On a balmy summer day, there simply is no more refreshing drink than this.  So with our Shrimp-Off pickled shrimp competition (posting this Friday!), I set Captain Peter to muddling and mixing.  With rum for those in favor, ginger beer for those abstaining.  Arrrrrrguably the best mocktail I’ve ever had.

Cucumber Mojitos (and Fauxitos), for Six

12 limes
2 regular or 1 English cucumbers
1 large bunch fresh mint
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
1 liter club soda
White rum or ginger beer

Be sure the galley is free for a while…captains tend to go big, and mine ended up looking like a rain forest for the duration.  But I counted all that lime juice splatter as a sanitizing spritz.

For each drink (and you can do this for probably 3-4 at a time, effectively), muddle one lime, quartered, with leaves from several sprigs of mint (about 24 leaves), and 1 big tablespoon sugar.  Give this a good stomping to get much of the juice out of the limes, bruise the mint severely, and dissolve some of the sugar.

Separately, juice one lime per serving, and puree with 1/3 regular or 1/6 English cucumber.  You can work as hard as you wish to get this solids-free. We chose to “go lumpy” which allowed us to call this “salad with a rum dressing” rather than a cocktail.  Pirates are fantastic excuse-makers.

Mix the puree with the muddled fruit and mint.  This is your base, to be mixed with ice and club soda, and one’s choice of poisons….

If you’re going with rum, go as piratey as you can!  And go white…it makes for a much prettier drink than dark rum.

For each person, fill a glass with ice and add a few good heaping spoonfuls of the fruit and vegetable base.  Fill the glass to 1/2 with club soda, and top with rum or a good-quality, sharp ginger beer.  Garnish with a lime wedge, sprig of mint, and cucumber “swizzle stick” for stirring…now you’re livin’ larrrrrrrrrrrge!