Steve’s Fairway Fizz

I don’t know what it’s like where you are but I’m experiencing the dog days of summer in spades.  The temperature rose to 97 degrees today with no break in sight.  What I need and maybe you, too, is a cold cocktail that epitomizes refreshment.  How does a cucumber cocktail sound to you?  I’m in.

This will be the signature cocktail for my friend Steve’s birthday party tomorrow.  Since Steve is an avid golfer, I dubbed it with a special moniker and I’ll prepare cucumber “golf balls” to skewer for garnish.  The perfect gin for this drink is Hendricks’s with its curious infusion of cucumber and rose petals.

Ingredients

4-inch section of a peeled cucumber, seeds removed and cut into small cubes

2 oz. gin (preferably Hendrick’s )

Juice from 1 freshly squeezed lime

1 T sugar syrup*

Club soda

Procedure

Muddle cucumber in a cocktail shaker.  Add gin, lime juice and sugar syrup. Add ice cubes and shake vigorously.  Pour into a rocks glass filled with ice cubes.  Top with club soda.  For a garnish, skewer a slice of cucumber and a curled strip of cucumber peel.  The garnish for Steve’s Fairway Fizz was a skewer impaling three “golf balls” (scooped from the flesh of seedless cucumbers) and a sprig of fresh mint.

*Make sugar syrup by cooking I cup of sugar with 1 cup of water until sugar dissolves.  Let cool and store in refrigerator.

Photographer Bill Brady http://bit.ly/9wFYxm
Food Stylist Brian Preston Campbell