Summer Tailgating: How To Spike a Watermelon

Nothing reminds me more of my childhood growing up in the summer than the smell of a freshly cut piece of watermelon. Building on that memory, nothing reminds me more of tailgating baseball games (when I was 21, of course) in the summer than the smell of a piece of watermelon completely saturated in liquor. I would hate to deprive anyone of this summer tailgating rite of passage so I am passing along to you an easy guide on How to Spike a Watermelon.

1. Get yourself a medium sized, seedless watermelon. Next, using a pairing knife, cut a round hole in one of the side walls of the watermelon. Do not cut too deep, just deep enough to clear the rind and to create a plug. Make sure to cut a round hole and not a square or a triangle because those shapes tend to cause your watermelon to crack.

2. Using a corkscrew, remove the plug from the watermelon and cut off or eat the pink flesh, leaving just the rind plug. Using a long handled spoon you would use to mix a glass of iced tea, scoop out some of the watermelon flesh. This creates a little bowl of sorts for your liquor to be poured into the watermelon. Three to five spoonfuls should do the trick.

3. Next, using a shish kabob skewer, poke holes into the flesh at various angles to create channels for your liquor to flow. Think of your watermelon like Venice, Italy only with booze canals instead of trash infested sea water. Make sure to be careful when using the skewers. You do not want to poke too far and go through the rind on the other side.

4. Time to put the booze in. Pour about one (1) cup of your favorite liquor in the hole. If you are tailgating a Jimmy Buffett or Kenny Chesney concert, Malibu Rum or Parrot Bay is always a nice choice. Any 80 proof will do and I would recommend staying away from the Everclear. When pouring the booze in, you may have to pour it slowly and take a few breaks to let it settle and soak into the watermelon.

5. Now, locate the plug you set aside and replace it over the hole. Place the watermelon in the refrigerator with the plug side facing up. You can wrap the plug portion of the watermelon with plastic wrap when transporting it to the tailgate party to keep the plug in place. Once parked, slice the watermelon as you normally would and serve it up. If there are kids around make sure you bring a second watermelon and keep those slices separated from the “adult slices”.

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