The term “cool as a cucumber” has taken on a new meaning at both finedining and casual chain restaurants. While not regarded in the past as a particularly stylish ingredient by either front- or back-of-the-house trendmakers, the cucumber seems to have been stealthily reimaged as the latest darling of the cocktail set.
The newly fashionable cuke, which previously would be found tucked into a green salad or in its pickled persona as a sidekick to a sandwich, has emerged as the muse for a new generation of hip drinks with exotic names like Cucumber Passion, Tokyo Club and Zen Press.
“Restaurants and bars have been getting more creative with their cocktail lists, and cucumber has been showing up on a lot of lists,” says David Petrilli, co-owner of Copia in Boston. “It’s a nice, simple, clean ingredient. It’s not overpowering, and people have definitely taken a liking to it.”
Cucumber has been part of a bartender’s mise en place for years, but chiefly as a garnish for Pimm’s Cup, the British, gin-based cocktail. Nevertheless, the widely cultivated fruit—it has seeds and develops from a flower—has had its horizons broadened over the past several years as it finds its way into an increasing number of trendy cocktails.
Gary Regan, beverage consultant, columnist for Nation’s Restaurant News and host of Ardentspirits.com, says he has seen it used in numerous drinks as bartenders experiment with ingredients once limited to the back-of-the-house.
“Cucumber is everywhere,” he says. “[Bartenders] have been experimenting with everything in the kitchen. They’re using cilantro and sage and tarragon, and cucumber is just one of those flavors that is well liked. It’s a nice, subtle flavor. It’s very fresh.”
The resurgent interest in gin drinks, which pair well with cucumber, also has contributed to the trend, Petrilli adds. For example, Copia’s mixologist concocted a drink called Gin-Ginger, which combines a cucumber-and-rose-petal-infused gin with ginger beer and muddled cucumber and basil. The drink is served on the rocks with a cucumber slice and a basil leaf. It sells for $9.
Laura Cherry, the spokeswoman for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. and its newest concept, Taneko Japanese Tavern, also has observed an increase in the number of drinks featuring cucumber.
“It’s kind of a neutral flavor, but it adds a crispness to the drink,” she says.
P.F. Chang’s, which has nearly 100 U.S. outlets, introduced a specialty drink list last September that featured a popular cucumber-inspired cocktail called Zen Press. It includes cucumber-and-rose-petal-infused gin flavored with lemon grass syrup and muddled cucumber slices. It is served on the rocks and garnished with mint and lime and sells for about $6.50 depending on the location.
“The Press is a classic drink, but we serve it with a modern twist,” Cherry says. “The cleanness of the cuke together with the lemon grass is a perfect match.”
Cucumber also plays a key role in a cocktail called the Hibiya-tini, which is served at Taneko, which also is located in Scottsdale. The Hibiya-tini starts with muddled Japanese cucumber, fresh lime and shochu, a distilled alcoholic beverage. The drink, which is served in a martini glass garnished with a slice of cucumber, sells for $9. “It’s incredibly refreshing,” Cherry says.
Taneko, a Japanese “izakaya” pub-style concept that opened last October, offers four different shochu cocktails.
At The Double Seven, the ultrahip, cocktail-centric lounge in New York’s Meatpacking District, cucumber is a factor in two drinks, says co-owner Monika Chiang.
The New Bitty, one of lounge’s most popular drinks, includes vodka, fresh lime juice, simple syrup and muddled cucumber. The drink is served in a rocks glass with crushed ice and mint leaves. It sells for $16. A nonalcoholic version of the cocktail also is available.
Cucumber is also an ingredient in another of the Double Seven’s popular cocktails, the Pimm’s Cup. The drink calls for Pimm’s No. 1 and features muddled cucumber slices and seasonal fruit such as berries, ginger syrup, lemon-lime soda and a lime wedge or an orange wheel. It is priced at $16.
“Cucumber has been a great addition to the cocktail list,” Chiang says. “It’s not sweet, but lends a very refreshing taste.”
Increasingly, chefs are working with mixologists to create new and interesting drinks that contain ingredients not previously found before in cocktails. Nick Cutone, a bartender at The Metropolitan Club in Boston, says bar manager Trina Sturm and the bartending team worked with the restaurant’s new chef Todd Winer on the Tokyo Club cocktail. That drink is made of cucumber muddled with kaffir lime leaf and shaken with grapefruit-flavored vodka, cranberry juice and lychee purée. It is topped with sparkling sake.
“We got to talking about using some Asian ingredients and drinks, and decided that cucumber goes great with kaffir lime leaf,” Cutone says.
Tru in Chicago has begun offering a cucumber and sake martini on its cocktail list. The drink is made by first muddling peelings from an English seedless cucumber with lime juice. It is then shaken with ice and cucumber-infused gin. The mixture is poured over sake in a chilled cocktail glass and served alongside a garnish of a cucumber slice with a small spoon of whitefish roe. Tru sells it for $16.
Chad Ellegood, Tru’s sommelier, calls cucumber “a cocktail modifier that does not require sweetness, so it helps fill the nonsweet cocktail niche. Also, it is refreshing. One guest commented that the cocktail reminded him of a spa.”
Cucumber factors into a popular drink at Patina Restaurant Group’s Brasserie in New York. Originally, the restaurant’s cucumber gimlet was introduced as a summer drink, but it proved so popular it was kept on the menu, said beverage director Tim Halbert.
The drink is prepared with cucumber-infused gin, fresh and bottled lime juice, simple syrup, and muddled cucumber slices. Served chilled with a slice of cucumber and a slice of lime, the gimlet is priced at $10.
The Cucumber Passion Martini has been popular at all three locations of Japonais—in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles—said the concept’s beverage director, Julio Burbano.
The recipe calls for kaffir lime vodka, passion fruit juice, and cucumber water, which is made from diced cucumber, water, simple syrup and lime juice. The ingredients are shaken vigorously and served in a martini glass with three slices of cucumber. It sells for $12.
Japonais also offers a sake martini with house sake, shochu and a cucumber slice. The drink also is priced at $12.
