I recently reviewed the wonderful beverage book Shrubs by Michael Dietsch. [Click here to see the review.] A shrub is a combination of fruit or vegetable plus vinegar and sugar. The sugar is for, well, sweetness. The vinegar for preservation and when drunk to inspire salivation. Seriously.
Once your shrub is made, you can drink it in water, sparkling water, sparkling wine, or in a cocktail with some higher octane ingredient.
Cucumber and gin are marriage that will always be treasured by cocktail enthusiasts. In Shrubs, there is a recipe for this cucumber shrub you’ll find below and a note that this shrub is good with gin. Ah, but I’ve gone further here. You find Brian’s Cucumber Shrub, Mint Syrup and Gin cocktail. It’s refreshing with a kick. The vinegar in the shrub is offset by the mint syrup, and then the notes of the gin can just silently but decisively slip through.
If the temperature is over 80° you simply must give this a try. And, unlike many shrub recipes, this one can be made and used in just minutes.
For a review of Shrubs, please click here!
Cucumber Shrub
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients:
- 2 large cucumbers
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
Preparation:
Peel and seed the cucumbers. Cut into chunks. Put the chunks in a blender and process until totally pureed.
Pour the puree into sieve and let the liquid drain through into a bowl. Then using a spoon, press down on the residual solids to extract all the juice you can.
Put the sieved juice, the vinegars, the sugar and the salt, in jar or bottle. Shake to combine and refrigerate. Use cold for beverages.
Brian’s Cucumber Shrub, Mint Syrup and Gin Cocktail
Yield: scales as you need
Ingredients:
- 2 parts cucumber shrub
- 2 parts gin
- 1 part mint syrup
Preparation:
Place all three ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake for 30 seconds. Pour into a glass with a layer of crushed ice.
If you desire, rim the glass the sugar.
If you need to make sugar syrup, put 3 cups of sugar, 3 cups of water, and one bunch of mint into a saucepan. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove the mint and let the syrup cool. Then bottle and refrigerate.
Source for the Shrub: Shrubs by Michael Dietsch [Countryman Press, 2014]
Source for the Cocktail: Brian O’Rourke
Photo Information: Canon T2i, 18-55mm Macro Lens, f/4.5, 1/50th second, ISO-500
A couple of years ago I had dinner at an upscale restaurant in Edina MN. Being a G&T lover, I saw the Cucumber G&T was on the drinks menu so I tried it. For $11.50 a glass I considered that to be a gross overcharge and it was the last CG&T I had. Now that I have the recipe . . .
My next thought is . . . I wonder how the CG&T will be with the Navy Strength Gin I just purchased. Hm.
We love G&Ts with and without cucumber. If you search on the blog here for “cucumber” you’ll find some interesting ideas. Gins vary so much that it is really hard to predict what one, like Navy Strength, will taste like. Not bad, but it may have a different flavor profile than you are used to. I strongly recommend:
https://cookingbythebook.com/cookbook-reviews/cookbook-review-gin-the-manual-by-dave-broom/
Happy ginning.