Cucumber Lemonade Cocktail

When I hosted my Canning Party a couple weeks ago, I wanted to have a cocktail to serve to my friends. Alton Brown posted this recipe for a Cucumber Lemonade Cocktail made with gin on his Facebook feed and I knew I needed to make it.

You should definitely make this during these last few weeks of summer before fall and pumpkin-spiced-everything is what everyone is drinking.

The lemons and cucumbers muddle around for at least an hour so that the liquid is fully infused with flavors from both fruits. Adding gin and ice completes the cocktail.

I set the drinks out on a fun serving tray that my friend got me for my birthday and used the Blue Ball Jars that Ball had sent me as a serving vessel.

One Year Ago: Outstanding in the Field 2012
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Three Years Ago: Homemade Fig Newtons
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Cucumber Lemonade Cocktail

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 whole lemons, halved
1/2 cup sugar
1 quart water
1 large (9-10 ounces) cucumber, trimmed and sliced into thin rounds on a mandoline
24 ounces gin
ice cubes

Directions:

Juice the lemons into a large pot and throw the bodies in there too. Add the sugar to the pot and muddle (or mash with a masher, rolling pin) with the lemon bodies and juice for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the water and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Strain into a 3-quart pitcher and add the cucumber. Steep for 1 hour.

For punch: Add 24 ounces of gin and stir to combine. Serve over ice.

For a single cocktail: Place 4 to 5 ice cubes in a rocks glass. Add 1 1/2 ounces of gin and 2 1/2 ounces of lemonade. Stir to combine.

Recipe from Alton Brown