Making Summer Cordials - #28 

Hi- Thanks for shouting out about my book - hope it brings you years of joy.

I can't believe you showed us that monster watermelon but didn't show what it looked like inside 😂. This has become one of my favourite videos of yours. Thank you. I'm off out to Sainsburys in the 32 degree heat to see what they have in the way of watermelons.

I love cucumbers with the skin on, but for cordial it's definitely better to peel them! I'd also cut the amount of sugar in half, make sure you have enough lemon juice next time, and don't let the Moroccan mint sit overnight in the cucumber mush. It's best to add Moroccan mint about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking process and then sieve it.

I grew a 40 Pound and 53.. Smile. Its an Oval one. Ninette Bird - The Caribbean Wife.

If you want a less sweet version of cucumber mint, purchase a glass container with a filter cap on it. Add peeled, sliced cucumbers into the vessel, the mint, add water, and stick in your refrigerator overnight. Turns out very flavorful without the cooking. However, must be drunk within a few days. When you pour it out, the filter cap keeps the solids in the container and you just get the water.

Originally, in England, a cordial was a medicinal syrup to mute the flavor of the medicine; usually syrup of poppies that was added to the sweet, fruit flavored syrup. I had no idea the Brits called (Aussie) cordial "squash". If you get a lug lid that has lost it's grip, you can tighten the lugs with pliers; just don't squeeze too hard. You could make fruit leather from the watermelon pulp.

I love Moroccan mint tea, it’s great for nausea from the chemotherapy I am on for cancer.

G'day again from downunder Kylie and Guy. I'd have to agree with Kylie, it's cordial. Squash (as in a drink) is in my experience a lemon based drink usually served in a pub. Keep up the good work 👍

Turn over your closed bottle for 30 sec to disinfect the cap / lid , this is what the hot filling industry do

KYLIE & GUY...I DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD EAT THE STALKS OF STRAWBERRIES & BLEND THEM WITH THE STRAWBERRIES...I HAVE BEEN CUTTING THEM OUT WHEN I FREEZE THE STRAWBERRIES...OH MY! YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY!...ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE HOW CORDIAL WAS MADE...A FAVORITE DRINK OF THE VICTORIAN ERA, AS I REMEMBER...;)

lemon juice is to stop the oxidation as well cut the sweetness .very important step and one that should not be missed. green lemons still have a usable juice

I had heard about cordials in books that I’ve read, but I had no idea what they actually were. I thought it was a liquor of some sort. Thank you for the tutorial video on making cordials.

I remember when it was hot and we were peeling cucumbers for a salad as children we stuck the strips of peel to our forehead to cool😃 and it worked

Also very nice: cucumber-mint-applejuice. I always make it with a slowjuicer. 1 large cucumber, as much mint as you like and fill with applejuice till you reach 1L in total. Add a little lemon juice (keeps the juice turning brown and adds a little freshness) and enjoy! Don't know how to preserve this juice though.

Hello from Miami, Florida...guys that was a great video...hilarious😂😂 when tasting the green cordial...

Just having my pot of my own homegrown mint tea ha, I love mint tea. Love watching you guy's. Thank you for all the information you share 👍😉🇮🇪🍀

Cordial greetings from a warm Bretagne country cuisine. Hugh FW’s books have offered me a series of recipes up to the present, so, when you get around to publishing one interested citizen awaits. Love from a dry Cleguerec 👍💙🤍❤️🇬🇧🍷🇫🇷

it is entirely possible that adding the lemon juice to the cucumber mint cordial will prevent it from discoloring as much while cooking. that could also enhance and preserve the mint taste. I definitely learned a lot of interesting techniques and also ordered the book

I think the cucumber and mint cordial deserves another go. You left it overnight which caused oxidation and that affected to color. It also diluted the aroma of the mint, you ran out of lemmon and you added too much sugar. Maybe try with a more traditional mint. I have found cucumber a very refreshing ingredient in several beverages. Cheers!

Watermelon strawberry mint would be good.

