Cucumber Cooler
Cucumber, elderflower and soda - the quietest drink here.
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 24 slices Cucumber - Unwaxed if you can find it, and cut thin
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Lime juice
- 150 ml Jigger Three large sides (3 x 50 ml) of a standard jigger. Elderflower cordial
- 720 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 720 ml line. Soda water
- 6 ribbons Cucumber ribbon (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Press the cucumber with the lime, add cordial and ice, then top with soda.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 960 ml of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Press the cucumber slices in the bottom of a highball glass with the lime juice - a gentle push, not a grind.
- Add the elderflower cordial and fill the glass with ice.
- Top with soda water and stir once, from the bottom, to bring the cucumber up.
- Finish with a ribbon of cucumber down the inside of the glass.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Cucumber Cooler
There is a family of drinks built on cucumber, elderflower and soda that has quietly replaced the gin and tonic in a lot of gardens, and it is not hard to see why - it is cold, floral and barely sweet, which is the description of almost nothing else in this book. The trick is to keep it savoury: cucumber is a vegetable, and the drink is best when it tastes like one.
Getting it right
Press the cucumber rather than crushing it; shredded cucumber goes cloudy and bitter in a way that a bruised slice does not. Elderflower cordial varies enormously in strength from brand to brand, so start with 150ml and add more only if the drink tastes thin. And use soda water rather than lemonade or tonic: the point of the drink is that it stays dry. A stalk of mint in the glass does no harm at all.
Tasting notes
Green, cool and delicately floral, with the lime holding the whole thing together. It is the drink to make for somebody who says they do not like sweet drinks.