🍈 Kharbooza

Honeydew juice, rice vinegar, mint & elderflower — Rania D.C.

10 min
Melon & Floral
Coupe or rocks glass
Rania, Washington D.C.
0% ABV
Ingredients
  • 120ml fresh honeydew juice (blended & strained from ¼ honeydew)
  • 20ml Komezu (Japanese rice vinegar) or mild white wine vinegar
  • 30ml elderflower cordial
  • 8 fresh mint leaves
  • 10ml lime juice
  • Ice
  • Wasabi foam: 30ml coconut cream + ¼ tsp wasabi paste, whipped until foamy
  • Thin honeydew slice & mint tip to garnish
Method
  1. 1
    Blend juiceBlend ¼ honeydew with 2 tbsp water until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve. Measure out 120ml.
  2. 2
    MuddleIn a shaker, muddle mint leaves with elderflower cordial.
  3. 3
    BuildAdd honeydew juice, Komezu, and lime juice. Fill with ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds.
  4. 4
    StrainDouble-strain into a chilled coupe or ice-filled rocks glass.
  5. 5
    FoamWhisk together coconut cream and wasabi paste until lightly foamy. Spoon over the surface of the drink.
  6. 6
    GarnishFloat a thin slice of honeydew and a sprig of mint through the foam.

About This Drink

Kharbooza (khar-BOO-za) is the Persian and Hindi word for melon — here cantaloupe, but Rania uses honeydew for its more delicate sweetness. This Spirit-Free drink is built on a framework borrowed from fine-dining cocktail theory: fruit juice structured by Komezu (a mild Japanese rice vinegar) for acidity, elderflower cordial for floral depth, and muddled fresh mint for aromatics. The wasabi foam garnish is the trick: it delivers a sharp green heat on the first sip that mellows as the honeydew and elderflower take over. Chef RJ Cooper's team designed it to mimic the experience of a complex sake cocktail without the alcohol.

Bartender Tips

Komezu is lighter and sweeter than regular rice wine vinegar — find it in Asian grocery stores. If unavailable, use ½ tsp regular rice vinegar diluted in 20ml water. The wasabi foam intensity can be adjusted; start with ⅛ tsp if you want a subtler effect. Chill your glass before serving — honeydew juice warms quickly.

Origin
Restaurant
Rania, Washington D.C.
Origin
Persian/South Asian-inspired D.C. fine dining
Flavour
Melon & Floral · Medium
Related
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Where to drink this
Restaurant
Rania
Address
Washington D.C.
Style
South Asian-influenced modern fine dining
Accolades
Washington D.C.'s top South Asian dining destination

Rania in Washington D.C. serves modern South Asian cuisine with a political capital's eye for precision and prestige. The mocktail programme is particularly celebrated — alcohol-free drinks built with the same depth and complexity as the cocktail list, using ingredients like rose, vetiver, cardamom, and mango to create drinks that hold their own at a high-end dinner table.

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