Recipe of the Week: Salted Cucumber Margarita Mocktail

Dry January continues, and so does the need to make some more innovative mocktails. For this salted cucumber margarita, from Vancouver’s Flamingo Room, a non-alcoholic take on the Mexican classic, cucumber water is used for a refreshing note, and the Tajín around the rim of the glass brings some spicy and savoury flavours. If you can’t find cucumber water, this recipe includes the steps to make your own batch that will last in the fridge for up to a week.

Salted Cucumber Margarita

Ingredients

For the cocktail:

1 ounce cucumber water (recipe below)

1 ounce lime juice

3/4 ounce simple syrup (to make, add 1/2 cup sugar to 1/2 cup hot water. Stir until sugar is fully dissolved. Makes about 6 ounces syrup)

2 dashes orange bitters

1 pinch salt

Tajín, to rim the glass

Cucumber, sliced lengthwise and coiled, to garnish

For the cucumber water:

2 long english cucumbers

750 millilitres water

Method

To make the cucumber water:

Peel the 2 cucumbers and rough chop.

Put the chopped cucumbers and water in a blender.

Blend.

Use a coffee filter to strain out the solids.

Refrigerate and use for up to one week.

To make the cocktail:

Rim a rocks glass with Tajín salt and set aside.

Add all the ingredients to a shaker tin and fill with ice.

Shake vigorously.

Pour the contents from the shaker directly into the rocks glass and garnish with the coiled cucumber slice.