St. Germain-Marinated Cucumber Mint Spritzers

These St. Germain-Marinated Cucumber Mint Spritzers are a simple vodka-based summer cocktail using fresh cucumber and mint and hydrating soda water. 

We’re getting extra-boozy with our boozy drink this week. And boy, is it well-deserved. It’s been an emotional roller-coaster of a week for me (in a good way!) and I’m excited to share more of that with you soon, but for now, let’s talk cocktails.

Now, we all remember those days of our youth when we marinated our favorite fruit in our favorite booze to sneak alcohol into an event where it MAYBE wasn’t permitted. I’m just going out on a limb here, I mean, I never brought Malibu-marinated pineapple to an outdoor picnic or concert, did you? 😉 Well, now that we’re older (and oh so much wiser), it’s time to class it up a bit. Now we’re going to add our high-octane marinated fruit to an actual cocktail, and it’s going to be oh so delicious.

So let’s talk about this St. Germain-Marinated Cucumber Mint Spritzer. I can’t remember where I saw it, but there was an article or recipe somewhere about marinating the cucumber in St. Germain (which is an elderflower liqueur that just so happens to also be a delicious addition to sparkling wine), so I have to admit that wasn’t my “original” idea. Buuuut, I did as I usually do when I’m looking for recipe inspiration and started thinking of ways I could morph the idea into my own. Naturally my mind turned to making a cocktail with it!

Cucumber is just naturally so refreshing, and pairs well with other refreshing ingredients, and with these heat waves we’ve been getting rolling through Southern California, we need all of the refreshing cocktails we can get! Amiright?

So here’s how we make a St. Germain-Marinated Cucumber Mint Spritzer:

1. We gather our cucumbers (I used Persian, because they’re soooo cute) and the St. Germain at least 30 minutes before we want our cocktails in hand, and get the two marinating together in all their glory. (I started marinating a day in advance, but just because that’s worked best in my schedule, no harm there either!)
2. Once our cucumbers are soaked in the delicious St. Germain, we muddle them in the bottom of a rocks glass with a few fresh mint leaves and some vodka, plus a tiny bit more St. Germain to help out with the sweetness.
3. We add some ice to chill this drink down, and top it all off with a seltzer water. I found this amazing Spindrift Cucumber Seltzer Water at Trader Joe’s and used that, but if you can’t find it you can always use plain seltzer and add just a few more slices of boozy cucumber. Can’t go wrong either way.
4. We give it a gentle stir and serve!

This recipe is sooo easy and sooo tasty. It takes less than 10 minutes to make (after you marinate the cucumber, but if you’re anything like me you just have a stash of it pre-marinated sitting in a Tupperware in your refrigerator.) It’s light with no added sugars or sweeteners (all of the sweetness comes from the St. Germain) so it won’t leave you with a nasty headache if you consume one too many. I’m thinking this will be the perfect cocktail for us to enjoy as we’re heading into the Fourth of July weekend. Light, refreshing, hydrating and so delicious, you won’t want to miss out on this one, that’s for sure!

We are heading to a wedding in San Luis Obispo this weekend, so be sure to follow along on Snapchat and Instagram for the latest and greatest from our travels. What is everyone else up to this weekend? I hope it’s full of fun, relaxation and friends!

Oh sweet summertime…

If you liked this recipe, you might also enjoy these:

• Pineapple Green Tea Martini
• Cucumber Elderflower Gin Fizz
• Raspberry-Mint Gin Smash