St. Patrick’s Day Cocktail: Jalapeño and Cucumber Gin & Tonic

Get in the spirit with a grown-up St. Patrick’s Day cocktail. This Jalapeño and Cucumber Gin & Tonic sets the stage with a little bit of green and lots of great flavor! 

Hi, it’s Steph from “So, I’ve been thinking…” and today I’m joining you at Michelle’s place sharing one of my favorite cocktails: a gin & tonic. It’s not just any old g&t though; this one’s got some savory flavors going on. The beauty of the traditional drink is its simplicity, so keeping that in mind I’ve combined some fresh, green flavors to add a little zing and keep the traditionalists happy with still being able to taste their favorite gin.

Remember when St. Patrick’s Day was all about the green beer and getting to the bar at 8am? I know it wasn’t just me…but it was a while ago and I’m going to admit the thought of green beer now…well, no thanks. Same goes for the 8am belly-up. 

So if you aren’t celebrating the holiday “old school style” you may be looking for something a little more sophisticated. 

I’ve got just the thing for you: a Jalapeno & Cucumber Gin & Tonic St. Patrick’s Day cocktail. You’ll get plenty of St. Patrick’s Day spirit, a little bit of green and lots of great flavor. This cocktail is very smooth with a little heat in the finish, it’s definitely a grown-up cocktail. 

You’ll need a high quality gin and a good tonic, I like to use Hendrick’s Gin and Fever Tree tonic, you don’t want to overpower your Hendricks with a sweet, syrupy tonic, it’s just too light of a gin for that, and it’s flavor is too good to mask. 

This is a simple cocktail served on the rocks or shaken and served in a martini glass. This isn’t a drink I would make in a big batch ahead of time; the Fever Tree will go flat. If you plan to serve a lot of people, cut up the jalapeño, cucumbers, lime and cilantro ahead of time for quick assembly.

Many people aren’t crazy about cilantro, if you’re one of them you can substitute fresh parsley.

As I say with all of my recipes, use it as a guideline, if you have a favorite gin and you want to use that – go ahead, you don’t have to use Hendrick’s. That being said…this gin is really smooth and is worth a try if you haven’t had it.

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Jalapeño & Cucumber Gin & Tonic

Get in the spirit with a grown-up St. Patrick's Day cocktail. This Jalapeño and Cucumber Gin & Tonic sets the stage with a little bit of green and lots of great flavor!

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Ingredients

• 2 oz Hendrick's Gin
• 1 - 2 oz Fever Tree tonic
• 1 cucumber, thin slices and small dice
• 1 jalapeño, thin slices
• 1 lime, thin slices
• small bunch cilantro, chiffonade (thin slivers)

Instructions

On the rocks

2. Fill glass with ice
3. Add gin
4. Add spoonful of diced cucumber
5. Add 2-3 slices cucumber, jalapeño, and lime
6. Add a pinch of cilantro
7. Stir just to mix
8. Slowly add tonic to taste
9. Add a squeeze of lime, if desired

As a martini

2. Shake gin over ice until very cold
3. Add cucumber, jalapeño, lime, and cilantro to shaker
4. Shake to mix
5. Pour into martini glass, holding back ice
6. Add tonic to taste (about 1 oz)
7. Add squeeze of lime to taste

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