Dunno how summer’s treating you where you are. Here in BKLN NYC, the weather’s been unpredictable all summer. Be that as it may, here’s a great drink for your Labor Day weekend.
I’m calling this the Flying Cucumber because of its obvious origins in the Aviation. The Martin Miller’s is good for this because it has definite cuke notes, but Hendrick’s would probably work well, too. Here’s a piccy of it; the recipe’s after the jump.

photograph by Jennifer Hess
Flying Cucumber
Technique: Muddle two cucumber slices in a mixing glass, and then add:
- 2 oz. Martin Miller’s gin
- 1/2 oz. lemon juice
- 1/4 oz. St.-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Shake over ice and fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cucumber slices or strips of peel.
Food & Wine’s Mouthing Off reports today that Plymouth plans to introduce its sloe gin to US shores next year.

photo by Jennifer Hess
Do you know how many absinthe cocktails are in the Savoy Cocktail Book? According to the Real Absinthe blog, there are 104. One hundred and four recipes that geeks like me couldn’t easily mix in this country, thanks to the cost and difficulty of acquiring absinthe from overseas.
Now that Lucid is available domestically, those sad days have ended. Hm, 104. If I mixed up one absinthe cocktail a week, I’d have blog fodder for the next two years. I can’t guarantee that I’ll mix them that frequently, but I am damn well going to try all 104 of those drinks, as long as legal absinthe and my liver hold out.
And, no, that’s not a first-edition Savoy; it’s the facsimile release.