Hwachae Is the Perfect Camping Cool-Down

Food and camping content creator Sophia Kim first made hwachae after seeing it all over TikTok. “I knew it would be fun to make it while we were out there camping,” Kim says of the Korean fruit punch, which she and her friends mixed together on a warm day in Big Sur. It’s hard to look away from the resulting video — and from HwachaeTok in general, with its big bowls of pastel-pink liquid full of fruit and jellies bobbing around like kids at the beach. Stir the mixture on cam, as many creators do, and the clink of the ice cubes offers instant ASMR. 

Accordingly, hwachae, which is a popular summer treat in Korea, has seen a sharp increase in recent years. Fans call it a hangover cure, a solution for dehydration (as the TikTok trend goes), or even just a sweet way to cool down when it’s hot or you’ve been exerting yourself, hence why hwachae is so appealing for picnics or camping trips. While the watermelon variation, also known as subak hwachae, is the most popular online, there are many kinds of hwachae, including the citrus-infused yuja hwachae and the Schisandra berry-flavored omija hwachae. The basic formula is cold fruit and a chilled sweet liquid — often, this means a fizzy soda, a milky drink, or a combination of the two — but the possibilities expand to suit the tastes of whoever’s having it. 

To make their hwachae, Kim and her friends started with a big watermelon, which served as both the main ingredient and the serving bowl. After hollowing out the watermelon — don’t forget big spoons, Kim warns; as she learned, carving a watermelon with small plastic spoons is no fun — they added strawberries, bananas, the rest of the watermelon cut into small chunks, and cubes of coconut jelly. Then, they poured in Sprite, milky strawberry Calpico, and Yakult, the sweet-tart probiotic drink. Making it provides “a fun, interactive activity that you can all do together,” Kim says.

Andrew and SunAh Lee, who run the camping-focused YouTube channel TheSilkCharter and often make hwachae while camping, have a comparatively minimalist approach: just watermelon, condensed milk, strawberry milk, and 7-Up. The way the watermelon soaks up the milk is “super refreshing,” they say, especially after a long day of setting up camp.

One reason hwachae is suited to communal meals, like on group camping trips, is its customizability and convenience. Canned fruit, for example, can be swapped in for easy packing before a camping trip, or taking some cues from TikTok, you might consider using smaller portions of assorted fruit from the grocery store’s pre-cut section to avoid having to do prep on-site, while also cutting down on food waste.

Of course, this also opens up the option of a potluck approach. “I love these communal potluck [dishes] where everyone brings one ingredient,” says Jessica Wang, a baking creator who recently hosted a hwachae potluck. Unlike the energy of organizing a meal for a group, “everyone just has to bring one component and I feel like that’s a lot easier for people,” Wang says. The most fun addition to her hwachae potluck? Melona popsicle bars, which melted slowly in the fizzy milk.