Iam from Hungary one noticed your project. I never pill the cucumber. And never add to sugar. It is my mind cucumber is like salt. I love it with salt and garlich. I use the press mashine I got nice drink. I cut many piece with carrott, bethrooth, onion, i love onion, tomatos, 2 pieces cucumber 2. Pieces carrot 2 pieces bethrooth 2 pieces onion 2. Tomatos sometime apples not always 2 pieces And you heve get delicius juche. Maybe 2 dl. Maybe more Deppent vegetable. Now here in Hungary extrem hot,no water no rain I sm lucky becsuse I have the well in my garden-😄 many week ago. You can try maybe you will like. You do in your land amazing. 👌👌👌😄👌👌👌

Re: induction hobs. I looked at these when buying a new range cooker in 2018. I have a friend who sells domestic appliances, I asked him. He told me that the emf (electromagnetic field) is so strong that they are not sold in Germany (in 2018), also people with pacemakers need to be advised that there is an induction hob. Further more, a standard ceramic hob is relatively simple and cheap (relatively) to repair. Not so induction hobs. You may wish to take that into account. I have always had electric hobs, beginning with the old, take an age, solid hob plates. My first ceramic cooker (1995) was much quicker. Son of ceramic purchased 2018, even quicker and very responsive. Yes they do take a while to cool, that is what the red light is for! I think you will find that if you touch the iron pan supports on a gas cooker immediately after cooking, you will get burned. Go to a showroom and try a standard electric hob out. Things have moved on.

I have made cucumber and kiwifruit cordial in the past. And even with kiwifruit, cucumber definitely needs lemon to give it some oomf. Probably not something that you could grow (although I would look into it if I were you) is monk-fruit. I dehydrate and then grind (like your orange powder) and use this as a sweetener. Just an idea to reduce the amount of refined sugar used in cordial. Love your videos - thanks for sharing

Very interesting being as the watermelon wasn't ripe I didn't think it would have any flavour. I will try this out on a bought watermelon out of curiosity watch this space 🤞🤞

Great to see you in the house, thanks for giving me a glimpse of that Portuguese wooden door!

All summer I have enjoyed cucumber lemonade. I peel 2-3 cukes, blend in the blender with 1/2 cup water and definitely strain it to get rid of the pulp and tiny fibers that remain from the seeds. Should yield about 2 cups then mix the juice with 2 cups of lemonade. Most refreshing over ice and a nice very light green color. For more color just leave a strip or two of peel. I would only use a fresh mint leaf in the cordial when serving. Your cordials make a lovely display! Also, cucumber melon is my favorite scent from Bath and Body Works. If the combo tastes as good as it smells then you have another winning experiment!😄

🍊 orange dust 😍 I really do need a dehydrator 🍊

you need to try fresh watermelon juice with mint. but the watermelon has to be very ripe, and if it's already cold, it's ready. add a cup of mint leaves to this blender of yours, blend it, sift it and just drink it with ice

Strawberry and watermelon is also lovely as a refreshing summer drink in blender 😋 thanks for sharing 😊🇦🇺

I love your new magnetic cooker and is something I have been looking at. As far as watermelon anything it is the best thirst quencher I know. Nice to see a light hearted video where at least you don't have to sweat too much Cheers.

I love the idea of watermelon syrup or whatever! My family loves mint syrup non cooked, still brownish, but very refreshing. Lemon or limuntus (lemon acid powder, don't know English word for it) make a world of difference! What a stunning view through that window!!!!!

Thanks for sharing

if you put some mint sticks in water, after a week or two they start to grow roots and you can plant them.

❤❤❤you two are wonderful ❤❤

Maybe strip the skin off the cucumbers would help with the dark green colour and use a traditional mint ?

Love this video, actually all your videos. I live in Canada and do preserves but have never done cordials. I have made raspberry syrup which freezes great. Excellent on ice cream, in ice tea or lemonade or add fizzy pop to it for a refreshing drink. I’ve also make a frozen slush with raspberries or rhubarb to add rum or vodka to on a hot summer day. Cucumber looks vile so maybe just let sit in fridge overnight would be better. Good luck

Well now, I've never thought of making cordials. You are genius!!! 🌹🐝🇿🇦

Induction cooktop is a game changer, I loved cooking with gas but not more. Induction Al the way now. Another great vlog.. Hi from a very wet n cold western Vic Australia.

