Gather all your fresh ingredients: cucumber, pineapple, lime, ginger, mint, and water. Wash the cucumber and mint leaves. Peel and core the pineapple, cutting it into chunks.

In a high-speed blender, combine cucumber chunks, pineapple pieces, fresh lime juice, peeled ginger, and mint leaves. Add cold water and blend on high for about 30 seconds until smooth.

Taste the mixture. If needed, add maple syrup for sweetness, starting with 1 tablespoon, and blend briefly.

To achieve smoothness, strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl or pitcher, pressing on the pulp to extract liquid.

Pour the filtered agua fresca into a pitcher filled with ice and chill for about 5-10 minutes.

Serve the chilled agua fresca in tall glasses over ice, garnished with fresh mint or a slice of cucumber.