Cucumber Blood Orange Gin & Tonic

It's Monday. There's still grass to mow and yard work leftover from the weekend that needs to be done. You've worked all day, you've taken care of the stuff that didn't get done on Saturday or Sunday. You deserve a refreshing break. I know I do!

Here's one quick cocktail to refresh your thirst AND your spirit. Cool cucumber, tart blood orange, a floral tonic syrup, a little gin and a splash of soda. Sit back and relax...before you do it all over again tomorrow. 

Cucumber Blood Orange Gin & Tonic

Makes 1

• 1/4 cup English cucumber, cut into 1/2" pieces - skin on
• 1/2 orange, blood orange, juiced
• 2 ounces gin, Blue Coat or other less juniper-y gin
• 3/4 ounce Jack Rudy Small Batch Tonic syrup (if you can't find it or want your cocktail NOW - who can blame you - just use a little more than a splash of tonic water instead of the Jack Rudy and soda water...no problem!)
• soda water

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the cucumber pieces and the juice well. Add gin & tonic syrup, add ice 3/4 of the way up the tin, cap tightly and shake briefly. Strain into an ice filled glass of your choice.
 
Remove a strip of orange peel from a blood orange with a wide swivel blade veggie peeler. Remove a strip of cucumber with a knife. Rub the flesh side of the cucumber around the rim of the glass and insert decoratively into the edge of the glass. 

Twist the orange strip skin side toward the cocktail over the liquid, letting the orange oil fall into the glass. Rub the skin side of the orange peel around the rim of the glass and insert it into the glass alongside the cucumber strip. Add a splash of soda water to the top, stir gently and enjoy.


NOTE: I first had Jack Rudy tonic syrup at Bad Decisions in Baltimore...where else?! I bought mine through Fab.com, but you can get it through Amazon, too. You can definitely buy it at Jack Rudy Cocktail Company! Probably through other places as well. No blood oranges? Pfffttt! Use regular oranges or even tangerines. Hmmmm...that sounds great!