NYC’s Most Ridiculous (and Refreshing) Watermelon Drinks

Sure, you can beat the heat by buying cubed watermelon at the bodega, but that’s so basic. Here’s how to get your watermelon fix and be extra. 

Ladle soju punch from a watermelon
At Pocha 32, 15 W 32nd St # 2, Koreatown.
Pocha 32, a second-floor pub hidden away in Koreatown, would be worth the trip even if it didn’t use hollowed-out watermelons as punch bowls. Notes written on chopstick wrappers hang from the fishnet that covers the walls and ceiling, and oil drums serve as tables. It’s a festive place for dipping a ladle into a watermelon and helping yourself to a frothy mixture of ice, soju, Sprite, and fruit puree. This is a lot of drank even for two people to share, but you can always sneak the leftovers into the Vivi lightbulb jar below.

Sip watermelon slush from a lightbulb
At Vivi Bubble Tea, 30 3rd Ave., East Village. 
The corner of Third Avenue and East Ninth Street is a twilight zone of novelty drinking vessels. First off, there’s the coffee in a cone at Frisson Espresso. It’s fun, but kind of a mess. If you tilt the chocolate-lined cone the wrong way or take too big a bite, you’ve got a macchiato shot all over your Gucci shirt. That’s why you’ll want to opt instead for Vivi Bubble Tea, a couple doors down. They blend chunks of watermelon and pour the slush into plastic jars shaped like lightbulbs. Yes, lightbulbs, right down to the screw-off socket. The watermelon slush tastes very fresh, and you can add tapioca balls to make it extra exotic.

Slurp a watermelon freeze with candy seeds in it
At Taco Bell, 18 East 14th St., Union Square.
Not gonna lie: Taco Bell’s new watermelon freeze is a bit of an abomination. It’s made with carbonated water, so it’s a bit fizzier than Vivi’s slush, and it tastes a lot like Mr. Bubbles (you won’t find watermelon anywhere on the ingredients list). But one thing makes this Slurpee-esque concoction addictive: It comes with faux watermelon seeds that are a delight to chew. The candy seeds are artificially flavored with who knows what; to me they taste a little chocolatey. There’s just one problem: You have to go to a Taco Bell that a) has a frozen drink machine, and b) has the seeds. The Taco Bell off of the Flushing M does not have a frozen drink machine. The Taco Bell on Myrtle, in Ridgewood, does have a frozen drink machine but there were no seeds in the one I tried there. The Taco Bell in Union Square will hook you up.