Author Notes
A while back I made a cocktail I dubbed the Szechuan Mule—a riff on the Moscow Mule using szechuan peppercorn steeped vodka and a homemade ginger ale of sorts. I had quite a bit of fresh ginger and lime juice leftover which I had frozen in ice cube trays. I ended up putting a cube each of ginger and lime into a large water bottle to take with me wherever I went. Since then I try to always have cubes of lime, lemon and/or ginger juice in the freezer but I figured I could just as easily make a mixer that could become a cocktail, mocktail or just plain summer sipper. These cubes are a refreshing and zingy mix of cucumber, ginger, lime, agave, basil and mint and can be mixed with water, club soda, tonic, vodka, rum, tequila or any mix of the lot. You could even float some thin slices of jalapeño in there. I used four cubes and water for a perfectly balanced limeade, but you can choose your own potency. —savorthis
Ingredients
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6 ounces
lime juice*
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2 ounces
ginger juice*
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8 ounces
cucumber juice*
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3 ounces
agave nectar or simple syrup
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2 tablespoons
basil, thinly sliced
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1 tablespoon
mint, thinly sliced
Directions
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Mix all ingredients well and pour into ice cube trays, stirring gently to distribute the herbs. Freeze until solid. Add cubes to glass (4 for a 8 oz glass of limeade, 2 with booze and a splash of fizz for a cocktail) and pour in liquid of choice (or dump the lot in a pitcher and mix for a crowd).
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* I tend to buy a large quantity of limes and juice them and freeze them. 6 ounces came from about 8 cubes. I use a juicer for the ginger, but when my juicer was not working, I chopped it finely in a food processor and squeezed it through cheesecloth. Some stores also sell bottled ginger juice. One large cucumber yielded about a cup of juice which I also did in a juicer- but you could blend/strain for the same results.
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