Is the sign of a good friend someone who sends you pictures of cocktails and cocktail menus while on vacation? To me it certainly is.
Lauren M spent a few days in London earlier this year. She (and friends) visited some lovely dining (and drinking) establishments and I received quite a few pictures. I will admit that my first thought when I saw this cocktail was why was she drinking pickle juice? While it’s comprised of ingredients in pickles, it’s not actually pickled. Whew!
Lauren enjoyed this gin-cucumber-dill libation at Harrods Social by Jason Atherton – one of the many restaurants and bars at London’s famous department store. Atherton is a Michelin-starred chef with over 15 restaurants throughout Europe and Asia. And this cocktail was created by Gareth Evans, a world-class mixologist who previously worked for Atherton and also represented the UK at the World Class Bartender of the Year Final in 2013. Armed with this knowledge, I was determined to make this cocktail.
First I had to do a bit of metric (milliliters) to imperial (ounces) conversion as almost all recipes I found for this drink were written for the UK. Then make a decision about what form the cucumber should take as many recipes called for ‘cucumber water.’ Since cucumbers are about 95% water, I thought about puréeing one in my Vitamix and straining it. But decided that might be too much work for someone else who wanted to make this cocktail. Instead, I cut up some thick slices into quarters and muddled them along with some dill in a cocktail shaker before adding the additional ingredients. I then strained it through a fine mesh strainer to ensure that I didn’t get any cucumber pulp in the final cocktail.
While English gin is preferred given the origin of this drink, Hendrick’s (made in Scotland) is also a good option since one of its ingredients is actually cucumbers. All of the ingredients in this drink come together to form a very smooth and balanced cocktail. The gin, cucumber and dill flavors are subtle and softened by the floral elderflower liqueur (such as St. Germain). It’s simply delicious and was a lovely way to use some fresh dill from my herb garden.
While this is served up in a Nick and Nora glass (a coupe glass would work as well), you can also serve it in a highball glass over ice and topped with club soda.
Thank you, Lauren, for sharing your travels with me. And to Tripp W for the beautiful handmade cutting board in the photo.
| Dill or No Dill | | Print |
- 2 thick rounds (~ ¼-inch) of cucumber, cut into quarters (no need to remove the skin)
- Large sprig of fresh dill
- 1-3/4 ounces gin (see Notes)
- ½ ounce elderflower liqueur (such as St. Germain)
- ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Pinch of smoked sea salt (see Notes)
- Garnish with a small sprig of fresh dill and a half a round of cucumber
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle cucumber and dill. You want to release some of the cucumber juice.
- Add gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice and salt. Add ice cubes to the shaker.
- Shake for about 30 seconds to ensure a cucumber and dill flavor.
- Pour through a fine strainer into a Nick and Nora or coupe glass.
- Garnish with a small sprig of fresh dill and a half a round of cucumber.
* I used Maldon Smoked Sea Salt. You can also use traditional Maldon Sea Salt or any other sea salt.
* You could also serve this cocktail in a highball glass over ice and topped with club soda.
Source: Variation of a recipe from Food Network UK
So intrigued by this medley of flavors!
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