Aguas frescas

Two large jars of aguas frescas in a Mexican taqueria in Seattle, Washington, USA. On the left is a jar of Agua de Flor de Jamaica, and on the right is a jar of horchata. Restaurant employees serve the drinks by ladling them from the jars into glasses.

Chia seed agua fresca

Guava agua fresca

Aguas frescas (Spanish "cool waters") are a combination of fruits, cereals, flowers, or seeds blended with sugar and water to make light non-alcoholic beverages. They are popular in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Some of the more common flavors include tamarind, hibiscus, and agua de horchata.

Aguas frescas are sold principally by street vendors but can also be found in bodegas, restaurants and juice bars.

Terminology

There is some confusion in terms internationally between the drinks referred to here and bottled soft drinks. In Guatemala and Nicaragua, these are referred to as frescos, short for refresco, which in Mexico means soft drinks. Soft drinks in Guatemala are called aguas, short for aguas gaseosas, but easily confused with the Mexican aguas frescas.

Types

In Mexico and Central America, it is common to find aguas frescas in these flavors:

Sweet fruits

Sour fruits

Seeds or flowers

Chía, often blended with vegetables
Hibiscus tea, also called agua de Flor de Jamaica or sorrel, popular also in Jamaica and West Africa
Horchata, is a drink that originated in Spain out of chufa nuts and sugar. The drink was later introduced to the Caribbean and Latin America. Almost every Latin country has its version.
Alfalfa
Cebada