If you don’t fancy gin then vodka, white rum or St-Germain – an elderflower liqueur– would all make a delicious boozy addition instead.
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Yields:
8 serving(s)
Prep Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
15 mins
Cal/Serv:
85
Ingredients
2
large cucumbers, trimmed
15g
mint, leaves picked plus extra sprigs to garnish
250ml
elderflower cordial
Juice 6 limes
TO SERVE
Ice
Gin, optional
Soda water, chilled, optional
Directions
Step 1Using a Y-shaped vegetable peeler, shave 8 long ribbons from 1 cucumber, reserving trimmings. Place the ribbons on a plate, cover with damp kitchen paper and chill until needed. Roughly chop remaining shaved and whole cucumber, as well as the reserved trimmings.
Step 2In a large blender or food processor, whizz the chopped cucumber, mint leaves, elderflower cordial and lime juice until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve into a jug, working the pulp well. Discard pulp. Chill mixture for at least 1hr (up to 8hr).
Step 3To serve short, fill 8 tumblers with ice and add a cucumber ribbon and mint sprig to each. Add a splash of gin to each glass, if using, and pour in the chilled cucumber mixture. If serving long, fill 8 high-ball glasses with ice and add a splash of gin to each glass, if using, and garnish as before. Pour in the chilled cucumber mixture and top up with soda water. Serve.
Make the mixture up to end of step to up to 8hr ahead, cover and chill in the fridge.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).