Last week my blogging friend Greg sent me a copy of his latest cookbook called Savory Cocktails. As a previous bartender, I loved seeing some of the new cocktails featured in the book. What I really like about it is that Greg spent the time to interview a lot of popular bartenders and used some of their recipes in the book.

So it’s really a sort of “best-of” if you ask me. I haven’t made every cocktail in the book yet, but I can tell you that they all look delicious. I took photos of one of my favorites, The Green Gargoyle. So I thought I’d share how to make it with you all and also give you a chance to win a copy of the book!

The Green Gargoyle

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Author: Nick Evans
Servings: 1 Serving
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 minute
Total Time: 10 minutes
A delicious cocktail from Savory Cocktails.

Equipment

Ingredients 

  • 1 inch English cucumber
  • 2 slices jalapeno pepper
  • 3 springs cilantro
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 lime
  • 2 ounces Tequila
  • Coarse salt

Instructions

  • Add cucumber, jalapeno slices, the juice from one lime, and a few sprigs of cilantro into a sturdy pint glass. Muddle ingredients until they form a loose pulp. Add honey and tequila and continue to muddle. Add ice to a mixing glass and shake drink vigorously for 10 seconds.
  • In a cocktail glass, press lime against the rim and dip into coarse salt. Then fill glass with ice.
  • Strain shaken drink into prepared glass. Garnish with cucumber slices, one thin jalapeno slice, and cilantro sprigs. Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe from Savory Cocktails.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cocktail | Calories: 225kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 523mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 1977IU | Vitamin C: 233mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American

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Green Veggies

This drink is a bit on the spicy side, but it also has a good chunk of cucumber, fresh lime juice, and some honey which helps kill the heat. As Greg mentions in the book, what’s nice about spicy drinks is that even though they bring the heat, they are actually perfect to enjoy on a hot day.

Good stuff.
Good stuff.

To start the drink, just add the hunk of cucumber (no need to peel or seed it) with a few thin jalapeno slices, about 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice (which is essentially a whole lime), and a few sprigs of cilantro to a sturdy pint glass.

Then beat the hell out of it with a muddler until the mixture is essentially a pulp.

muddle muddle.
muddle muddle.

Prepare your drinkin’ glass by pressing the lime you juiced into the edge of the glass and dipping it into coarse salt.

The book recommends pink sea salt, but I just used normal kosher salt. Whateva.

A good salting.
A good salting.

Add your tequila and honey to your mixing glass. The original recipe calls for 2 ounces of tequila but I was feeling frisky so I upped it to three.

Action shot!
Action shot!

Shake this all together with lots of ice in a cocktail shaker for 10-15 seconds to really chill it down and then strain it into the prepared glass with fresh ice.

I garnished mine with a few cucumber slices, a thin jalapeno slice, and some fresh cilantro leaves.

Yum.
Yum.

Greg mentioned to me on Twitter that this drink actually gets spicier the longer it sits, but I drank mine so fast I didn’t give it the chance!