Cucumber Mint Cooler in Edible Cucumber Cups

This recipe is to go along with my Edible Cucumber Cups for Cocktails post.
You'll need to make your edible cups first in order to prepare this cocktail using the scooped out cucumber pulp. For the cup how-to, click here.

Now that your cups are ready, you can move on to preparing the drink!

1 cup cucumber juice (see next step for how-to)
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 1/4 cups club soda
2 tbsp simple syrup or agave nectar
3/4 cup of vodka ( I prefer Absolute)
6-8 stems of mint leaves garnish

in a blender, mix the scooped out bits of cucumber that resulted from making your cups with 1/4 cup water.
Strain through a fine mesh food grade strainer and set aside.

Usually the making a garnish is one of the last steps in a food/drink preparation process, but we're doing it early here in order to use the mint leaves that get removed in the recipe.

Pick 6-8 of the prettiest looking stems of mint leaves and remove all but the top 2-3.  

Cut the stems so each one is about 3 1/2" in length.  Set aside.

Now add the 1/2 cup mint leaves (removed from stems in previous step), 1/2 cup fresh lime juice, and simple syrup in a small mixing bowl or mortar. Muddle the mint leaves with the back of a spoon or pestle to infuse mint into the liquids.  

Into a container (a jar works well), pour the cucumber water, muddle mix, and vodka.
Give it a good stir.

To avoid spillage, use a clean baster to fill up your cups.

Start by filling them just past halfway with the mix you've made.
Top them up with club soda, also using the baster.

Add your mint stems and serve!

For another cocktail recipe to try in the cups, visit my Applejack Shot Instructable here.

For the Mount Fuji Cucumber Cups, click here.
For the Applejack recipe, click here.