The Eastside Cocktail is a delicious and refreshing gin-based drink that's made with cucumber and mint. It's a cousin to the Southside Cocktail, and a riff on the classic gimlet.
This drink is typically served up in a coupe or a Nick and Nora glass, giving it a really elegant feel. The garnishes on a cocktail pick just add to that.
If you are a gin lover, I have more gin cocktails for you! Check out my French Gimlet and Southside Cocktails!
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This drink is very easy to shake up. If you can muddle and shake (you can, trust me), you can make this cocktail.
- It's packed with fresh flavors and ingredients. Fresh lime juice, mint, and cucumber all give this cocktail super bright and fresh flavors.
- You can easily make more than one at a time. Want to make one for you and a friend? Just double the ingredients in your shaker!
💭 What is an Eastside Cocktail?
An Eastside Cocktail is a variation on the Southside Cocktail, and both are riffs on the classic gimlet. It's a perfectly balanced and delicious cocktail.
The Eastside is a gin-based drink made with fresh cucumber and mint, lime juice, and simple syrup. We'll talk about the ingredients below.
It's typically served "up" in a Nick and Nora or coupe glass. Serving a drink "up" means that the drink is shaken/stirred/combined with ice to chill it, and then served without ice.
📝 Ingredients
You don't need many ingredients to make this drink. Just 5 good quality ingredients will do.
- Cucumber: This drink requires fresh cucumber. I tend to prefer English (or hothouse) cucumbers, but you do you.
- Mint: Fresh mint, please.
- Gin: Use your favorite gin. This isn't an ad, but I particularly enjoy Bar Hill and Conniption American Dry gins.
- Simple syrup: You can use store bought simple syrup or you can make your own at home! It's so easy to do it at home, that I highly recommend it.
- Lime juice: Freshly squeezed, please.
- Garnish: I like to garnish this drink with a wheel of cucumber and a bit of fresh mint.
👩🏻🍳 How to make an Eastside Cocktail
First, start out by dropping your fresh cucumber slices into the bottom of your cocktail shaker and muddling them gently. You don't want to beat them up too much, so don't be too aggressive. Just muddle enough to release the cucumber-y flavor.
Next, add the fresh mint, gin, simple syrup, and lime juice to the shaker, as well. After that, add ice to the shaker (I like to use one big cube) and shake everything until it's nice and cold.
Next, double strain the cocktail into a Nick and Nora or coupe glass. Make sure to double strain so that you don't end up with any cucumber or mint bits in your drink. Last, garnish your cocktail!
🔗 More gin cocktails
Check out the photos and links below for more delicious gin drinks!
- London Mule from Burrata and Bubbles
- French 75 from Mitten Girl
- Fig Jam and Gin Cocktail from The Boozy Ginger
❓ FAQs/Tips and tricks
Use whatever you like! Keep in mind, the better quality gin you use, the better the drink will taste.
Yep! Just scale the ingredients up as needed!
I like to double strain it to avoid any bits of mint or cucumber ending up in the drink.
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✨ Recipe
Eastside Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 slices fresh cucumber plus more for garnish
- 7 fresh mint leaves plus more for garnish
- 2 ounces gin
- 0.75 ounce simple syrup
- 1 ounce lime juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Drop the cucumber slices into the bottom of a cocktail shaker and muddle gently.
- Add the mint, gin, simple syrup, and lime juice to the shaker. Add ice.
- Shake until cold, about 20 seconds.
- Double strain into a Nick and Nora or coupe glass.
- Garnish with a wheel of cucumber and/or fresh mint, if desired.
Notes
- You don't have to double strain this drink, but double straining it will help ensure that you don't end up with any bits of mint or cucumber in your drink.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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