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To me, there’s nothing quite as delicious in the summer than a sweet, juicy slice of watermelon. Not surprisingly, I have the fruit in my fridge all summer long.

For the most part, that watermelon is for munching — with, and in between, breakfast, lunch and dinner. But on a sweltering day a few weeks ago, I started experimenting with it in cocktails. If watermelon is the ideal snack for a hot summer’s day, I thought, wouldn’t it be just as refreshing in a cocktail? It is, and it turns out that watermelon goes well with a wide range of spirits including pisco, gin, rum, tequila and even bourbon.

The easiest way to use watermelon cocktails is the old-school, carve a hole in the watermelon, pour booze in and let it soak for a couple days approach, said mixologist Adam Seger. While the approach may bring to mind a frat house lawn (as it does to me), you can class it up by using amaro as your booze of choice to create a complex aperitif — eaten in chunks or pureed in a drink — for a party, Seger said.

But with limited space in my fridge and two young boys unlikely to understand why their favorite fruit might be off-limits, that wasn’t really an option for me.

So I’ve taken a different approach by adding watermelon to some of my favorite simple cocktails, like a whiskey sour (particularly with the maple syrup and lime juice combination that Nick Kindelsperger wrote about earlier this year), gin gimlets and margaritas. Each time the watermelon has added another, dare I say, summery note to the cocktail and reminded me that the hot summer days won’t last much longer.

But before you start doing the same, a few words of warning. Watermelon is, ahem, watery. In other words, when making a cocktail with watermelon, it’s simple to water it down, making a lackluster drink without realizing it. Of course, there’s a simple — and effective — solution: Chill all your ingredients. That way you don’t need much ice.

Secondly, while watermelon is delicious and amazingly refreshing, it can easily get lost in the mix. So don’t try to do too much. Just keep it simple.

Zak Stambor is a freelance writer.

Watermelon whiskey sour

4 to 5 watermelon chunks (in 1-inch cubes)

1 ounce fresh lime juice

1 ounce maple syrup

2 ounces wheated bourbon

Fill a cocktail shaker with watermelon. Muddle the fruit, then add lime juice, maple syrup, bourbon and ice. Shake well, then strain into a rocks glass.

Watermelon gin gimlet

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4 to 5 watermelon chunks (in 1-inch cubes)

3/4 ounce fresh lime juice

3/4 ounce simple syrup

2 ounces gin

Fill a cocktail shaker with watermelon. Muddle the fruit, then add lime juice, simple syrup, gin and ice. Shake well, then strain into a glass. Garnish with lime, if you like.

Watermelon margarita

4 to 5 watermelon chunks (in 1-inch cubes)

1 ounce fresh lime juice

2 ounces blanco tequila

1 ounce Cointreau

Simple syrup, to taste

Fill a cocktail shaker with watermelon and lime juice. Macerate the watermelon, about 30 minutes. Then add tequila, Cointreau and simple syrup. Shake well, then strain into a cocktail glass.

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