Cocktails – Aviary Style
Cucumber gin & tonic is my recreation of a cocktail from The Aviary’s iconic coffee table book—a jaw-dropping collection born from the inventive minds behind Alinea, particularly Grant Achatz. If you’ve dined at his flagship restaurant in Chicago, you know how easy it is to tumble down the rabbit hole into The Aviary’s world of boundary-pushing cocktails.
The book itself is a beast—seven pounds of visual and culinary artistry. Each page pairs breathtaking photography with recipes that read more like science experiments than simple drink instructions. But for those who thrive on challenge, it’s less about ease and more about the alchemy. Think Back to the Future’s Doc Brown in a lab coat—only this time, the chemistry is real, and Achatz wears a chef’s jacket.
The Aviary Cucumber Gin & Tonic
This is the very first recipe in the book—and tellingly, it’s never been served at The Aviary. Why? It’s too time-consuming, labor intensive and complex for a menu. But for a passionate cocktail enthusiast at home? That’s an invitation.
What You’ll Need:
This isn’t your everyday G&T. You’ll need a few specialized tools and food-safe ingredients:
- Carbonation device
- 1/2 liter carbonation-safe container
- 5/8” diameter silicone sphere mold
- Glass straws
- Perforated spoon
- Sodium alginate
- Calcium lactate
- Powdered citric acid
Four Steps to Cocktail Greatness:
- Make the simple syrup
- Create cucumber spheres using molecular gastronomy techniques
- Carbonate the gin & tonic blend
- Assemble the cocktail for a show-stopping pour
This drink isn’t just a cocktail—it’s an experience. It smells like summer in a glass, fresh cucumber with a whisper of botanical gin and tonic bubbles. And the taste? Imagine sipping this, each taste punctuated by a burst of cucumber on a sun-drenched patio—with just a hint of science fiction.
Cucumber Gin & Tonic
An over-carbonated gin and tonic with cucumber spheres and a touch of chartreuse
- Yield: 2-4 1x
Ingredients
Simple Syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Cucumber Spheres
- 500 grams filtered water
- 75 grams sodium alginate
- 6 English cucumbers – a.k.a. European, greenhouse, hothouse or seedless
- 54 grams finely granulated sugar
- 10 grams calcium lactate
- 3 grams fine kosher salt
Gin & Tonic
- 4 oz premium, juniper forward gin
- 8 oz premium tonic water
- 1 oz green chartreuse
- 1 oz simple syrup
- 2 grams powdered citric acid
Instructions
Simple Syrup
- Combine in a small pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is fully diluted, remove from the heat and let it cool. Transfer to a swing-top bottle and refrigerate until ready to use
Cucumber Spheres – Make the Alginate Bath
- Combine the water and sodium alginate in a large bowl and blend with an immersion blender at high speed until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean round (rondeau) pan that will allow a depth of 1-1/2” to 2” of alginate solution
- Rest overnight in the refrigerator to let the sodium alginate fully hydrate and all the bubbles to dissipate
Make and Freeze the Cucumber Hemispheres
- Juice the cucumbers, peel on in a juicer and strain through a cheesecloth lined strainer
- Pour 500 grams (about 13 oz) of juice for making spheres into a bowl and reserve the remaining juice for sphere storage. Refrigerate the storage juice in an airtight quart jar
- Blend together the 500 grams of juice with the sugar, calcium lactate and salt with an immersion blender until everything is completely dissolved. Fill two squeeze bottles with the juice mixture and refrigerate until ready to use
- Place the 5/8” hemispherical silicone mold on a baking sheet for support and freeze for an hour
- Carefully fill the mold cavities with the cucumber mix. Don’t overfill the mold cavities because extra, overfilled frozen “flashing” will lead to misshapen spheres
- Freeze overnight until completely solidified
Finish the Spheres
- Pop the spheres out of the mold onto the sheet and return to the freezer to make sure they are completely frozen before finishing the spheres
- When ready to finish the spheres, Prepare two bowls with cold water for rinsing
- Remove the alginate bath from the fridge and carefully place on the stove without re-introducing bubbles. Warm the alginate slowly over the lowest heat. Gently stir, but do not introduce bubbles. Turn off the heat when the alginate is warm to the touch. Do not simmer or boil
- Working in small batches remove 10-20 spheres from the freezer and disperse evenly into the rondeau pan, taking care to avoid allowing them to touch or stick to the bottom
- As they thaw they will form a membrane that will encapsulate the liquid center. This takes 10 to 30 seconds and they change color and become translucent as they cure
- When fully encapsulated, remove them with the perforated spoon and place them a fresh bowl of cold water. Stir gently to rinse
- Transfer and repeat the rinse cycle in the second bowl of fresh, cold water and discard any misshapen spheres
- Strain them out and transfer to the jar of chilled, reserved cucumber juice for storage
- Use the spheres within 8 hours
Making the Gin and Tonic
- Prepare an ice bath
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir thoroughly until the citric acid is dissolved
- Transfer to the 1/2 liter carbonizing container and chill thoroughly in the ice bath – about 15-30 minutes
- Carbonate according to the manufacturer’s instructions and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve
Assembling the Cocktail
- Chill a Collins glass or a cocktail tumbler in the refrigerator
- Use a perforated spoon to strain, rinse with cold water and gently fill the glass with 50 to 100 of the cucumber spheres
- Gently pour in the carbonized gin and tonic cocktail
- Serve immediately with a glass straw