Looking for the best healthy Cucumber Gin and Tonic recipe to make at home?
Our Gin Cocktail Guide offers details on how gin is made, typical ingredients in gin, world’s best gin brands, must-have bartender tools and equipment and a recipe for a simple and easy gin cucumber drink.
This Gin and Cucumber Cocktail recipe features homemade cucumber juice, fresh mint and basil, ginger syrup, lemon and lime juice, celery bitters, tonic water and Hendrick’s gin.
Jazz up the healthy gin cocktail with a frothy and festive top garnished with thinly sliced cucumber.
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How Is Gin Made?
Wondering how gin is made?
Any gin starts life as a neutral (often grain-based) spirit. It’s essentially pure ethanol, and then flavours are added through a process called re-distillation. Gin can be made in a column or pot still.
We like to think of gin as “vodka steeped in an aromatic tea bag.” Expert distillers essentially heat pure alcohol (vodka) so it passes through a large “tea bag” filled with unique spices, herbs and citrus peel. When the pure alcohol comes in contact with this bundle of flavourful ingredients it takes on a unique gin flavour.
The flavourings can be steeped for as long as 48 hours, although some producers will distill the liquid almost immediately. Once completed, water is added to reduce the distillate to bottling strength.
Gin Ingredients
So what are the most common ingredients in gin?
Gin derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries, also known as juniperus communis.
Other popular botanicals or flavourings used in gin making, besides the required juniper, often include citrus elements, such as lemon and bitter orange peel, as well as a combination of other spices, which may include anise, angelica root and seed, orris root, licorice root, cinnamon, almond, cubeb, savory, lime peel, grapefruit peel, dragon eye, saffron, baobab, frankincense, coriander, grains of paradise, nutmeg and cassia bark.
The different combinations and concentrations of these aromatic botanicals in the distillation process cause the variations in taste among different gin brands.
Our favourite premium gin to use when preparing a healthy gin cocktail is Hendrick’s Gin. Hendrick’s uses cucumber and rose petal botanicals in their distillation process, which is why a fresh slice of cucumber or the use of cucumber juice as a mixer compliments the spirit so well.
If you’re shaking or stirring our Cucumber Gin and Tonic recipe at home we’d suggest using cucumber-flavoured Hendricks gin bottles such as Hendrick’s Gin, Midsummer Solstice or Orbium.
Best Selling Gin
Gin has certainly enjoyed a boom in popularity at cocktail bars in recent years. You’ll find fantastic premium gins distilled from Scotland to Muskoka. Here are some of the world’s best selling gins and some of our local small batch favourites:
- Gordon’s Gin: The world’s top selling gin brand is owned by Diageo. The brand’s pink iteration has undoubtedly helped to fuel its success. Gordon’s has also unveiled a line of new innovative products including two “ultra-low-alcohol” pre-mixed gin and tonic sparkling beverages and Gordon’s Gin-infused popsicles.
- Bombay Sapphire Gin: Bacardi-owned Bombay Sapphire is one of the worlds best-selling gins. Bombay Sapphire kicked off a new limited edition range with the launch of a gin inspired by summer in the English countryside.
- Tanqueray: Diageo-owned Tanqueray launched a new marketing campaign developed to shift consumers’ attention from “gimmicks” to flavour and unveiled a range of bottled ready-to-drink gin and tonics, made with its London Dry Gin and Flor de Sevilla Distilled Gin.
- Beefeater Gin: Pernod Ricard’s flagship gin brand is Beefeater. The brand launched strawberry-flavoured Beefeater Pink in 2018 and further expanded its portfolio with the debut of a new blood orange-flavoured gin.
- Seagram’s: Pernod Ricard-owned Seagram’s is a top seller having recently purchased Italian brand Malfy Gin.
- Hendrick’s Gin: Opened the door to its £13 million Gin Palace in 2018, allowing the brand to double its capacity to two million cases annually. The Scottish brand has also added to its portfolio with the launch of the limited edition summer solstice-inspired Midsummer Solstice gin.
- Edinburgh Gin: This craft distillery in Edinburgh produces a parade of flavoured gin bottles including rhubarb & ginger gin, raspberry gin, bramble & honey gin, black currant & anise, strawberry & pink peppercorn and pomegranate & rose.
