Agua de Zarzamora

the deep-purple blackberry agua fresca of the Mexican table: ripe zarzamoras blended with water, lime, and a little sugar, strained and served cold over ice

Origin: Mexico

From the journey of Blackberry.

The aguas frescas, the 'fresh waters' of Mexico, are the everyday soft drinks of the country: fruit, flowers, seeds, or grains blended with water and a little sugar and served cold over ice, poured from great glass barrel jars, the vitroleros, on market stalls and in fondas across the land. Agua de zarzamora, the blackberry water, is one of the most beautiful of them, a deep, glowing purple-magenta from the crushed wild brambles that grow through the highland woods of central Mexico and are gathered and grown for the fruit stand. It is nothing more than ripe blackberries blended briefly with water, sharpened with lime and sweetened just enough, then strained free of its seeds and served icy cold, but the result is one of the great thirst-quenchers, tart and deeply fruity and refreshing in the heat. Mexico has since become the world's foremost exporter of fresh blackberries, its Michoacán harvest sent north through the winter, but at home the zarzamora remains, first of all, the fruit of the agua fresca poured from the vitrolero on a hot afternoon.

Ingredients

Agua Fresca

400 g ripe blackberries (zarzamoras)
1.5 litres cold water
100 g caster sugar, or to taste
2 tbsp lime juice

To Serve

1 tray ice cubes, to serve

Method

Put the blackberries, the sugar, the lime juice, and about 500 ml of the water in a blender and blend until smooth.
Set a fine sieve over a large jug and pour the blended mixture through it, pressing the pulp with the back of a spoon to extract all the deep-purple juice. Discard the seeds and pulp left behind.
Stir the remaining 1 litre of cold water into the strained juice. Taste, and adjust with more sugar or lime as needed; it should be tart, fruity, and lightly sweet, not syrupy.
Chill well, or serve at once poured over plenty of ice in tall glasses. Stir before serving, as the drink may settle.

Notes

Frozen blackberries work perfectly and need only a brief thaw before blending. The sugar quantity is a guide; ripe summer fruit needs less, and some cooks leave it barely sweetened. For a fuller-bodied drink, a handful of the pulp can be left unstrained, though the classic agua is smooth and seedless. A splash of the blended purée also makes an excellent base for a paleta (ice lolly) or, with mineral water, a sparkling blackberry soda.

The Gastrographer

Name: Agua de Zarzamora
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Mexico
Ingredients: 400 g ripe blackberries (zarzamoras); 1.5 litres cold water; 100 g caster sugar, or to taste; 2 tbsp lime juice; 1 tray ice cubes, to serve

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control