This summer has been a hot one here in Vancouver and I’m loving it. It’s quite rare to have weeks of cloudless days at 30°C, and even though I sweat buckets in that kind of heat, I’m not complaining. I simply love that warm, heat-right-down-to-your-bones kind of heat. Plus the evenings and nights are still warm enough that I don’t have to bundle up in 10 layers just to let the pooch out for her nighttime stroll. Bonus.
This past weekend a couple friends and I took a road trip down to States to the Gorge Ampitheatre in Washington to do a couple nights of camping and see Arcade Fire play. It was a lot of fun, but if I thought home was hot, HOLY COW. We’re talking like 38°C, no clouds, in the desert. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if we didn’t have a pop-up tent for shade! But despite the heat it really was great fun. The Gorge is the most amazing outdoor venue, no question. It is simply amazing.
My go-to summer cocktail to beat this heat has been a simple G&T, because let’s face it, there’s nothing quite as refreshing as a cool gin and tonic. These popsicles are super easy to make, and the cucumbers make a nice addition. They freeze inside the popsicle and are fun to eat!
Because there is a bit of gin in these popsicles they don’t freeze quite as well as a ‘normal’ popsicle. They still stay solid, but they might melt a little faster than normal. Thankfully, they don’t take long to scarf down anyway!
| Cucumber Gin & Tonic Popsicles | | Print |
- 3 cups tonic
- 1½ oz gin
- ¼ lime, juiced
- ½ cup cucumber slices
- Mix together tonic, gin and lime juice.
- Place cucumber slices into popsicle moulds, then pour in tonic mix. Freeze overnight before serving.
In New zealand north of Auckland it has been very hot and sticky .so I’m gonna make these little beauties
Why don’t you make them with Pink Gin? 😉
http://www.edgertonpinkgin.co.uk
Gorgeous! I’ve never heard of pink gin before- do you have any distributors in North America? I’m due on your side of the pond in August, but that seems like a very long wait from now 🙂
You can make pink gin yourself – just invest in a bottle of Angostura bitters (also good in mashed sweet potato).
From another Aucklander who’s keen to try this!
Brilliant! Thanks for the tip Eleanor, I just happen to have all those things at my house right now! I guess I know what I’m doing this evening…
Finn, Bitter Truth makes pink gin and it’s available here in the US
I think they are speaking of Sloe Gin which is available here
Put a tiny bit of food colouring in. Mix it with the gin
M&S do a fabulous pink gin which is infused with cranberries and Edinburgh Gin do a rhubarb and ginger liqueur gin which is a must. Well worth the wait till you get here
Brilliant! I miss the days when we had a M&S here, and rhubarb/ginger sounds totally heavenly as well. I’ll put both of those on my list to pick up while I’m visiting 🙂 Thanks, Tony!
Oh hello summer – can’t come soon enough now! You can do this with a mojito recipe too I’m sure!
I have an allergy to cucumbers, is there something else I could put in them? They look great!
Thanks, Tori! Lime would work just as well!
I didn’t think alcohol freezes..?
Thanks for asking, Simon! You’re right, alcohol doesn’t freeze, but because it’s not straight alcohol – there’s just a tad of gin in the recipe – the Popsicles should freeze. They won’t be 100% solid, but enough to keep their shape until they get eaten!
Add a tiny bit of gelatine, that will make the achol freeze.
No kidding! I’ll have to try that!
Actually, alcohol does freeze, it just freezes at a lower temperature than water 🙂
Haha thanks Nicolas, for keeping us on track!
Should be perfect with Hendricks Gin!
Mmmmm, Hendricks is one of my favourites!
Only question I have is…why wait for summer? Enjoy them now! I would definitely have to put lime instead of cukes…much more appealing…for a really pretty popsicle, ad a slice of orange and lemon with lime….pretty as spring!!
Great idea, Lea-Anne! I agree, these should be made and eaten even in the depths of winter 😉
Damn, for some reason I just got thirsty…
Sounds delicious. I am a vodka girl,but I will for sure try these.
Thanks, Kristen! I’m sure they’ll be equally as yummy with vodka 😉
Does the cucumber count as 1 of your 5 aday?
Of your daily fruit serving? I’d like to think so 😀 😉
Very funny Idea! I will try it!
Wow, great idea. We recommend our new Gin from Hamburg, Germany SKIN GIN. It’s the first gin distilled with Moroccan Mint and makes the popsicle even fresher and summerish. We shared it on fb.
Looks good- where did you get your popsicle molds and also what do you think is max ratio of alcohol:mix that will freeze?
Thanks, Heather! I got my popsicle mold off Amazon. As for the alcohol ratio, when I first tried these popsicles I tried using more gin than this recipe calls for, but I found it just didn’t freeze enough. I found the ratio used in the recipe was just right. It will also depend on which type of alcohol you use.
I tried this with Mojitos . It was so delicious and a party favorite! !
Great idea, Carol! I’m so glad!
I am going to prepare for a hot summer in the UK by making these, of course they will need to be tested, scientifically tested lol! Thanks for the idea 🙂
I highly recommend you test, then taste, then test, then taste, then test and taste again! 😉
Going to have to make these with that lovely bottle of Hendricks in the cupboard for the hot summer we are going to have.
Mmmmm Hendricks… Good call, Sharon!
Do you think these would work with club soda? (Not a big fan of tonic personally but I love the idea).
Great question, Gemma! Club soda should work just fine since it’s about the same constancy/carbonation as tonic 🙂
how many pops will this recipe make? so I can make sure to have enough molds.
Hi Nay, this recipe makes about 10 molds, depending on their size. The popsicle mold I use is this one.
Hendrick’s would compliment this recipe perfectly as it is infused with cucumber and is also traditionally served with cucumber for that reason; I used to drink Tanqueray but was introduced to Hendricks a few months ago and REALLY liked it and it’s now my first choice in gin. I(No, I don’t work for Hendricks. Hey, maybe they’re hiring…)
Hendricks is my favourite gin, definitely! (also, if you start working at Hendricks, you know where to find me! ;))
Wow wie geil ist das denn bitte
Danke! 😀
Do you feel that they could benefit from a little sweetener?
I prefer them without sweetener, as I’m trying to cut down on my sugar intake. But, if you prefer, feel free to add a bit of sugar or syrup to appease your taste buds!
29/12/2019 Moved to Gold Coast 6 weeks back, currently 28 deg. Cel. (11-00 am). Son & I hitting them already, using VODKA instead (mmmmmmm) 🙂
Yummmm!!! Enjoy that heat, we’re actually getting SNOW here (which is very rare) :O