We had an abundance of cucumbers starting to pile up in our fridge, so we thought we'd try an experiment: making cucumber juice.
We decided that cucumber juice not only makes a refreshing, slightly sweet beverage for a hot summer afternoon, but it looks darn pretty, too!
Personally, we thought the juice was a bit strong and bitter all on its own. We liked it better when we mixed in some sparkling water and a squeeze of lemon.
We're also envisioning cucumber cocktails paired with a light gazpacho in our near future. And wouldn't a few pale green ice cubes look nice floating in a pitcher of water?
As for the pulp leftover from straining the juice, we think we'll try mixing it with some simple syrup and freezing it to make granita!
What else should we do with our leftover juice and pulp?
Cucumber Juice
makes about 4 cups of juice
6 medium cucumbers
Set a strainer over a large bowl. For a less-pulpy juice, line the strainer with cheesecloth or coffee filters.
Peel the cucumbers, slice off the ends, and chop into several large pieces. Run the cucumbers in a food processor until pulpy--about two minutes.
Pour the cucumber mash into the strainer and use a spatula to gently stir the mash until no more juice is separating out. Store the juice and the pulp separately for up to one week.
Related: DIY Orange Smoothie
(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)
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One of the best drinks I've had was a restaurant in the Queens village area of Philadelphia called 'James'. It was made with mellon juice, thyme, and gin and I believe a splash of simple syrup. I think that it would be a great cocktail made with cucumber juice, either instead of/ or in addition to the melon juice.
view matt manfredini's profile
This would be delicious with some hendrick's gin and a splash of club soda or tonic.
view popcorn.for.dinner's profile
I've been making cucumber juice all summer for cucumber gimlets (hendricks, cucumber juice, lime juice and St. Germain or a little superfine sugar. I put mine through a chinoise to get the pulp out, but we did the cheesecloth method at my parents' house and it worked just fine. To make it less bitter 1) use persian or mini cucumbers or 2) don't blend the seeds. Scoop out the pulp in the middle and squeeze it by hand. The seeds are what carried most of the bitterness.
I haven't done this yet, but I thought of using the pulp as a base for a salad dressing or mashing it into cream cheese for lox and bagels
view liz100's profile
I had cucumber infused water served in a cafe this summer..very refreshing. They just fill a pitcher with a fav water and add a cucumber cut into chunks. Leave it to "steep" over night in the fridge and remove the cucumbers.
view timeless's profile
Those photos are stunning!!!! I feel refreshed just looking at them.
view Joy R.'s profile