Don’t Judge Me Mondays: Cucumber Martini

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Whew, well we’ve made it through Monday!  I don’t know about you guys, but I’m already missing the weekend 🙁

I noticed that most of my cocktails veer towards the sweet end.  Today, I thought I would do something different.  The first time I tried a martini was over 10 years ago and my thoughts were “Blech! Who would drink these?!?”  My sensibilities have changed over the years and I can now understand why someone would enjoy a martini.  While I like a sweet cocktail, I can also appreciate something dry and crisp like the martini I’m going to share today.  I’ve customized mine by adding cucumber.  It adds a nice crisp flavor, without overshadowing the vermouth and gin.

Let’s get to the drink!

Start by filling your cocktail shaker halfway with ice.  Add your cucumber chunks and muddle with a spatula handle (or muddler, or whatever you have hand) for about 10 seconds.  Now pour in your gin and dry vermouth.  When buying vermouth, make sure it’s the dry version.  I will be honest, I didn’t know that much about vermouth and sort of forgot that there is a sweet version also.  If you see a bottle and it doesn’t specify, if it is clear it is more likely to be the dry kind.  If it’s red in color it will be sweet vermouth.

Cover your shaker and shake about 15 seconds.  There are martini purists that would say that stirring a martini is the only way to go (shame on you James Bond!), but I wanted mine really chilled and didn’t mind a little extra water being added in exchange for that.  Feel free to prepare this stirred if you prefer.

Pour into 1 large martini glass or 2 small ones.  I didn’t strain this because I didn’t mind a few stray cucumber seeds in exchange for the pretty light green color.  If bits in your drink bother you, pour it through a strainer into your glass(es).

Garnish with a thinly sliced piece of cucumber and enjoy.

Cheers!