January 22, 2007
This cocktail is one of my signature cocktails; it follows me everywhere I go. I think that every bartender worth is salt has one. It took me about 18 months to perfect it and it’s really simple for both the amateur home bartender to the experienced mixologist. It was actually a dare from my work mates, we grab the weirdest stuff we could find from the kitchen cooler and brought it up to the bar. We had celery, peppers and of course cucumber. I loved the freshness the cucumber had.
I thought about the flavours the cucumber would go with, lychee, apple, watermelon and citrus. Refreshing flavours that would quench your thirst on a warm summer’s day sitting by the beach in Miami. When you use weirder ingredients you must keep the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid. Weird flavours go well with simple liqueur pairings.
The Cool Hand Luke was named by the GM at Jorge in Brisbane. It worked well with the play on words. Cool as a cucumber – Cool Hand Luke. Try the recipe and then go to work and see if you can make something using cucumber, celery or anything. Don’t be scared, just follow KISS and you will be fine.
Place about a quarter of a cucumber in a Boston glass, muddle it up. Don’t baby it; smash the hell out of it. Add one ounce of Bacardi Limon, half an ounce of SOHO Lychee Liqueur and two ounces of apple juice. Shake and double strain, then garnish with two cucumber wheels.
