|
[1] Cool as a cucumber lemonade with gin. The recipe is below (photo: The Nibble).
[2] Hendricks ranks among the world’s most popular† gins. Note that they garnished this Gin & Tonic with cucumber instead of a lime wedge. (photo © William Grant & Sons).
[3] Different brands make cucumber-infused gin. Our favorite is Empress 1908 Cucumber Lemon Gin. Here’s more about it (photo © Empress Gin | Victoria Distillery).
[4] Why not grow these heirloom lemon cucumbers at home? Head to Burpee for the seeds (photos #2 through #5 © Burpee).
[5] These White Wonder cucumbers were a mutation. The seeds were then developed into this eye-catching variety, which happens to be extra-crisp.
[6] Check farmers markets for specialty varieties like the Armenian cucumber, shown here.
[7] Brown Russian cucumbers have a brown peel.
|
|
Updated July 2026
The different types of cucumbers are below, but we’re starting with a cocktail recipe to celebrate National Cucumber Day, June 13th. It’s a charmer we’ll serve throughout the warm weather months.
Hendrick’s Gin sent us a cocktail recipe called Cucumber Lemonade. We enjoyed both the drink and the garnish and thought: Why don’t we use more cucumber garnishes?
Club soda
Citrus sodas: Fresca, 7-Up, Sprite
Savory cocktails: Bloody Mary, Martini
Fruit or vegetable juices and ades
Tonic Water
Try adding a cucumber spear or wheel to these drinks, and you’ll have a crunchy snack to enjoy with it. Check out the photo below.
Below:
> Recipe: Hendrick’s Cucumber Lemonade Cocktail.
> The different types of cucumbers.
> The year’s 4 cucumber holidays.
> Why cucumbers are a fruit, not a vegetable.
> Food Fun: Hendricks Cucumber Currency Exchange.
Elsewhere on The Nibble:
> 9 ways to use cucumbers besides “the usual,” plus recipes.
> The year’s 95+ vegetable holidays.
> The history of cucumbers.
> The history of gin.
> The different types (expressions) of gin.
> The year’s 14 gin holidays.
> Beyond cocktails: using gin in glazes, marinades, and sauces.
[8] Surprise guests with a cucumber garnish instead of the standard lemon or lime. From left to right: Gin & Tonic, Vodka Tonic, lemonade, Martini, beet juice, carrot juice, club soda, water (photo: The Nibble).
RECIPE: HENDRICK’S CUCUMBER LEMONADE COCKTAIL
Hendrick’s is the perfect gin for this: They distill their gin using actual cucumbers among the botanicals, although it is not a cucumber-infused gin.
You can find several cucumber-infused out there. Our favorite is Empress 1908 Cucumber-Lemon Gin.
Ingredients For 1 Drink
3 parts Hendrick’s Gin
2 parts fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 parts simple syrup
Ice
Sparkling water
Garnish: cucumber spear
Preparation
1. COMBINE the first three ingredients in a tall glass. Add ice.
2. TOP with sparkling water, stir gently and garnish with a cucumber spear or wedge.
THE DIFFERENT CUCUMBER TYPES
You can garnish with any supermarket cucumber, but why not have fun and look for specialty varieties?
Add them to your salads, and serve them as crudités.
And check out the history of cucumbers.
Growers define cucumbers in five categories: slicing, pickling, burpless, space savers, and specialty.
Slicing cucumbers include the typical supermarket variety: long and straight with thin, non-bitter skins and seeds. They are bred for slicing and eating. The skin of younger cucumbers is tender enough to be eaten. As the fruit* grows, the skins thicken and more seeds develop. If left on the vine too long, the flesh may become bitter. Example: Straight Eight cucumber, the long supermarket cucumber.
Pickling cucumbers are shorter and stouter. They are bred to have thinner skins and drier flesh—, which allows them to soak up more of the pickling brine—plus smaller seeds. The smaller in size, the easier they are to prep and pickle. Examples: Boston Pickling, Calypso, Sassy.
Burpless cucumbers are slicing cucumbers that have been bred to produce less of the bitter chemical that releases gas in the stomach. They were developed because enough Americans had this sensitivity. Examples: English cucumber, Persian cucumber.
Space saver cucumbers, also called container cucumbers, are bred to create compact vines that fit into small gardens and deck planters. Examples: Apple, Lemon, Lebanese, Picklebush, Spacemaster.
Specialty cucumbers/Heirloom cucumbers are old varieties that have less developed disease resistance than modern hybrids, but are appreciated for their different flavors, shapes and/or colors. Look for them in farmers’ markets. For example:
> Armenian cucumbers (photo #4) are long, light green and heavily ribbed. They taste like a melon without the sweetness. Their ribbed shape makes interesting cross-sections when sliced.
> Lemon cucumbers (photo #2) look like speckled lemons. White cucumbers (photo #3) are extra-crisp.
