Cucumber Gin Cooler
For this recipe I use Bombay Sapphire gin, mainly because I’ll stick with the devil I know. I love the juniper berry notes in gin, and while I’d love to know more about the spirit, sadly I’m the only gin drinker in my house, so a collection seems useless. That being said…Friends, send me your gin recommendations.
I use a Vitamix blender for the cucumber juice in this recipe. Any high-powered blender would work. And while I don’t own a juicer machine (hint, hint…birthday gift), I assume that would work beautifully as well. Just make sure to incorporate the mint leaves dispersed between the chucks of cucumber if you go the juicer route.
The green cucumber juice base is delicious on its own. I suppose you could add sparking water and serve it as a mocktail or family-friendly drink. Just make sure to save plenty for the gin!
Yield 1 low-ball cocktail with ice
Ingredients
2 ounces of cucumber lime juice, recipe below
½-1 ounce of lime juice, as needed
2 ounces of gin
1-2 ounces of sparkling water*
Garnish: fresh mint sprig or a kaffir lime leaf (these are available in most ethnic or large grocery stores and make for a lovely extra touch).
Method
Pour all ingredients into a low-ball glass filled with ice. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig.
*Note on measuring: when you make this drink don’t worry about precisely measuring your sparking water. Start with 1 ounce, which is equal to 2 tablespoons, and essentially a “big glug”. If it’s too boozy add another glug.
Cucumber Lime Juice
Yield approximately 2 cups of juice
Ingredients
1 large English cucumber, aka Hot House cucumber
2-3 limes, juiced (this should give you 2 ounces of juice)
1 ounce of light agave syrup
5 leaves of fresh mint
Method
Peel the cucumber removing half of the green skin. I do this by peeling stripes down the entire length of the cucumber. The remaining skin will give the juice a beautiful green color. Using all of the skin in the puree gives the juice an almost too-dark algae-like color.
Puree all ingredients in a blender until pulverized into a liquid. This will take a little starting/stopping and moving the contents around in the blender’s pitcher to get this going. Once the mixture is pulverized, pour into a fine mesh sieve (a fine strainer) over a bowl. Use a rubber spatula or scraper to gently press solids, and strain out as much liquid as possible.
Transfer liquid to a clean airtight container and keep in the fridge until ready to use. If not planning to use within 6 hours, store in the freezer until cocktail time, to prevent discoloration. To defrost, leave out on the counter for 1 hour. Do not defrost in the microwave, as bitterness can occur.
