Cucumber-infused Vodka

--Blogpost written by Bob

You were probably expecting this blogpost to involve the covering of the old holes from the discharge hoses from our old marine toilet and that project is coming along fine but every once in a while something, an idea, distracts you from your mission (of completing boat projects, in my case).  

I ran across an interesting article online about the most popular flavored vodkas and cucumber-infused vodka was mentioned.  So, I decided to give it a try.  I bought two cucumbers, removed the skin, slit them into spears, and removed the seedy center area.  I put the seeded spears in a jar and then filled the jar with vodka (it happened to be Skyy brand).  As the flavors were mingling over the first couple days, we occasionally took little bites out of the cucumber spears, even though they didn't taste very good.  We also sampled the vodka's taste with a spoon after 5 days and it was becoming quite "cucumber-ry".

The seeded cucumber spears marinated in vodka
for one week on board s/v Rainy Days.

After a week, we decided to bring the infusion process to a conclusion.  We removed the cucumber spears and strained the flavored vodka through a paper coffee filter to remove a few seeds and pulp that escaped the cleaning process.  

The cucumber spears were removed (foreground) and the vodka was strained
using a paper coffee filter as we transferred it into a clean jar.

Two cucumber-infused vodka and tonics on ice on a Friday evening
make up for a long hard week of work.

The vodka assumed a delightful very light greenish-yellow color and a delicate cucumber fragrance.  We put ice cubes in a glass, added a shot of the cucumber-infused vodka, and filled the remainder of the glass with diet tonic water.  As the carbonated tonic water released its small bubbles, the cucumber fragrance became a little more apparent but the flavor was very mild.  We added a cucumber slice as garnish to complete our cocktail.

As I was finishing writing this blogpost, the announcement was made by 35-year old prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby (new in her job since January), that six police officers were indicted in the murder of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.  I felt proud that our justice system worked.  I hope this action sets a new standard and that "liberty and justice for all" will have new meaning throughout the United States.

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