The Cantaloupe Smash with rum, Aperol, lime, bitters, and rosemary.

My parents always had a garden when I was little, but they only grew a few things: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and cantaloupe.

We ate a ton of cantaloupe when I was a kid.

And I still love cantaloupe! It’s one of the few fruits that I truly enjoy. The rest of them are just too sweet, but cantaloupe is right there in the middle. It’s not too sweet, and it’s firm, and it feels good in the mouth.

So when Kroger had them for 99 cents each, I knew it was time to try a Cantaloupe Smash.

The Cantaloupe Smash Cocktail Recipe

Take a bit of cantaloupe, and put it in the bottom of a mixing glass. About four cubes of the stuff.

And now smash it.

Think Hulk here.

From Hollywood Nuts! at http://www.beingretro.com/2012/11/hulk-smash-and-meet-castcrew-of.html

Then add to the mixing glass:

• 1 1/2 oz Flor de Cana white rum
• 1 oz Aperol
• 1/2 oz lime
• 1/4 oz simple syrup
• 10 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake well with ice, and strain over crushed ice in a tall glass. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

You can try it without the rosemary, of course, but I highly recommend the combination. The rosemary and the cantaloupe work great together.

I admit, though, that this isn’t the best drink I have ever come up with it. I tried of ton of different stuff, and cantaloupe just doesn’t lend itself to cocktails that well. It’s the lack of sweetness that doesn’t work that well, I think. Therefore, I had to add simple syrup.

But it’s still good, and the group I made them for enjoyed them, or at least they told me they did. And when cantaloupe is on sale for $1 again, you can bet I will be experimenting again.

Hmm, maybe cantaloupe mixed with pineapple juice?

Not sure about that, either.