• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
A Nerd Cooks
  • Recipe Index
  • Outside of the Kitchen
    • A Nerd Travels
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Me
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Margarita Recipes
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • Margarita Recipes
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
×

Home » Cocktails » Vodka

Watermelon Crush

Apr 19, 2023 by Lauren Pacek · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I love it when you share my recipes!

11 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Yummly
  • Flipboard
  • Mix
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This Watermelon Crush cocktail is so perfect for warm weather sipping. It gets its gorgeous color and amazing flavor from fresh watermelon juice.

Crush cocktails are super popular in the DMV area of the United States. Orange Crush is the OG variety, but you can find crushes in a number of flavors. Check out my Key Lime Pie Crush, Grapefruit Crush, and Orange Creamsicle Crush for a few examples.

two tall glasses with crushed ice, filled with watermelon crush cocktail
Jump to:
  • 🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
  • 💭 What is a Watermelon Crush?
  • 📝 Ingredients
  • 👩🏻‍🍳 How to make a Watermelon Crush
  • 🔗 More Crush cocktails
  • 🔗 More vodka cocktail recipes
  • ❓ FAQs
  • 🖤 Share your creations and follow me on social media!
  • ✨ Recipe
  • 📌 Pin this recipe for later!

🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe

It's made with fresh ingredients. Fresh juices make for the most delicious drinks.
It tastes great. It's sweet, a little tart, and fizzy. In short, it's perfection.
It's gorgeous. I mean, look at that color! 😍

💭 What is a Watermelon Crush?

According to Punch, a Crush cocktail gets its name from "the swift yanking of an industrial press juicer that flattens fresh orange halves, sending frothy OJ plummeting into a pint glass filled with ice, vodka and triple sec." As the description may lead you to realize, orange is the original flavor.

At its most basic, a Crush is made up of vodka (sometimes plain, sometimes flavored), triple sec (sometimes), fresh fruit juice, and crushed ice. Crushes come in a wide variety of flavors: grapefruit, lemonade, pineapple, orange creamsicle, key lime pie... the list goes on. Basically, if you can dream, you can crush it.

A Watermelon Crush, as you might guess, is made with fresh watermelon juice. It's a really delicious, beautiful (look at the color!) variation on the classic Crush.

📝 Ingredients

You only need a handful of ingredients to make this cocktail. They're pictured and described below. Let's go through them!

ingredients for making a watermelon crush cocktail
  • Watermelon (juice): I highly recommend making your own watermelon juice. The bottled stuff that you can buy in the store just isn't the same. All you need to do is take some fresh watermelon and run it through a food processor or blender, then strain out the solids. That's it! You've made fresh watermelon juice!
  • Lime juice: Freshly squeezed, please!
  • Vodka: Crushes are vodka-based cocktails. I used a plain vodka, but you could use watermelon-flavored vodka if you have some and that's your jam. You don't have to use anything too too spendy, but make sure that you like the vodka that you're using.
  • Lemon lime soda: Use your favorite lemon lime soda. As you can see in the photo, I went with Sprite.

👩🏻‍🍳 How to make a Watermelon Crush

A Crush cocktail gets built right in your glass. First, you'll want to start out with a tall glass filled with crushed ice.

two tall glasses filled with crushed ice, sitting on a gold drink tray

Next, add the watermelon juice, lime juice, and vodka to the glass.

watermelon juice being poured into a tall glass filled with crushed ice

After that, top everything off with lemon lime soda.

Sprite being poured into a tall glass with crushed ice that's partially filled with watermelon juice

Next, make sure to give the drink a gentle stir with a bar spoon. And that's it! You can garnish your drink with fresh mint and/or some fresh watermelon, if you're feeling fancy.

two tall glasses with crushed ice, filled with watermelon crush cocktail

🔗 More Crush cocktails

I have a few more Crush cocktails on this site, too! You can click on any of the photos below to be taken to the recipe.

  • two key lime pie crush cocktails with straws
    Key Lime Pie Crush
  • Orange Creamsicle Crush | A Nerd Cooks
    Orange Creamsicle Crush
  • Grapefruit Crush Cocktail | A Nerd Cooks
    The Grapefruit Crush

🔗 More vodka cocktail recipes

Looking for more cocktails made with vodka? Click on the photos below to go straight to other delicious vodka cocktails on this site.

  • a nick and nora glass with raspberry martini in it on a gold tray
    Raspberry Martini
  • two copper mugs with cranberry moscow mules
    Cranberry Moscow Mule
  • two stemless champagne flutes on a gold serving tray, full of french 76 cocktails, one with a cherry at the bottom of the flute
    French 76
  • three white tea shots on a brown wooden tray
    White Tea Shot
  • three shot glasses, each with gummy bear shot in it
    Gummy Bear Shot
  • a nearly head on view of 2 coupe glasses full of lavender martinis
    Lavender Martini
  • a glass of strawberry lemonade vodka cocktail garnished with mint
    Strawberry Lemonade Vodka Cocktail
  • head on view of 2 glasses of vodka collins
    Vodka Collins

❓ FAQs

What is a Crush cocktail?

