36) C2 Cooler

1.5 oz. Square One Cucumber Vodka
.5 oz. simple syrup
1 one inch slice of cucumber
3 lime wedges
2 lemon wedges
5 mint leaves

Muddle all of the ingredients save the Vodka in a pint glass, add the Vodka, and ice. Fill with soda water, and still until well chilled. Garnish with a slice of cucumber.

Sometimes, my work at the San Francisco Institute for Improved Drinking is easy. Like when I walk in the door, Ed is muddling away, and he says, "I got a drink!" It was an unusually torrid day for San Francisco, and a customer at the bar had asked Ed for "something refreshing". One of the recent creations of H., which has been fairly popular is the Cucumber Cooler -- Which calls for regular old Vodka. Ed figured it would fit the bill of a refreshing cocktail just fine. However, being no stranger to excess, decided that if he was gonna use cucumber, he was gonna use cucumber.

He decided to tweak the recipe just a bit, and reached for the Square One Cucumber Vodka. I was of a mind that perhaps it would be a bit of cucumber overload, but who am I to question Ed? A few muddles later, and he had a very happy patron on his hands. Seconds later the patron's friend was asking for one, and if that's not a sign of success I don't know what is. Of course I had to have one myself, you know, for research purposes.

To a bit of my surprise it was not the cucumber overload that I feared it may be. Rather the cucumber from the Vodka helped the flavor stand up to the citrus, and the dilution of the soda. It was indeed quite the refresher, and while I tend to be a little less, let's say -- tolerant, of Vodka than Ed, it was also quite tasty, and that's something I don't have much of a problem with.

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