Happy St. Patrick’s Day! For those of you, like me, who don’t want green beer or Irish cream to celebrate the day, here’s a delicious green cocktail for you to toast with!
No, this has nothing to do with the Pepino melon I featured on my first New Flora post. In that post, however, I did mention that “pepino” is Spanish for cucumber. So that must be why a great bar near me has a cucumber and gin drink called “El Pepino.”
This is a super simple drink – cucumber juice, gin, and a tiny bit of sweetener. I don’t think the drink from the restaurant had any sweetener in it, and very little cucumber juice. Since I’m a lightweight, I decided to make this a little more drinkable. And greener!
serves 1
1/2 English cucumber (or 3 small Persian cucumbers)
1.5 oz gin
1 t agave (or as much as you want)
Juice the cucumber. I love how this turns out because the color of fresh cucumber juice is just ridiculously pretty. No – there’s no food dye here!
If you don’t have a juicer, I saw a trick on TV that should produce the same result (but I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t guarantee): shred the cucumber, then place the shreds in a strainer over a bowl. Sprinkle cucumber shreds with just a little pinch of salt (it’ll help draw out the moisture, but you don’t want your drink tasting salty), and wait while the cucumber juice drains into the bowl.
Mix all ingredients in a martini shaker filled with ice. Garnish with extra cucumber slices.
How festive is that?!
Nutrition facts: Calories: 154; Calories from Fat: 2; Total Fat: 0.2g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 4mg; Total Carbohydrates: 10.8g; Dietary Fiber: 0.8g; Sugars: 7.8g; Protein: 1.0g
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