Properly Sauced: Citrine

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jan 30, 2009 6:05PM

A few weeks ago, we visited La Madia, an upscale pizza place in River North. Aside from great casual food, La Madia has an unusually well-stocked cocktail menu. We attended a mixology class there a while back, and we wanted to go as a regular customer to see if the drinks lived up to expectations.

Our favorite was the Citrine, a mellow gin-based concoction. It includes a lot of cucumber, one of our favorite cocktail ingredients and an excellent match for a good gin. The original recipe called for Hendricks gin; it works with any gin that isn’t too strongly flavored. Too many strong botanical and herbal elements and you won’t taste any of the cucumber, though.

Citrine
Adapted from La Madia
Thanks to Emily Collins

4 tangerine segments
6 thick slices of cucumber, diced
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 oz simple syrup (optional)
1 1/2 oz gin

The recipe calls for simple syrup, in addition to the juice from the limes and tangerines. We like the drink this way - the tartness of the fruit and the flavor of the gin makes the sweetness work. However, for those of you who prefer your drinks a little stronger, you can omit the sugar and have a very respectable cocktail.

Muddle together the cucumber and tangerine with the simple syrup. Add the lime juice. Add the gin and shake in a mixing glass 3/4 filled with ice. Strain and serve. Garnish with a thin slice of cucumber.