When you're looking for a perfect picnic cocktail that's both light and refreshing, turn towards a cucumber cocktail. Whether you find yours at your local farmer's market, or you pluck them right out of the garden in your backyard, cucumbers can be used to create a variety of uniquely flavored drinks. Check out these top ten cucumber cocktail recipes, each of which would be well suited to accompany your painstakingly arranged charcuterie board.
1. Garden Fresh Gin and Tonic
Cucumber and gin is a powerhouse pair; for example, try it in the eastside cocktail. Or, add it to a G&T. Take your regular gin and tonic up a notch by adding lemon, lime, and cucumber slices to the mix. A few fresh fruits can give just enough flavor to this classically demure drink.
Ingredients
- ¼ lemon, sliced
- ¼ lime sliced
- 4 cucumber slices
- 2 ounces gin
- Tonic water
Instructions
- In a chilled glass, add the lemon slices, lime slices, cucumber slices, and gin.
- Top with tonic water and stir.
2. Cucumber Caliente Cocktail
If you're looking for something a little spicier, look no further than this cucumber caliente cocktail. A bit of chili pepper adds just the right touch of heat to an otherwise cool drink to keep things interesting with every sip.
Ingredients
- ½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ ounce cucumber simple syrup
- 1 tablespoon chili flakes
- 2 ounces vodka
- Crushed Ice
- Club soda
- Cucumber, sliced long for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the lime juice, simple syrup, chili flakes, and cucumber vodka.
- Add ice and shake until chilled.
- Strain the mixture into a tall glass filled with crushed ice.
- Garnish with a few length-wise cut cucumbers.
3. Cucumber Melon Refresher
Cucumbers and melons have been a long-time winning flavor and scent combination, and this cucumber melon refresher proves exactly why the pairing has lasted all this time.
Ingredients
- ½ cup watermelon slices
- ½ cup cucumber slices
- 2 ounces vodka
- Splash water
Instructions
- In a chilled glass, gently muddle the cucumber and vodka slices.
- Top with vodka and a splash of water.
4. Cucumber Mojito
Mojitos have become increasingly popular in the past few years, and adding a few slices of cucumber to your regular recipe brings a little something extra to an already beloved drink.
Ingredients
- 10 mint leaves
- ½ cup cucumber
- ½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- ¾ ounce simple syrup
- 2 ounces white rum
- Ice
- Club soda
- Cucumber slices for garnish
- Mint leaves for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint leaves, cucumber, lime juice, simple syrup, and rum.
- Add ice and shake until chilled.
- Strain the mixture into a glass filled with ice.
- Top with club soda.
- Garnish with a cucumber slice and a few mint leaves.
5. Cucumber Raspberry Cocktail
Delightfully pink in hue and sweet in flavor, this cucumber raspberry cocktail will quench all of your summer thirsts.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce cucumber raspberry simple syrup
- ½ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 ounces vodka
- Ice
- Raspberry flavored water
- Cucumber, sliced long for garnish
- Raspberry for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the raspberry syrup, lemon juice, and cucumber vodka.
- Add ice and shake until chilled.
- Strain the mixture into a chilled glass.
- Top with raspberry flavored water.
- Garnish with a cucumber slice and raspberry.
6. Pink and Green Highball
This tart take on the classic Whiskey Highball substitutes ginger beer for pink lemonade and vodka for whiskey, throwing in a half of an ounce of cucumber simple syrup to round the recipe out. It's a classic cucumber voda drink nearly anyone will enjoy.
Ingredients
- ½ ounce cucumber simple syrup
- 1½ ounces vodka
- Ice
- Pink lemonade
- Cucumber slices for garnish
- Mint leaves for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the simple syrup and cucumber vodka.
- Add ice and shake until chilled.
- Strain the mixture into a chilled highball glass.
- Top with pink lemonade.
- Garnish with a few cucumber slices and mint leaves.
7. Cucumber Collins
For a quick twist on a Tom Collins, try this cucumber Collins recipe which adds cucumber melon seltzer to the mix.
Ingredients
- Cucumber ribbons for garnish
- 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 ounce simple syrup
- 2 ounces dry gin
- Cucumber melon seltzer
- Lemon slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a collins glass or something similar, add the cucumber ribbons, lemon juice, simple syrup, and gin.
- Top with cucumber melon seltzer and gently stir.
- Garnish with a lemon slice.
8. Roots 'n Cukes Martini
This artisanal martini takes the basic cucumber martini format and enriches it with beet root vodka, coriander, and sliced cucumbers.
Ingredients
- ½ ounce lime juice
- ¼ cup sliced cucumber
- Dash coriander
- 2 ounces beet root vodka
- Ice
- Cucumber slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle the lime juice and cucumbers.
- Combine the coriander and beet root vodka.
- Add ice and shake until chilled.
- Strain the mixture into a chilled martini glass.
- Garnish with a cucumber slice.
9. Veggie Mary
To mix a Veggie Mary, you only have to make a slight adjustment to your average Bloody Mary recipe - mix in a little cucumber syrup to the regular formula.
Ingredients
- Ice
- ¼ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ ounce cucumber syrup
- 2-3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 3-4 dashes tobacco hot sauce
- Pinch black pepper
- Pinch salt
- 4 ounces tomato juice
- 2 ounces vodka
- Celery stick for garnish
- Cucumber slices for garnish
Instructions
- Combine the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, black pepper, salt, tomato juice, and cucumber vodka in a Boston shaker or pint glass.
- Roll the drink by pouring the mixture back and forth between each side of the Boston shaker or two pint glasses until all the ingredients are well mixed.
- Pour the mixture into a highball glass filled with ice.
- Garnish with a celery stick and a few cucumber slices.
10. Vegetable Garden Rum and Coke
An unusual combination that works really well for when you've only got a little time on your hands, the vegetable garden rum and coke takes a two-ingredient drink, and adds a bit of the bounty from your garden's harvest to complicate the expected flavor.
Ingredients
- Ice
- 2-3 cherries
- 5-6 cucumber slices
- 1½ ounces rum
- Cherry cola
- Mint sprig for garnish
Instructions
- In a collins glass filled with ice, combine the cherries, cucumber slices, and rum.
- Top with cherry cola and stir.
- Garnish with a mint sprig.
Ways to Garnish a Cucumber Cocktail
Given that cucumbers have a myriad of ways that they can be sliced and presented, garnishing a cucumber cocktail is incredibly easy. You don't even have to incorporate a cucumber into your final look if you don't want to, but since most of these cocktails already require this fresh ingredient, you have a great opportunity to use up the surplus. Here's a few of the different ways you can garnish a cucumber cocktail:
- Thinly slice the cucumber into easily manipulated ribbons; you can spear these ribbons onto a cocktail sword for a lovely addition or toss them into a clear glass to create a dynamic drink.
- Regular cucumber slices work well as garnishes when they're placed on the rims of various cocktail glasses.
- Take the opportunity to add small slices of other fresh fruits or vegetables to create a colorful array on top of your drink.
- Rim your cocktail with ground spices and herbs for a unique finish.
- Similarly, you can toss a sprinkling of these spices and herbs directly on top of your finished drink.
Choose Fresh Ingredients for the Freshest Taste
As with delicious dinner platters and baked goods, the best tasting cocktails use the freshest ingredients available. Thus, when you're making a cucumber cocktail, you want to gravitate towards organic cucumbers as they'll lend the purest cucumber taste to a drink. Don't limit yourself to only the conventional cucumber options either; petite cucumbers, seedless cucumbers, and even pickles can all be used to create mouth-watering drinks for you and your friends to enjoy.
