Happy cold cocktail season, friends! While many people think the holidays are the most wonderful time of the year, I’m pretty partial to the beginning of summer when everyone’s excited for patio season, spending time at the beach and getting their refreshing cocktails on – holla!

And while I’m usually pretty partial to a fruity margarita, I’m trying to expand my cocktail horizons this season by making a new cocktail every weekend this summer {I know, I know – it’s a hard job being a blogger, but someone’s gotta do it!}. Best of all, I’m teaming up with Drizly and have joined their top shelf blogger program, meaning there will be even more cocktails coming your way in the next few months!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Drizly, it’s basically the greatest invention in the world {aka, on demand alcohol deliveries within the hour} and I first tried it out when they delivered this bottle of Hendricks right to my door for this delicious cucumber gimlet recipe. After only being around for a mere 5 years, the company is now in 23 major cities around the U.S., so you should definitely check them out and try it out too! Before you kick things off this weekend, here’s my new favorite gimlet recipe that’s both incredibly refreshing and ridiculously delicious. Believe me, you’ll probably need a few glasses of these bad boys to kick off your weekend right!

Ingredients:

• 3 sprigs of mint
• 2 inch piece English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 2 ounces gin
• Tonic Water
• Cucumber and mint for garnish

Directions:
Strip the leaves from two sprigs of mint and place in the bottom of a highball glass along with a slice of cucumber. Next, muddle with a handle of a wooden spoon to diffuse the flavor. Top the muddled cucumber and mint with ice. Next, pour the Hendricks gin over ice, and top off glass with tonic, stirring once. Add a splash of simple syrup to taste if you like sweeter cocktails (like I do!). Lastly, garnish with the remaining mint sprig and add a thin cucumber wedge for decoration.  And viola! You have a refreshing cocktail that’s perfect for back patio sipping on the hottest Chicago summer days. Give it a try this weekend and let me know your thoughts!    Speaking of weekend, any fun plans? My mother and her best friend are road tripping to Chicago, and we’re planning to spend the weekend exploring and seriously cleaning out my closet {it’s weird what moms consider to be “fun weekend activities”…} Hopefully my apartment will have quite the transformation I can share in the coming weeks! xx