Last Updated on February 17, 2022 by Anne-Marie

A refreshing vodka watermelon cocktail made with sparkling white wine and St. Germain. The best fresh watermelon cocktail for summer!

Why this recipe works

This Sparking Savannah Vodka Watermelon Cocktail is a super refreshing drink to enjoy when it's warm out.

You’ll love the taste of the watermelon juice and how well it blends with the flavors of sparkling wine and St. Germain elderflower liqueur.

The vodka and lemon juice gives this summer time cocktail drink a nice kick, too.

Why a vodka watermelon cocktail?

Wanting to make fresh watermelon cocktails for summer, I thought back to a trip my husband and I made to Savannah, Georgia.

After a long day of touring the historic district, we’d arrive early to the restaurant to have a cocktail at the bar, relax, and people watch.

One of the popular St. Germain liqueur cocktail recipes I tried was a French 77, a vodka cocktail made with sparkling wine and St. Germain, a French elderflower liqueur.

It was among my favorite vodka summer cocktails that year.

Now that summer is here, I wanted to recreate that vodka summer cocktail, but with a Georgia watermelon twist. Thus this refreshing vodka watermelon cocktail was born!

A vodka watermelon cocktail for warm summer evenings

Watermelon has a high water content, so it’s the ideal fruit juice for making vodka based cocktail recipes. However, when you purée the fruit, it’s filled with pulp.

The pulp makes your cocktail cloudy and it sticks to the side of the glass. Not pretty and a pain to clean!

So when making fresh watermelon cocktails, you’ll need to strain the watermelon juice through a fine mesh strainer several times.

(Save the pulp for smoothies or to mix in with your morning yogurt.)

One watermelon will give you around two gallons of juice for your watermelon vodka cocktail recipes. Since you only need 4 ounces per fresh watermelon cocktail recipe, don’t puree the entire melon.

Instead, use a quarter of the watermelon to make fresh watermelon cocktail recipes.

The rest of the watermelon can be used in a Asian Citrus Watermelon Salad.

Don’t throw out the rinds! Keep them to make Spicy Watermelon Rind Pickles.

Tips to make the ideal sparkling wine and vodka watermelon cocktail

I wanted to keep my Sparkling Savannah Vodka Watermelon cocktail cold for sipping this summer without adding ice, which would only dilute it.

Inspired, I created a batch of frozen watermelon balls to add to glasses to keep this vodka watermelon cocktail recipe cold.

Using a melon baller, scoop out balls of watermelon then freeze. Using chilled ingredients and placing your glasses in the freezer for 30 minutes before making drinks, will help, too!

I made my Sparkling Savannah Vodka Watermelon Cocktails with vino frizzante, which is a lightly sparkling Italian white wine.

You can use a non-fizzy white wine if you like in this vodka watermelon cocktail recipe.

Or use your favorite sparkling wine such as a vino spumante.

Experiment, have fun and try a few different kinds of wine. It’s totally up to you!

Do you love using colorful straws in your watermelon cocktail drinks?

This Sparking Savannah Vodka Watermelon Cocktail is the perfect drink for sipping through a straw, so use one – or two!

More refreshing summer cocktails

Enjoy fresh watermelon cocktails?

Then you’ll have to try my Fruit Stand Watermelon Cocktail, a watermelon drink with peach whiskey and lime, too!

You may like a Prosecco Mimosa Recipe for a brunch time celebration.

If you like kombucha, try this Meyer Lemon Shrub Drink recipe.

Or try this Peach Whiskey Cocktail, which features frozen peaches and peach flavored whiskey.

Cool down with these Frozen Wine Cocktails.

Originally posted on July 27, 2016. Updated with new pictures and information.