a cold drink made of water and sugar mixed with some kind of fruit, herb, cereal, or seeds.  And because the melon was so ripe, it didn't even need all that much sugar to sweeten it up. 

The result was sweet and delicious and refreshing, and I couldn't even tell that the cantaloupe had been right on the edge of edibleness.