Cucumber Melon Gin Refresher

My boyfriend's family was coming to dinner and I thought I would use the opportunity to do a drink recipe. They are a family who really enjoys a good gin and tonic. Knowing this, I decided to sass up their go-to drink for this dinner and use the result as a blog recipe. You're welcome! haha

 

The gin and tonic is such a simple, yet utterly refreshing drink. Two ingredients: gin... and tonic! Three if you want to get fancy and add a lime wedge. My boyfriend really enjoys Hendrick's gin because it has a slight cucumber flavor. One of his brothers is a bartender at my favorite neighborhood Irish pub, and he made a gin drink for my boyfriend once (that he always talks about!)that included cucumber. In making my sassed up version of gin and tonic, I decided to take the cucumber idea and run with it. Honeydew melon is the perfect quintessential summertime fruit, and it also happens to pair well with cucumber, so I figured it would go nicely in this drink. Lastly, I needed an herb. Both sage and rosemary came to mind as herbs that would go well with gin, but I think of them as more cold weather herbs. Dill came to mind as going well with cucumber so I thought I would take a little bit of a chance and throw that in the mix.

 

It wasn't enough to just add all of those things to the drink - I wanted the drink to take on those flavors. If you simply add fresh fruit, veggies, or herbs to a cold drink, you won't get much of the taste from them unless they are muddled. I wanted to keep this drink nice and clean, so muddling was out of the question. Infusion was a much better option.

 

I am going to give you the recipe for the infused gin as well as the recipe for the drink. If you're not a big gin & tonic drinker, you could always use the cucumber/melon/dill gin for another drink recipe - like in a sangria or a limeade. Or you could even use the same recipe but do vodka instead of gin and make a vodka tonic or vodka soda!

 

I'm not a huge fan of gin, so I didn't drink one of these drinks, but my dinner guests drank quite a few and rather enjoyed them, so I am considering this recipe a success! Not just a success, but an actual Winner ;-)

 

Let's get infusing!

 

 

Cucumber Melon Gin

Servings: 1 750ml bottle of gin (also known as a fifth)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: n/a

 

Ingredients:

1/2 English cucumber

1/2 honeydew melon

2 small sprigs of fresh dill weed

1 750ml bottle of gin (I used Tanqueray)

 

You will need one pitcher with a tight fitting lid for storing your gin infusion in the refrigerator for two days.

 

Start by cutting your cucumber into 1/4 inch thick slices.

 

Add them to your pitcher.

Next, cut the half of the honeydew melon into one inch slices.  Use the blade of your knife to cut away the rind from the fruity flesh.  Cut the flesh into chunks.

Place the chunks into the pitcher and mix in with the cucumber.

Add your sprigs of dill.

Last, pour the entire bottle of gin into the pitcher. Remember to save the gin bottle because you will be pouring the finished product back into the bottle for storage.

Use a spoon with a long handle to mix the cuc & melon together with the gin.

I had to place plastic wrap over the top of my pitcher because air was escaping through the spout. If you have a similar situation, go ahead and do the same. If your lid is completely air tight, don't worry about this step.

Place the pitcher in the refrigerator and leave there undisturbed for a minimum of 48 hours.

After two days, remove the pitcher from the fridge.  Put the empty gin bottle in your kitchen sink & place a funnel into the bottle opening.

 

Pour the pitcher of cucumber/melon/dill infused gin into the funnel and keep pouring until all of the gin is out of the pitcher.  You may have to shake the fruit around a little to ensure you have gotten out all of the gin.

Screw the lid back onto the bottle and place it in the freezer until you're ready to serve your drinks.

 

 

Cucumber Melon Gin Refresher

Servings: 1 drink

Prep time: 3 minutes

Cooking time: n/a

 

Ingredients:

Two fingers' worth of cucumber melon gin in your tumbler glass

Half a small bottle of tonic water

A piece of fresh cucumber & a piece of fresh honeydew melon for garnish

First, fill your tumbler glass full with ice cubes.

Next, pour two fingers worth of the cucumber/melon/dill infused gin you just made into your glass.

Now, pour about half of a small bottle of tonic into the glass to fill it the rest of the way to the top.

Garnish with a fresh slice of cucumber and melon (I do NOT suggest eating the fruit that has been infusing in the gin for two days, as you would tend to do with say, a sangria. My boyfriend and his brother both tried this fruit, and I believe the term they used to describe the taste/sensation, was "fire fruit." It's not good, let's leave it at that.).

Serve immediately! Salute!