Zero-Waste Cocktail: Lower East Side - Imbibe Magazine Subscribe + Save

Zero-Waste Cocktail: Lower East Side

When Campfire bartender Leigh Lacap realized the restaurant was throwing away roughly half of the mint they purchased every day, he created this zero-waste cocktail, a riff on the Eastside, to put those scraps to use, along with pulp from cucumbers that would otherwise go to waste.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. dry gin
  • 1 oz. mint and cucumber pulp syrup
  • ¾ oz. fresh lime juice
  • Dash of spirulina or wheatgrass (optional)
  • Sea salt
  • _____________________________
  • Salvaged Mint and Cucumber Pulp Syrup
  • 3 oz. mint (by weight)
  • 32 oz. simple syrup (1:1)
  • 8 oz. cucumber pulp (by weight)
  • Tools:shaker, strainer
  • Glass:rocks

Preparation

Shake all the ingredients with ice in a shaker. Strain into an ice-filled glass. Finish with a pinch of sea salt.

Salvaged Mint and Cucumber Pulp SyrupTie the mint up in cheesecloth like a teabag.* Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside. In a pot, bring simple syrup to a boil. Add the mint, making sure to submerge everything for a good 15 seconds. Remove the syrup from the heat and use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the mint. Submerge the mint in the ice bath for a few seconds, then remove it from the ice. Cut the mint loose from the cheesecloth and place it on a tea towel, folding the towel over to remove excess moisture.

Allow the simple syrup to cool completely in the refrigerator, then reintroduce the mint and add the cucumber pulp. Using a blender, blend the mixture on high speed until emulsified, then strain the mixture through a fine strainer into a jar. For every quart of syrup, add 4 grams of Spirulina or wheatgrass powder, and whisk to combine. Keep refrigerated.

*If you don’t have cheesecloth you can do this with loose mint, just remove the ice from the ice bath before adding the mint.

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