Alcohol-free by design
Cucumber cooler
Cucumber, lime, mint and soda over ice. Alcohol-free by design, and the drink that makes the drivers feel looked after.
- Pour
- 175 ml
- Strength
- Alcohol-free
- Best for
- Garden parties, Brunch, Big parties
- Season
- Summer, Spring
- Fizz
- Added at the door
- Ahead
- Jug ahead, top at the door
The welcome pour
One glass, 175 ml
Tall glass full of ice. Garnish: a ribbon of cucumber and a mint sprig.
The spec, according to Saveur: their cucumber limeade simmers lime juice, sugar and zest, steeps mint in it, chills it with sliced cucumber and adds a litre of seltzer at the table. Ours keeps that structure at a welcome pour, with a cold-mixed base instead of a simmered one.
| Ingredient | Per glass | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh lime juice | 25 ml (1 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Sugar syrup (1:1) | 20 ml (0.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Soda water | 130 ml (4.5 fl oz) | at the door |
| Cucumber slices (per glass) | 3 | in the jug |
| Mint leaves | 4 | in the jug |
The jug
How much for your party
One welcome drink per guest plus a 15% spare. Sparkling wine and soda are counted here but stay in the fridge until the door.
| Ingredient | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh lime juice about 10 limes | 350 ml 12 fl oz | in the jug |
| Sugar syrup (1:1) | 280 ml 9.5 fl oz | in the jug |
| Soda water 2 × 1 L bottles | 1.8 L 8 cups | at the door |
| Cucumber slices (per glass) | 42 | in the jug |
| Mint leaves | 56 | in the jug |
| The jug holds 650 ml (22 fl oz), which is 1 1.5-litre jug filled to 85%. Added per glass at the door: 1.8 L in all. | ||
Make it
In the jug, then at the door
Ahead. Lime, syrup, cucumber slices and mint in the jug, 45 ml of liquid a head. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour so the cucumber flavours it.
At the door. Fill a tall glass with ice, 45 ml from the jug with a couple of cucumber slices and some mint, top with 130 ml soda, stir.
Keeps. The base keeps a day. The mint darkens after that.
- Squeeze the limes a few hours ahead; a lime gives about 35 ml, so ten glasses need seven limes.
- Make the syrup from equal weights of sugar and hot water; cool it.
- Slice the cucumber thinly, tear (do not chop) the mint, and stir both into the lime and syrup. Refrigerate an hour or more.
- Chill the soda. Fill the glasses with ice only when the doorbell goes.
- At the door: base with cucumber and mint, soda, stir, a ribbon of cucumber on top.
The boozy twin
Cucumber gin cooler
This is the twin that runs the other way: the drink is alcohol-free, and the twin adds gin. Saveur's cucumber gin cooler shakes gin, lime and cucumber and tops with tonic; we keep our base and add 35 ml of gin per glass, tonic in place of half the soda if you like it drier.
Gin goes into the jug with the lime, syrup, cucumber and mint. Ice, 75 ml from the jug, top with soda or tonic.
Reference: saveur.com
| Ingredient | Per glass | When |
|---|---|---|
| Gin | 35 ml (1 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Fresh lime juice | 25 ml (1 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Sugar syrup (1:1) | 15 ml (0.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Soda or tonic water | 110 ml (3.5 fl oz) | at the door |
| Cucumber slices (per glass) | 3 | in the jug |
| Mint leaves | 4 | in the jug |
Why it works at the door
Cucumber cooler, in three paragraphs
A quarter of your guests will want something without alcohol, and most hosts hand them a glass of orange juice and an apology. The cucumber cooler is the fix: it looks like a cocktail, it is built like a cocktail, and it costs less than the lemonade. Nobody at the door needs to know which glasses are which.
It is on the tray in its own right, not just as a twin. On a hot afternoon a tall, cold, green glass of cucumber and mint beats a spritz for half the room, drinkers included, and it is the drink the children can have.
Saveur's cucumber limeade, the recipe we build on, simmers the lime and sugar into a syrup first. We mix them cold, because the point of a welcome drink is that it takes twenty minutes to prepare, not an hour, and the difference is small once the soda goes in.
Questions hosts ask
Can I make it in a jug?
The base, yes: lime, syrup, cucumber and mint together, an hour ahead. The soda goes in at the glass so it stays fizzy.
Does it need sugar?
A little. Lime on its own is sour enough to make guests wince; 20 ml of syrup per glass brings it to lemonade sweetness without tasting sugary. Adjust by taste after the first glass.
How do I make it alcoholic for some guests?
Add 35 ml of gin to the glass, or make a second jug with the gin already in it. Saveur's cucumber gin cooler is the model. Keep the two jugs labelled.
Next to it on the tray