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Cucumber Gin & Tonic

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Cucumber gin & tonic 1

This my recreation of the Cucumber Gin & Tonic featured  in the Aviary’s coffee table book of cocktails. Cutting edge creativity is inspired by Grant Achatz at Alinea, his flagship Chicago restaurant. It’s a slippery, but inescapable slope moving from his restaurant to the Aviary’s cocktail tasting experience.

The book is a weighty tome, filled with seven pounds of gorgeous, delicious recipes. The photography is stunning and the recipes challenging. Recreating them is about the experience and the taste is a bonus.

There’s an unmistakable likeness between Back To The Future’s “Doc” Brown in his chemist’s smock and Grant Achatz in his chef coat. But, while Doc is fictional the chemistry behind these cocktails is real.

The Cucumber Gin & Tonic

First entry in the book, this beauty has never appeared on their menu, because of the time and difficulty involved. Those constraints don’t apply to the home cocktail enthusiast and that means challenge accepted.

It’s a four step process. Make simple syrup, cucumber spheres, carbonized gin & tonic and finally assemble the cocktail. To accomplish this we need some specialized tools and some food grade chemicals. Get ready!

  • Carbonizer device
  • 1/2 liter carbonized drink container
  • 5/8″ diameter silicone spherical mold mat
  • Glass straws
  • Perforated spoon
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Cucumber Gin & Tonic

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An over-carbonated gin and tonic with cucumber spheres and a touch of chartreuse

  • Author: TJ
  • Yield: 2-4 1x

Ingredients

Scale

Simple Syrup

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Cucumber Spheres

  • 1000 grams filtered water
  • 7.5 grams sodium alginate
  • 5 english cucumbers – AKA european, greenhouse, hothouse or seedless
  • 108 grams finely granulated sugar
  • 20 grams calcium lactate
  • 6 grams fine kosher salt

Gin & Tonic

  • 4 oz premium, juniper forward gin
  • 8 oz premium tonic water
  • 1 oz green chartreuse
  • 1 oz simple syrup
  • 2 grams powdered citric acid

Instructions

Simple Syrup

  1. Combine in a small pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is fully diluted, remove from the heat and let it cool. Transfer to a swing-top bottle and refrigerate until ready to use

Cucumber Spheres

  1. Place the water and sodium alginate in a large bowl
  2. Blend with an immersion blender on high speed until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved, without clumps
  3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean round pan or rondeau to allow a depth of 1-1/2″ to 2″ of alginate solution
  4. Rest overnight in the refrigerator to let the alginate fully hydrate and all the bubbles to dissipate
  5. Juice the cucumbers in a juicer, strain through a cheesecloth lined fine mesh strainer. Reserve 1000 grams for making spheres.  Save the rest in an airtight mason jar and refrigerate for storage of the spheres
  6. Combine the juice, sugar, calcium lactate and salt in a separate bowl and blend with an immersion blender until completely dissolved
  7. Support the mold on a baking sheet and fill the cavities with the cucumber mix using a squeeze bottle or a large syringe. Don’t overfill the cavities because extra mold “flashing” will lead to misshapen spheres
  8. Freeze overnight or until completely solid and freeze a small baking sheet
  9. Pop the spheres out of the mold onto the sheet and return to the freezer to make sure they are completely frozen before finishing the spheres
  10. When ready to finish the spheres, Prepare two bowls with cold water for rinsing them
  11. Remove the alginate bath from the fridge and carefully place on the stove without re-introducing bubbles. Warm the alginate slowly over the lowest heat. Gently stir, but do not introduce bubbles
  12. Working in small batches remove 10-20 spheres from the freezer and disperse evenly into the rondeau pan, taking care to avoid allowing them to touch or stick to the bottom
  13. As they thaw they will form a membrane that will encapsulate the liquid center. This takes 10 to 30 seconds and they change color and become translucent as they cure
  14.  When fully encapsulated, remove them with the perforated spoon and place them a fresh bowl of cold water.  Stir gently to rinse
  15. Transfer and repeat the rinse cycle in the second bowl of fresh, cold water and discard any misshapen spheres
  16. Strain them out and transfer to the jar of chilled, reserved cucumber juice for storage
  17. Use the spheres within 8 hours

Making the Gin and Tonic

  1. Prepare an ice bath
  2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir thoroughly until the citric acid is dissolved
  3. Transfer to the 1/2 liter carbonizing container and chill thoroughly in the ice bath – about 15-30 minutes
  4. Carbonate according to the manufacturer’s instructions and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve

Assembling the Cocktail

  1. Chill a collins glass in the refrigerator
  2. Use a perforated spoon to strain, rinse with cold water and gently fill the glass with about 100 of the cucumber spheres
  3. Gently pour in the carbonized gin and tonic cocktail
  4. Serve immediately with a glass straw

 

Notes

Learn more about this and other cocktails at The Aviary in Chicago

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