Lemongrass and lime, finely chopped and squeezed over ice: that is how it all begins, sour and green, with the buzz of a Thai street market at noon. The heart is properly ripe, mango, peach and melon, sweet and soft like a smoothie sipped on a terrace under lazy ceiling fans.

At the end, pineapple and grapefruit keep things fresh and a little bitter, so it never turns syrupy. Light it in the kitchen while you cook something spicy, or on the balcony on July evenings when the air seems to stand still.