> Crystal Apple cucumbers, heirlooms from New Zealand, have pale green, roundish fruits resembling Granny Smith apples.
> Suyo Long is a traditional variety from China that delivers burpless, sweet ribbed fruits that can be used for slicing or pickling. Hybrids like Palace King have a ripples of yellow on emerald green skins.
There are nearly 100 varieties of cucumbers grown in most countries in the world.
Here’s your homework:
Go to a farmers market and look for specialty cucumbers. If you have a garden, check out the options and plan to plant at least one variety next year.
By the way: cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are a fruit, not a vegetable. They are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes watermelons, pumpkin, and zucchini, among others.
THE YEAR’S 4 CUCUMBER HOLIDAYS
June: National Cucumber Month
June 14: National / World Cucumber Day
June 29: International Fried Pickle Day
November 14: National Pickle Day
|
[9] No surprise: America’s favorite use for cucumbers is pickles (photo © Jonathan Piel Meyer | Unsplash).
HENDRICK’S GIN CUCUMBER CURRENCY EXCHANGE
Hendrick’s Gin Cucumber Currency Exchange gets our vote for the most creative marketing promotions out there. It’s based on the fact that Hendrick’s distills its gin using actual cucumber, and the distillers treat the fruit with what has been called “borderline religious reverence”—in this case, using it as legal tender!
You walk into a participating bar during a designated window called “Cucumber Hour,” typically spanning a few hours in the evening on or around World Cucumber Day, June 14th.
You hand the bartender an actual fresh cucumber. In exchange, the bartender pours you a complimentary Hendrick’s and Tonic, garnished with—you guessed it—a slice of cucumber.
The Fine Print: The bartender generally accepts any type of cucumber, regardless of shape or size. However, the exchange rate is strictly 1 cucumber = 1 drink per person; you get a second drink with a second cucumber or buy a whole round for the bar with a bag of cucumbers. The only loophole to this rule is the “group project” approach: If you bring a bunch of friends with you, and each person has their own cucumber and hands it over individually, then your group can successfully cash in on a drink for each.
What started as a small, quirky promotion in the U.K. has evolved into a massive international campaign.
The event heavily targets major global cocktail hubs across Asia (Bali, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore), Europe (London and elsewhere), and North America (Chicago, New York, Toronto).
How Do You Find A Local Event?
Because Hendrick’s treats this event with a high level of secrecy until right before it happens, there isn’t a master list of bars online. However, finding an exchange near you is quite easy if you know where to look.
Check the Official Hendrick’s Region Sites as World Cucumber Day, June 14th, approaches, some countries hold their currency exchange on the closest weekend or even stretch it over a full week in late June. Second, be sure to adjust your web region (e.g., changing the URL to /us/, /sg/ for Singapore, or /ph/ for the Philippines) because the event schedule fluctuates depending on the country.
Monitor Local “Time Out” or Event Outlets. City-specific lifestyle and nightlife publications (like Time Out, Eater, or Thrillist) almost always publish the complete, concrete list of local participating bars about a week before the event. Search something like “Hendrick’s Cucumber Currency Exchange [Your City Name]” during the first week of June.
Check Social Media Hashtags on June 14th. Head to Instagram or TikTok using the official event hashtags: #WorldCucumberDay, #CucumberCurrencyExchange, and #HendricksGin.
_________________
*Botanically, cucumbers, Cumis sativus, are fruits. They are members of the same binomial genus as cantaloupe, honeydew, Persian and other melons. The difference between fruits and vegetables:
Fact: Fruits are not necessarily sweet. Tomatoes are fruits, avocados are fruits, hot chile peppers are fruits, cucumbers and squash are fruits. Because they aren’t sweet, people think of them (and classify them in recipes and in produce departments) as vegetables.
But by botanical definition, fruits have their seeds on the inside; the only exception is the strawberry. With fruits, the seeds, or pits, are contained in the fruit’s ovary sac. True vegetables have no pit or seed sac.
†According to the annual bar survey by VinePair, Hendrick’s ranks #4 among the world»s best-selling gin brands in top bars worldwide. Known for its distinctive rose and cucumber botanicals, it sells more almost 2 million cases annually.
By overall retail sales volume worldwide, Hendrick’s is a major premium brand, currently in 8th place. The top place is held by a brand popular in Philippines and Southeast Asia, Ginebra San Miguel. Following in order of sales are Gordon’s (Diageo), Seagram’s (the leading gin brand in the United States, from Pernod Ricard, about 2 million cases), Tanqueray (the best-selling gin in U.S. bars Diageo, about 1.36 million cases), Beefeater (3 million cases, Pernod Ricard), Bombay Sapphire (Bacardi), .Hendrick’s (William Grant & Sons, about 1.8 million cases).
CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.
|
