Cucumber, mint and lime cooler

A pale green, ice cold drink of blended cucumber, fresh mint and lime, lightly sweetened. Clean, sharp and very refreshing.

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

Ingredients

Cut 8 thin rounds from the cucumber and keep them for the glasses. Roughly chop the rest, skin and all.
Squeeze the juice from 2 of the limes. Cut the third lime into thin slices for serving.
Put the chopped cucumber, the mint leaves (not the serving sprigs), the lime juice and the sugar in a blender with 400ml cold water. Blend for 1 minute, until completely smooth and pale green.
Pour through a fine sieve into a large jug, pressing the pulp with the back of a spoon to get all the juice out. Throw the pulp away.
Stir in another 400ml cold water. Taste and add a little more sugar if you like it sweeter, stirring until it dissolves.
Fill 4 tall glasses with ice, slip 2 cucumber rounds and a lime slice down the side of each, pour over the cooler and top with a mint sprig.

Chill the jug for an hour before serving if you have time. It tastes fresher very cold.
It is best drunk the day it is made. It keeps in the fridge for a day but loses some of its bright colour.

Sparkling: blend with 400ml water as in step 3, then top each glass with sparkling water instead of adding the rest.
Less sugar: sweeten with a splash of apple juice, or leave the sugar out for a sharp, clean drink.