- Dillon’s Distillery: This Beamsville producer makes small batch gins including rose gin, cherry gin and strawberry gin.
- Muskoka Brewery: This Ontario craft brewery produces a London Dry and spicy pink peppercorn gin.
Travel to Taste the World’s Best Gins
There’s no better way to familiarize yourself with the best healthy gin cocktail then by planning a vacation to visit the world’s best gin distilleries.
The world’s most famous gins can be found in the United Kingdom as well as neighbouring Ireland. The booming gin trend has produced a high demand for premium gins produced by distilleries in Canada and America.
We’ve visited a handful of gin distilleries in Britain as well as a chic gin cocktail bar at the Shangri-La Hotel in Taipei. The gin craze has officially travelled from England to North America, Asia and beyond!
In Scotland we visited Edinburgh Gin for a tour and tasting before enjoying a road trip to the Isle of Islay, which is best known for its famous Islay whisky distilleries. One of the best things to do on the Isle of Islay is pay a visit to Bruichladdich Distillery, which produces its signature whisky as well as Botanist Gin.
In Brighton we visited a tiny micro-distillery called Brighton Gin, one of the best things to do in Brighton for G&T fans. We also stayed at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire to sip our way through the jaw-dropping home of renowned Bombay Sapphire.
Looking to plan the ultimate road trip of Canada to discover the best gins?
Our favourite Canadian gins include Ungava in Quebec, Tawse and Dillon’s in Niagara, Muskoka Brewery in Ontario cottage country, Kinsip House of Fine Spirits in Prince Edward County, North of 7 in Ottawa, Dixon’s in Guelph, Eau Claire Distillery in Alberta, Blackfox in Saskatoon, Ironworks Gin in Nova Scotia and Long Table Distillery in British Columbia.
Best Bartender Tools & Cocktail Equipment
Before hosting a swanky Cucumber Gin and Tonic soiree you’ll need to ensure you have the best bartender tools and cocktail equipment.
- Cocktail Kit: cocktail kits are the perfect gift for newbie mixology fans as they include basic bartender tools like a jigger, shaker and spoon.
- Cocktail Shaker: a bartenders best friend. Purchase a premium cocktail shaker to muddle or shake up your favourite pink gin cocktails.
- Cocktail Glassware: make sure your bar is stocked with a selection of unique glassware to show off your favourite cocktail creations.
- Hawthorne Strainer: this unique strainer features tightly wound coils and perforated holes. It keeps ice and other large ingredients like lime wedges in your cocktail shaker rather than in the glass.
- Bar Spoons: slender and long bar spoons are a must-have when stirring drinks.
- Bottle Opener: easily open bottles of beer or cider with the flick of your wrist or purchase a corkscrew for fine wine.
- Pouring Spout: once you’ve opened a new bottle of gin insert these affordable pourers to make cocktail assembly a breeze.
- Cutting Board: purchase a petite cutting board for your bar to slice garnishes or citrus wedges like lime, orange, lemon or grapefruit.
- Ice Bucket: chill bottles of gin quickly in an ice bucket or keep by the bar when muddling gin mixers into cool creations.
- Ice Crusher: fans of the Mint Julep love an ice crusher.
- Ice Cube Kit: we suggest purchasing a selection of ice cube trays. Silicone styles are our favourite as they’re easy to clean and are available in various shapes and sizes.
- Jigger: use a jigger to accurately measure spirits, juices, syrups and shrubs.
- Juicer: invest in an electronic juicer or buy an affordable hand-held to easily juice fresh citrus like lemons and limes.
- Muddler: fans of the Mojito love a sturdy muddler to mix mint and lime. Muddler’s are handy for any cocktail featuring ingredients that need a pounding like fresh herbs or citrus wedges.
- Citrus Peeler & Zester: adorn your craft cocktails with a thick citrus peel or finer ribbons of lime or lemon zest.
- Rimmer: Bloody Mary and Caesar lovers should outfit their bar with a handy rimmer for salting and sugaring glassware.
Cucumber Gin and Tonic Ingredients
Our quick gin and cucumber cocktail is made with fresh and healthy ingredients:
- Gin: we suggest using Hendrick’s cucumber flavoured gins.
- Cucumber Juice: you can purchase this at your local raw juice shop or make your own DIY version if you have a juicer or blender in your kitchen.
