This is one of my favorite cocktails of all time. I used to make it with Hendrick's gin (which is subtly infused with cucumber and rose), but a more powerful cucumber gin infusion has taken the cocktail to the next level.

My favorite gin is Hendrick's. It is infused with cucumber and rose, giving it a very unique flavor. This infusion recipe adopts the Hendrick's flavor profile, and takes it a step further. Enjoy this one on the rocks, or with mint and lime.

I recommend using normal garden cucumbers in this infusion, since they have more flavor than english cucumbers. Make sure you peel them, even if they're not waxed— the skins can impart some bitterness into the infusion.

Cocktails: Cucumber Mint Martini

Kumquats have a very interesting flavor-- almost a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit. The kumquat's flesh is bitter and sour, and its rind is sweet, which makes the timing for this infusion critical. After one week of steeping, the infusion will taste bitter, because more flavor will have been drawn from the flesh than the rind. After two weeks, the bitterness will begin to mellow, and the sweetness of the rind will balance it all out.

I recommend that, after around 10 days of steeping, you take a small taste of the infusion every day until it reaches the balance you like.

Grapefruit has a strong flavor affinity with both orange and cranberry, so it makes perfect sense to use our Grapefruit-Infused Vodka to give the traditional Cosmopolitan a modern twist.