Crisp, refreshing, and brightly vegetal, cucumbers are a welcome addition to a variety of cocktails. The cooling quality of a cucumber, which is made up of 95% water, naturally balances alcohol’s heat in a mixed drink.
First cultivated in Asia, cucumbers lend soothing aromatics with a slightly bittersweet tang. This mild astringency in a cucumber’s flavor profile comes from biochemical compounds called cucurbitacins that the vegetable produces as a possible defense mechanism against pests.
These slightly bitter, botanical characteristics work especially well to balance acidic citrus, savory spices, and the sweetness in a cocktail.
Fresh cucumber easily partners with various spirits and liqueurs, but most notably complements the herbaceous aromatics in a gin and the earthy qualities of agave spirits like tequila or mezcal.
Whether you are infusing a spirit with the cooling vegetable, blending it into a frozen drink, or muddling slices into a cocktail shaker, incorporating cucumber into a tasty beverage is an easy and refreshing upgrade to your spring and summer cocktails. Here are 10 of our favorites to make you feel cool as a cucumber.
Cucumber Margarita
Brie Goldman / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Sue Mitchell
English cucumber-infused blanco tequila is the secret behind this riff on the classic Margarita.
The fresh, savory qualities of the cucumber showcase the tequila’s earthy notes, and the slight bitterness counterbalances the sweetness in the triple sec and tart flavors of the freshly squeezed lime juice. A salted rim garnish highlights the bright, grassy flavors and a thinly sliced cucumber coin adds fresh aromatics to this contemporary take on the iconic cocktail.
Cucumber Basil Martini
Brie Goldman / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Sue Mitchell
Renowned chef and restauranteur Laurent Tourondel created this botanical-forward cocktail that combines gin, fresh cucumber, ginger, basil, and lime juice. The cool and spicy combo results in an easy-drinking cocktail that is part Mojito, part Gin Gimlet.
Fresh cucumber, spicy ginger, and aromatic herbs complement the botanical profile of the gin and make this the perfect warm-weather aperitif.
Frozen Cucumber Margaritas
This blended Margarita variation with chili-sumac salt from Top Chef judge Gail Simmons is an homage to the Mexican street snack fruta con chile y limón — little bags of sliced mango, cucumber, and jicama, usually sprinkled with Tajín, a spicy and sour snack seasoning.
Tequila, cucumber, coconut water, cilantro, and lime are blended over ice until it is a slushy consistency and the glass is rimmed with chili powder, sumac, and salt for an extra savory kick.
Cucumber Rose Gin Spritz
This fizzy Tom Collins-style cocktail is an English garden in a glass. Gin, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and club soda get a smoky and herbaceous upgrade with a cucumber, basil, and cardamom-infused syrup. The make-ahead syrup can be used to batch a large garden-party-sized punch or used to sweeten up non-alcoholic drinks and desserts. Dried rose petals add subtle floral aromatics and act as a beautiful garnish.
Pimm’s Cup
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
The primary ingredient in a traditional Pimm’s Cup cocktail (and where the drink gets its name) is the gin-based liqueur, Pimm’s No.1, an amber-hued blend of sweet citrus, aromatic herbs, spices, and quinine. While the recipe has a proprietary mix of ingredients and we don’t know for sure, cucumber is most likely not included in the blend. However, it is famously used as a garnish in the very British tall drink.
Instead of the traditional fresh lemon juice and soda, this recipe calls for a sparkling lemon soda combined with the Pimm’s No.1, and ample garnishes of oranges, lemons, mint leaves, and, of course, cucumber.
Magnetic Pole Reversal
Bartender, author, and agave expert Jay Schroeder created this cocktail with sotol as its base. “Sotol is my absolute favorite spirit in the world,” says Schroeder, about this mezcal relative made from the dessert spoon plant.
Basil-cucumber puree is combined with the sotol along with fresh lime juice, simple syrup, and Suze — the bittersweet gentian aperitif. To highlight sotol’s “vegetal and super-funky” flavors, Schroeder suggests leaving some of the cucumber peel in the drink’s basil-cucumber puree.
Cucumber Lemonade Mocktail
This sparkling, alcohol-free lemonade combines fresh lemon, lime and cucumber juices with finely chopped dill, and agave syrup, and topped with club soda.
For the striking garnish, a super-thin slice of cucumber is pressed against the inside of a highball glass with a sprig of dill placed at the top of the drink.
Cucumber Cosmopolitan
This herbaceous take on a Cosmopolitan is from Boston’s Great Bay restaurant and is composed of gin, orange liqueur, white cranberry juice, cucumber water, and fresh lime juice. The cucumber water is made ahead by grating and straining half a cucumber through cheesecloth and extracting as much liquid as possible. This concentrated cucumber liquid acts as a flavor enhancer for the other ingredients and as a vegetal counterbalance to the orange, cranberry and lime.
Jardín Verde (Non-Alcoholic)
This refreshing non-alcoholic cocktail from Bryan Dayton is featured in Julia Bainbridge’s book, Good Drinks.
Fragrant, slightly sweet and mildly bitter, this highball can be built directly in the glass. Non-alcoholic botanical spirit Seedlip Garden 108 combines with herbal tonic water. Additional aromatics come from a basil sprig and cucumber ribbon garnish.
Anchor’s Away
Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
This floral tea cocktail from New York City’s Point Seven restaurant combines vodka, fresh cucumber, lime juice, and a simple syrup infused with jasmine tea.
To note: jasmine tea is a catch-all term for teas scented with the aroma of fresh jasmine flowers or jasmine flavorings. The base for jasmine tea is typically green, but white and black teas can also be infused with jasmine.
Infusing a simple syrup with jasmine tea flavors results in a cocktail that is delicately floral, sweet, and slightly tannic. Leftover tea syrup can be used over vanilla ice cream or a buttery pound cake.
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