Cucumber Martini

Happy Cinco de Mayo to you!  How many of you are in an area that celebrates it?  My husband bartends at a Mexican restaurant, so he will be up to his elbows in margaritas all night tonight.  So I thought today would be fitting to share a little drink I finally perfected at home a few weeks back: my Cucumber Martini!

I shared this recipe with the readers over at Chic on Shoestring Decorating last month.  It’s getting to be deck weather here, and this is a great drink for entertaining.  It will be even better when everyone’s gardens are cranking out cucumbers… mmm. :)

I enjoy beverages that are off-the-beaten-path.  I especially like original martinis, and this one, I am proud to say is *truly* original.  There are certainly variations out there – I didn’t invent the whole idea, or anything – but this recipe came from our house!

I will give you the recipe first, and then I’ll walk you through a little bit of the prep.  There are a few things you’ll have to make before you can mix it up, but they are quick things and can be done well ahead of time, so that all you need to do when your guests arrive is shake up a couple and relax!

Adrianne’s Cucumber Martini

• 1.5 oz. vodka
• 1 oz. triple sec
• 1 oz. simple syrup
• 1 oz. cucumber juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice

If you’re new to the world of specialty martinis… welcome!  There is one ingredient that pops up a lot, and that’s simple syrup.  Simple syrup is equal parts of sugar and water (I make my batches one cup of each at a time), heated in a saucepan on low heat, until the sugar dissolves.  It takes about 5 minutes to make a small batch of simple syrup – your sugar will dissolve before your water comes to a boil.  I didn’t photograph this step because I had some on-hand, but if you’d like photographs of a syrup I made recently to see how it looks once the sugar dissolves, you can visit my post about the lemon-basil gimlet.

Perhaps you’re wondering about how in the world you’re going to juice a cucumber.  You’ll need a blender or a food processor for this step – to my knowledge, you can’t just buy this as an ingredient.

Wash your cucumber well, and cut off a few slices to set aside for your garnish.  Then, peel what’s left and cut it into chunks (this will make it easier for your food processor to handle).

Puree it.  You want it as close to liquefied as possible.  You may find that adding a tablespoon or so of water makes this process go more smoothly.  Then, you’ll strain your puree to remove anything solid.  Place your strainer over a bowl (I used a measuring cup and my small strainer) and spoon your puree into the strainer.  You can press down on the puree to squeeze as much juice as possible out – if a bit of pulp comes through, that’s okay.  Any pulp small enough to fit through your strainer will be fine.

I managed to get a little over 4 oz. of juice from one large cucumber, after I reserved 4 slices for garnishing, which is enough for 4 drinks.

Simple sugar lasts in the frig for months in a sealed container.  I just use a Mason jar for mine.  I’m not sure about the cucumber juice; I try to use fresh ingredients like this within three days.  But you can certainly prepare these ahead of time to save yourself the work later.

Now, the presentation for martinis is half the fun, really.  This drink is excellent with a sugared rim.  If you haven’t rimmed a glass before, the easiest way to do it is to rub it with fruit and dip it.  In our case – we are using cucumbers, so I rubbed it with a cucumber slice:

And then dipped the rim in a small mound of sugar.

Now, to shake it up.  For this, I really do advocate owning a shaker tin, though professional bartenders have been known to shake up drinks using two glasses stacked together.  I’m no pro, so I use my tin.

Fill your tin with ice.  This is how you’re going to chill your drink.  Now, measure your ingredients in.  I always recommend a top-shelf vodka when you’re making martinis.  Effen even makes a Cucumber Vodka that would be perfect here, but I used what we had in the house already.

Now just shake it up.  I always go by the rule that it’s shaken enough as soon as my fingers get cold. ;)  Now pour it…

Then add your cucumber garnish, and enjoy poolside, deckside, or anywhere you plan to relax!