Gin Lemonade with Mint and Cucumber
A pitcher sour rather than lemonade with a shot in it. A honey and lemon zest syrup steeped with mint, cucumber muddled into the base, and sparkling water opened at the table. Fills eight tall glasses and holds in the refrigerator most of the afternoon.
Ingredients
Lemon Mint Honey Syrup
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup honey mild clover or wildflower
- 4 strips lemon zest pared wide with a peeler, no white pith
- 4 sprigs mint added off the heat
For the Pitcher
- 1 cup mint leaves loosely packed, torn from 8 to 10 sprigs
- 6 ounces English cucumber about half a large one, sliced very thin
- 2 cups lemon mint honey syrup from above, cooled and strained
- 14 ounces fresh lemon juice about 1 3/4 cups, from roughly 10 lemons
- 2 cups London dry gin
- 2 1/2 cups sparkling water cold, opened at the table
- 1 quart ice cubes for the glasses
- 8 sprigs mint for garnish
Equipment
- Large Pitcher
- Muddler
- Medium Pot
Instructions
Make the Lemon Mint Syrup
- Pare four wide strips of zest from a lemon with a vegetable peeler, taking as little of the white pith as you can. Put them in a small saucepan with the water, sugar and honey.
- Warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then simmer for 2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, drop in the 4 mint sprigs and leave them to steep as the syrup cools to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Boiling the mint turns it grassy and bitter, so keep it off the heat.
- Strain the syrup, pressing the zest and mint gently rather than wringing them out. You should have about 2 1/2 cups. Refrigerate in a sealed jar until needed.
Build the Pitcher
- Put the torn mint leaves and the cucumber slices in the bottom of a pitcher that holds at least 2 1/2 quarts, and add 2 cups of the cooled syrup. Press with a muddler or the end of a wooden spoon about ten times, enough to bruise the mint and release the cucumber, not enough to shred either.
- Pour in the lemon juice and the gin and stir well. Taste now, while adjusting is still easy: add syrup a tablespoon at a time if it is too sharp, another squeeze of lemon if it is flat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 6.
Top and Serve
- Add the cold sparkling water just before serving and give the pitcher one slow turn with a long spoon, so the bubbles survive.
- Fill eight tall glasses with ice, divide the drink between them and drop a mint sprig into each. Strain the cucumber out if any of the base is going back in the refrigerator overnight.
Notes
Balance: this is close to one part citrus to one part rich syrup, which reads tart rather than sour. The original carried 2 1/2 cups of raw lemon juice against far less sweetener, roughly five tablespoons of neat lemon per glass, and no amount of ice rescued it. Taste after the gin goes in and before the bubbles, and adjust a tablespoon at a time.
Make-ahead: syrup up to 2 weeks refrigerated. Build the pitcher, everything but the sparkling water, up to 6 hours ahead.
Storage: the undiluted base keeps 2 days covered, but strain the cucumber out after the first day or it turns vegetal. Once topped, drink it within the hour.
Substitutions: basil for mint; half lime for half the lemon; prosecco for the sparkling water, with the gin cut to 1 1/2 cups. For an alcohol-free pitcher, leave the gin out, add a cup more sparkling water and a few juniper berries to the syrup.
Strength: about 10 percent alcohol per glass before the ice melts.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1drink | Calories: 308kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 78mg | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 12mg