When I visit a taqueria, I prefer to drink Mexican Coke or mineral water with my meal. However, when outside temperatures and humidity lead to anguish—as they have this summer—only the sweet and colorful drinks known as aguas frescas (literally, “fresh waters”) can help cure the seasonal depression. To prepare the drinks, vendors muddle, blend, steep, and/or compress fruits such as watermelon or cucumber, or other ingredients like hibiscus flowers or rice. Then they mix the ingredients with water or another liquid and sugar to produce a cooling beverage.The aforementioned ingredients produce aguas frescas flavors sandía, pepino, jamaica (pronounced “ha-mai-kah”), and horchata, respectively. These drinks come in vibrant hues of pink, green, crimson, and cream, and those are just the standard colors. I’ve stopped in…The post Aguas Frescas Will Get You Through a Brutal Summer appeared first on Texas Monthly.