- Fresh Herbs: when making DIY cucumber juice add some fresh herbs from your garden to the blender and the flavour will infuse nicely. We’ve used basil and mint in this recipe but you could also use thyme, lemongrass, parsley or cilantro.
- Ginger Syrup: we’ve used Organic Ginger Syrup by The Ginger People but you could also prepare homemade ginger simple syrup.
- Citrus Juice: We’ve used a mixture of fresh lemon and lime juice. You could also just use lemon or lime, whatever you prefer.
- Tonic Water: we suggest using premium Fever Tree Tonic. We highly suggest using Fever Tree Cucumber Tonic.
- Bitters: add a few dashes of bitters to round out your healthy gin cocktail. We suggest using an herbaceous veggie-flavoured Celery Bitters or Cucumber Bitters.
Cucumber Gin and Tonic Cocktail Tips
This healthy cocktail recipe is easy to make at home, ready to serve in under 30 minutes.
We love serving our Cucumber Gin and Tonic recipe in the Spring and Summer. The healthy gin cocktail made with cucumber juice, ginger and citrus juice is a crowd pleaser at garden parties, family barbecues and cottage cocktail hours.
We also love to prepare this gin cucumber drink at Christmas and New Years parties. The green colour of the drink is absolutely festive, getting everyone into the holiday spirit. Feel free to add holly as a garish and add a splash or red with fresh cranberries, strawberries or raspberries.
If you don’t like tonic water feel free to replace with soda water. This will make the gin cucumber drink healthier as it will have less calories.
Our Cucumber Gin and Tonic recipe below is listed for one person. If you’re hosting a large gathering feel free to multiply the ingredients by the number of guests and muddle the drink in a punch bowl or jug rather than a cocktail shaker.
If you don’t have ginger syrup in your cupboards and don’t have time to make your own homemade ginger syrup feel free to use regular simple syrup.
Cucumber Gin and Tonic Cocktail Health Benefits
Our healthy Cucumber Gin and Tonic Cocktail recipe is full of healthy ingredients!
Cucumbers are low in calories and high in water content so are great at hydrating the body. To maximize their nutrient content, cucumbers should be eaten unpeeled. Peeling them reduces the amount of fibre, as well as certain vitamins and minerals.
Ginger contains at least 14 phytochemicals, many of which have impressive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It also has a good source of copper, which supports your bones, blood and nervous system.
A rich source of phytochemicals and vitamin C, lemons help boost your immune system and neutralize free radicals that cause disease and skin aging. Lemons also protect against heart disease and help improve blood flow to the brain.
Mint and Basil are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and can have a calming effect on the digestive system. They are also a good source of folate, which supports blood health.
Tonic water is a soft drink containing quinine, which gives it a bitter taste. Quinine is a common treatment for malaria. Some people believe that it can also help with leg cramps and restless legs syndrome. Quinine comes from the bark of the cinchona tree.
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Best Healthy Cucumber Gin and Tonic Cocktail
Healthy Cucumber Gin and Tonic Cocktail
Equipment
- blender
- Sieve
- Large measuring cup
- spatula
- Shot Glass
- Cocktail Shaker
- Citrus Juicer
- Cocktail spoon
Ingredients
- 2 oz Gin
- 4 oz Cucumber Juice
- 2 tbsp Fresh Mint
- 2 tbsp Fresh Basil
- 0.5 oz Ginger Syrup
- 1 oz Lemon or Lime juice
- 2 oz Tonic Water
- 2 dashes Celery Bitters optional
- Ice
Instructions
- Roughly chop 2 cucumbers with the skin on. Add to a blender and top with basil and mint leaves. Blitz for 1-2 minutes until liquified.
- Pour cucumber herb mixture into a sieve over a large measuring cup. Use a spatula to stir and press the cucumber juice through the sieve. Discard pulp. Store cucumber juice in a bottle in the fridge until ready to use.
- Juice 2 lemons and 2 limes. Pass citrus juice through a sieve and store in a bottle in the fridge until ready to use.
- In a cocktail shaker, add 2 ice cubes, gin, cucumber juice, ginger syrup, lemon lime juice, tonic water and celery bitters. Use a long cocktail spoon to stir the ingredients together, approximately 30 seconds.
- Pour contents of the cocktail shaker into a coup or rocks glass. Garnish with freshly sliced cucumbers.
Nutrition
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