It's a cocktail made up of vodka, triple sec (sometimes), fresh fruit juice, and crushed ice. It originates in the DMV area (where Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia meet).

Do I have to use fresh watermelon juice?

I highly recommend it. Fresh juice is going to give you the best flavor. If you have to, you can use a store bought watermelon juice.

Can I batch this cocktail?

Since it gets built in the glass, it's a little hard to batch this drink. However, you can totally make a big batch of fresh watermelon juice to make the assembly process go quickly when making more than one drink.

two tall glasses with crushed ice, filled with watermelon crush cocktail

🖤 Share your creations and follow me on social media!

Subscribe to the A Nerd Cooks Newsletter to have updates sent straight to your inbox.

I love seeing when you share my recipes! Please tag me on Instagram @anerdcooks so I can enjoy them virtually with you! You can also find me on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

I'd love to know what you thought of this recipe! Don't forget to leave a comment and ⭐️ star rating below!

✨ Recipe

two tall glasses with crushed ice, filled with watermelon crush cocktail

Watermelon Crush

Lauren Pacek
This Watermelon Crush cocktail is perfect for warm weather sipping. It gets gorgeous color and amazing flavor from fresh watermelon juice.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 2 minutes mins
0 minutes mins
Total Time 7 minutes mins
Course Vodka
Cuisine American
Servings 1 cocktail
Calories 154 kcal

Equipment

  • Cocktail jigger
  • Collins glasses
  • Bar spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 2 ounces watermelon juice see notes
  • ½ ounce lime juice
  • 1.5 ounces vodka
  • 3 ounces lemon lime soda
  • fresh mint and/or fresh watermelon for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Add the watermelon juice, lime juice, and vodka to a tall glass filled with crushed ice.
  • Top with lemon lime soda.
  • Give everything a gentle stir with a bar spoon.
  • Garnish with fresh mint and/or fresh watermelon, if desired.

Notes

  • To make fresh watermelon juice, add cubed fresh watermelon to a blender or food processor. Blend/process until smooth. Strain the pureed watermelon through a fine mesh strainer. Store the watermelon juice in the fridge (should keep for a few days). As the juice sits, it will separate a bit. Just give everything a stir when you're ready to use it.

Nutrition

Calories: 154kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 0.5gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.01gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.03gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.02gSodium: 10mgPotassium: 81mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 330IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 8mgIron: 0.2mg

Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Keyword watermelon crush
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

📌 Pin this recipe for later!

pinterest pin for watermelon crush cocktail

More Drinks Made with Vodka

  • 2 coupe glasses full of cherry vodka sours.
    Cherry Vodka Sour
  • 2 coupe glasses with vodka sour cocktails in them
    Vodka Sour
  • 3 shot glasses full of pineapple upside down cake shots
    Pineapple Upside Down Cake Shot
  • backlit photo of two glasses filled with a light blue liquid and ice
    AMF Drink

I love it when you share my recipes!

11 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Yummly
  • Flipboard
  • Mix

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachel B

    April 27, 2023 at 9:55 pm

    Delicious! Made myself this recipe tonight and made my kiddo mocktails omitting the vodka! Super tasty!! Would like to try with white rum and gin!

    Reply
    • Lauren Pacek

      April 28, 2023 at 12:57 am

      I think rum or gin would be great in this drink, too! I'm so glad that you liked it!!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Lauren! I'm the recipe developer, photographer, and writer here at A Nerd Cooks. I'm a 30-something wife, mom, and scientist with a passion for mixing cocktails, brewing buzzy coffee drinks, and making other delicious beverages at home.

More about me →

Margarita Recipes

  • two short glasses filled with blood orange margaritas
    Blood Orange Margarita
  • a pitcher of margaritas
    Margarita Pitcher Recipe
  • two glasses of italian margaritas, rimmed with sugar
    Italian Margarita
  • 45 degree angle view of 2 glasses of pineapple margaritas
    Pineapple Margarita
  • 2 golden margaritas on a pink and green tile background
    Golden Margarita
  • three margaritas on a dark wooden background, a dish of lime wedges in the left rear
    Cadillac Margarita

See More Margarita Recipes →

Popular Recipes

  • three shot glasses with green tea shots
    Green Tea Shot
  • Homemade Sour Mix | A Nerd Cooks
    Homemade Sour Mix
  • backlit view of 3 dirty shirley cocktails
    Dirty Shirley
  • three white tea shots on a brown wooden tray
    White Tea Shot
  • three baby guinness shots, with liqueur bottles in background
    Baby Guinness Shot
  • close up, straight on view of small bowl of dark cherries in foreground, old fashioned cocktail and bottle of luxardo liqueur in background
    Homemade Luxardo Cherries

Copyright © 2023 A Nerd Cooks on the Foodie Pro Theme

11 shares