I created this cocktail with my friend and fellow blogger Marta Malviya (at Mackinaw Road) as the House Punch for her Airbnb located in the treetops over Lake Michigan. She’s going to bottle the drink and leave it in the refrigerator for guests, so we created this cocktail in concentrate form. Guests can combine the drink with ginger beer directly before serving to ensure maximum bubbly-ness. Choosing to mix vodka is a suggested option as it’s not legal to provide guests with alcohol. That means that this can be a great option for any of your guests or as a punch with optional booze!
TreeTops Cucumber Fizz
Serves 20 (with vodka in a 10-ounce rocks glass)
⅓ cup fresh ginger chopped fine (no need to peel)
4 cups water
1 ½ cups white sugar
5 cups pink grapefruit juice (Simply Grapefruit 100% juice is my favorite if you can’t squeeze your own)
5 cups ginger beer (buy two 25.4 fluid ounces, I like Q Ginger Beer)
2 bottles Prairie Cucumber Vodka (750 milliliters bottles)
1 lime, sliced in thin half moons for garnish
Make the ginger syrup:
Combine chopped ginger, water, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.
After the mix reaches a rolling boil, turn down the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.
Turn off the heat and place a fine-mesh sieve over a 4-cup glass measuring bowl with a lip. Carefully pour ginger syrup over the sieve until the saucepan is empty.
Discard ginger solids, rinse saucepan with water, and pour ginger syrup back into the saucepan. Repeat the process, straining syrup over a sieve again into a measuring bowl.
Make the cocktail concentrate:
Combine 4 cups ginger syrup with 5 cups pink grapefruit juice.
Pour into a pretty jar and when ready to serve, combine with 5 cups ginger beer and the optional 7 cups of cucumber vodka. Serve over lots of ice with a garnish of fresh lime.
Purchase the Lark Cocktails book for dozens more great recipes! #livinglark
Purchase Lark Cocktails, which features dozens of recipes just like this one!
