Charlotte Smith-Jarvis' fruity Latin American drink is ideal for quenching your thirst this summer.

I think we can all agree it's been scorchio recently! I've been preparing my house for sale so spent half term not entertaining my kids but giving the shed a lick of paint, and scrubbing greasy handprints off the walls. While my hubby would have loved a few bevvies of the alcoholic variety during his mass glossing sessions, to get us through hours and hours of painting I turned my hand to something more exotic – and a darn sight cheaper – agua fresca.

Served all over Mexico, central America and the Caribbean, this infused water is pressed with flowers, fruits, cereals, sugar and water, and is so mouth-wateringly refreshing.

I even like horchata, which is made with ground rice and usually cinnamon, but admit I won't be trying the Valencian version, consisting of tiger nuts because, well, they're for fishing aren't they?

I've used pineapple here because I happened to have a couple in the fridge, but make this with mango and lime, papaya, even strawberries during Wimbledon. It's less calorific than squash but the flavours really do shine through.

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Pineapple agua fresca

(serves four)

Ingredients

1 medium pineapple, peeled and cored, 70g caster sugar, 4.5 cups chilled filtered water, lime juice to taste

Method

Place the pineapple, sugar and half a cup of water in a food processor or blender and blitz until smooth and frothy. Sieve into a jug and get rid of any pulp. Pour into a serving jug and add the other four cups of water. Squeeze in a little lime to sharpen if you like. Chill until very very cold and serve over ice.