No. 73Off the Menu
Pickle Sake Cooler
Chilled sake, cucumber and brine. Light enough for a second.
The Pickle Sake Cooler is chilled junmai sake shaken with muddled cucumber, lemon, a touch of sugar and dill pickle brine, then lengthened with soda water over ice. It is delicate, savory and gently fruity, like a cucumber salad in a glass. It is one of the lightest boozy drinks on the bar.
21+Updated
Brine2/52 of 5
HeatNonenone
StrengthLow
- Glass
- Collins glass
- Method
- Shaken
- Time
- 4 min
- Makes
- 1 drink
Ingredients
Make it for
Units
Amounts for 1, in ounces.
- 3 slices cucumber (about ¼ inch thick)
- 3 oz junmai sake (dry and chilled)
- ½ oz dill pickle brine (chilled, from the jar)
- ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- ¼ oz simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)
- 2 oz club soda (chilled)
- 1 slice cucumber (for garnish)
- 1 sprig fresh dill (for garnish)
- Glass
- Collins glass
- Garnish
- cucumber wheel and dill sprig
How to make it
- Muddle the cucumber slices in a shaker until they are well crushed.
- Add the sake, pickle brine, lemon juice and simple syrup.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake for about 10 seconds.
- Fine-strain into a collins glass filled with fresh ice.
- Top with the club soda.
- Garnish with the cucumber slice and dill sprig.
Bar tips
- Pick a dry junmai or ginjo sake. Sweet or cloudy nigori sake turns this into dessert.
- Fine-strain through a small sieve so no cucumber pulp clouds the glass.
Make it your own
- Use 1.5 oz soju instead of the sake for a slightly stronger, cleaner cooler.
- Swap the lemon for yuzu juice if you can find it.
Drink responsibly. This one is for adults of legal drinking age. Want it without the booze? The zero-proof drinks are just as briny.
Full recipe: dillin.org/recipes/pickle-sake-cooler
