Cucumber Pineapple Gin Refresher – Cucumber, pineapple, and mint are muddled together and added to homemade cucumber syrup, fresh lime juice, gin, ice, and topped with sparkling water. 

Gin is a liquor that I rarely ever drink. I had it once back in college and I can’t even remember what it tasted like. I remember liking it but I couldn’t tell you why.

Lately, I’ve noticed that gin is making a comeback. I see it on drink menus more frequently so it’s piqued my interest – what am I missing with these gin cocktails? So I just had to try one.

The one I finally tried was the inspiration for this drink. It was so floral and light and refreshing and I loved how it paired with cucumber and mint. The pineapple I added for some summer flair.

The result: my Cucumber Pineapple Gin Refresher!

How is this drink made

This is a drink recipe for a la carte drinks – no pitchers for this one. Since it’s made with muddled fruit, it’s a little difficult to make a pitcher of these at a time. Plus, the sparkling water topper will get a little flat if it’s left to sit in a pitcher for too long.

Let’s breakdown how we make this recipe.

Homemade Cucumber Syrup

I thought about purchasing cucumber syrup for this cocktail instead of making my own. But then I snapped back to reality and realized that it’s SO easy to make it. Plus, it will taste much better homemade.

To make cucumber syrup, you take equal parts sugar and syrup and heat it up with chunks of English cucumber. Once the sugar is syrup (and not a minute more!), remove the syrup from heat and blend it in a blender. Chill the blender pitcher with the cucumber syrup for 1 hour. After it’s steeped for an hour, strain out all the pulp with a mesh strainer.

I added my syrup to this cute container for easy pouring.

Assembling this gin refresher

Once the syrup is ready, I muddle the fruit with a little syrup and mint. Then I add gin and lime juice and mix together. Finally, add ice to a couple glasses, split the mix between the glasses, and top with sparkling water.

Tips & Tricks

Here are a couple tips to help you make this killer gin cocktail:

1. Fresh ingredients are always important, but especially in drink recipes. Because you’re not cooking the ingredients, you can really taste the difference in fresh vs not fresh ingredients. So make sure you get real limes, not lime juice concentrate and fresh pineapple, not the canned stuff!
2. English cucumber is different than traditional cucumber. The flesh is less watery, the seeds are teeny, and the skin is less waxy. It’s much better to use in drink recipes because you don’t have to worry about removing the seeds or skin when making the cucumber syrup.

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