Mint, Cucumber, and Vodka Cocktail
Author: 
Serves: makes 4 drinks
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ English cucumbers, divided
  • 1 ½ cup mint leaves
  • 5 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 4 limes)
  • ¾ cup vodka
  • 3 Tablespoons Cointreau
  • ¾ cup apple juice (if you're juicing the cucumber, you might as well juice an apple, too)
Instructions
  1. Slice the half cucumber into rounds and reserve for garnish.
  2. If you have a juicer, juice the whole cucumber, unpeeled. If you don’t have a juicer, quarter the cucumbers lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with a spoon and discard the seeds. Coarsely chop the cucumber and puree in a food processor until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. You should end up with approximately 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of cucumber juice. If you end up with more than that, reserve for another use or add to the cocktail, if desired.
  3. Place mint and lime juice in a pitcher and press on the mint leaves with a wooden spoon or muddler to extract the flavor from the mint leaves.* Add the 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons cucumber juice, lime juice, vodka, Cointreau, and apple juice and stir to combine.
  4. Pour into 4 short glasses filled with ice. Garnish the glasses with cucumber slices and/or mint leaves.
Notes
*This can also be made with a cocktail shaker, if desired. Place ice cubes, mint and lime juice in a shaker and shake. Add remaining ingredients and shake. Strain into four glasses filled with ice. Garnish with cucumber and mint leaves.

To make this a mocktail, swap sparkling water for the vodka and cointreau.
Recipe by Pamela Salzman at https://pamelasalzman.com/mint-cucumber-and-vodka-cocktail-recipe/