Cucumbers: they’re not just for salad anymore

Scott Bird starts his day with lunch and a spicy baby Charley at Sapphire.

I don’t know about you, but when I think about making a refreshing summer cocktail, cucumbers are not an ingredient that springs immediately to mind.

That may change now as a result of last Saturday’s so-called Market Mixer, a project of the Market Square Farmers’ Market. This is a monthly event during which the Farmers’ Market supplies some downtown establishments with a particular ingredient from the Market and challenges them to make a cocktail featuring that ingredient. Tickets are then sold to the public to go from place to place from noon to 7 p.m. sampling the creations. The winner of the contest is determined by the votes cast by those public “judges.”

(Click here and here and here for reports from a few of last year’s Mixers.)

Spicy baby Charley

This is the first of the Mixers my buddies and I have been able to attend this year. We picked a good one! The drinks featuring cucumbers were absolutely delicious. Here’s a look at them. Maybe you can get some ideas for a cucumber drink of your own. Cucumbers are plentiful and inexpensive right now. And that’s the whole idea!

We try to start at noon so we can work lunch into the mix and give ourselves plenty of time to sample all the wares. Saturday’s Mixer was a great deal: tickets cost $15 and they entitled judges to drinks at six different establishments. Note: It is not necessary to drink ALL of a drink in order to judge it!

We started at Sapphire and were treated to a drink named the spicy baby Charley. The ingredients included rum, simple syrup, white grape juice, cucumber puree, a little lemon juice, topped off with champagne. And then – the best part of all – the glass is rimmed with cayenne sugar for a little kick!

Manager Amie Snyder at Sapphire created the spicy baby Charley. It was cool and full of cucumber flavor.

Our next stop was La Costa on Market Square for a drink named a cucumber storm. It contained gin, lemon and lime juices, simple syrup and muddled cucumbers. It was served on the rocks and was very light.

Server Elizabeth Murphy of La Costa delivers a cucumber storm.

Doesn't it look quenching?

Dawn Ford samples a cucumber storm as husband Richard looks on.

Next stop was an eating stop. We headed to Latitude 35 across Market Square where they were serving up cucumber-tinis. I, personally, am a sucker for anything served in a martini glass!

Server Jeremy Brading brings on the cucumber-tinis.

Shaun Fulco was a cheerful judge! All we were able to get from the Latitude 35 folks was that the drink featured cucumber-infused rum. Hmm. I'm guessing some simple syrup, as well.

For the first time, the friendly folks at Downtown Wine + Spirits on Gay Street were participants. Their drink, called a green fairy, was very unique. It contained an Italian liqueur called Dimmi, cucumber water, agave nectar, simple syrup and was topped off with a light white wine called vinho verde. It was garnished with mint and cucumber.

Store manager Shane Pack pouring the green fairies.

Dawn gives the green fairy a try.

Nama was our next stop where the drink was called a hairy cucumber! Ha. It featured amaretto, Crown Royal, bitters, pineapple juice and cucumber juice.

Server Nick Grubb brought the pretty cocktails, which were garnished with a cucumber stick.

Here's a close-up of the hairy cucumber.

Last stop of the day was Preservation Pub on Market Square, which was pouring cucumber drops. They were made of Petron Citronage, watermelon vodka, cucumber juice and watermelon juice.

A big chunk of watermelon and a slice of cuke made great garnishes.

Scott taking a photo to post on Facebook. "This is the only stop where the picture will include an ashtray," he noted. Pres Pub still allows smoking, unfortunately.

At the end of a day, we agreed that all the drinks were good. But we unanimously voted for Sapphire’s spicy baby Charley as the best. Shows you what we know! The winner turned out to be Downtown Wine + Spirits for their green fairies! We thought they were good as well. Congrats to Shane and the whole crew there for winning on their first time in the contest. Very impressive.

One note: We couldn’t help but think the restaurants are missing the boat a little bit when it comes to capitalizing on this contest and the customers it attracts. Wouldn’t it be a good opportunity for an eatery to give customers a little list of suggested appetizers to compliment the cocktails and make it more of a food and drink pairing experience? The restaurants would make more money and also get a chance to show off their food. And the customers would have a more festive outing. Just saying.

The Market Mixers are held on the third Saturday of every month. Next month’s ingredient will be tomatoes. Yum! You can buy your tickets at the Farmers’ Market info booth on Market Square.

Cheers!