Fun! Learning many new ways to use fruits and vegetables, Brilliant. Looking forward to seeing your new setup!

Great video! I’ve been waiting for your cordial making experiment! Yesterday I made Blackcurrant and raspberry cordial. I sweetened it with raw honey which I added at the end of the process to preserve the good properties in the honey. It turned out delicious and we tested it out in vodka cocktails last night.

I enjoy how you both are willing to try different thing in order to use what you have!!

I do 99% of my cooking on a single induction burner and I love it. I highly recommend them because of the portability, ease of cleanup, instant heat and heat reduction, and the safety factors. Love love love it.

I would just do a cold infusion, peeled cukes and whole sprigs of mint, rather then cook it. I think as others have suggested the lemon juice would be an important ingredient if you do cook it. But that's just me. I really appreciate this demonstration, if you do more experiments, please let us know. Cordials are not anything I grew with so I am interested. Thank you for sharing. Cheers from Canada.

I think the next thing you should build for your excellent youtube channel, love it, is a homemade Solar Food Dehydrator

I enjoyed this video immensely. That burner is fantastic.👏💕🇵🇹

Thank you! 🌀💚🌀

I really love your videos!

If you can get a root of ginger, it will add a lot of kick and flavour to a mild juice. Worth a try with the cucumber.

I have chocolate mint growing in my garden and it makes great tea. I think that I might try doing something like that with it too 👍. Thank you for sharing.

They look great. Something I did whilst home brewing beer that worked very well was to put all the bottles to be filled through the dishwasher leaving them in with the door closed whilst doing the brewing. They then came out still hot/warm and sterile ready to be filled. I never had a batch of off beer this way, even when left over 18 months. Obviously you need a dishwasher for this to work...

You can make long Island iced tea with your cucumber and mint cordial....love the watermelon....good luck..love your pod casts .

limonata A very refreshing lemon and basil drink Ingredients lemon juice 500 grams basil, washed and stemmed 20 grams sugar 200 grams water 250 grams Directions Basil Simple Syrup: In a saucepan combine basil, sugar, lemon juice and water and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, 5 minutes. Leave to infuse and cool. Strain. Store in bottle in fridge To use:- 50 grams limonata 250 grams sparkling water Makes one drink

I will try cordials, but with alternatives to sugar. I usually take 10cm of cucomber and 4 maroccan mint leaves and stick them in a bottle of water overnight in my fridge. I do grow wirry when just drinking water. This makes it nice on a hot summer day. Mint goes wel with strawberry in my opinion aswell.

Hello from very hot Cork Ireland 26°C and climbing

parabéns casal vocês são incríveis

Acid from the lemon juice probabaly would have cut through the sweetness of the cucumber and mint cordial and more Moroccan Mint then if you were using regular mint

Just ordered the book. Thanks for the info

Hi guys. You need to try to infuse vodka with mint and cucumber it's divine.

Another great video. I’m hopeful that with further experimentation you will be on a winner with the cucumber and mint combo. Thanks.

Been cooking with induction for about a year, it works super (and fast )

Really enjoyed watching you make and review cordials. I have to agree the cucumber and mint would put me off trying because of the colour. Love the induction hob, and look forward to seeing your kitchen units. Have a good weekend and week ahead xxx

Hi Kylie & Guy, It's wonderful to have such great fruit when you live in warm regions. But what I have here in the garden is very little, but I can also contribute to a thirst-quenching drink. Cucumber slices and raspberries in mineral water .... let stand for an hour and then drink ...... I can highly recommend it, especially if you don't really need sugar in the drink. Have fun testing. Greetings Stephi

Loved to learn this! Cant wait to try, dont think we make cordials in pt, more syrups and similar drinks, thank you!

The garden shed may lend itself to being insulated well. If the spacing of the 2x2s is the same as the size of insualtion boards and also you may find it suits the size of the thinnest plywood (4 or 6 ply) that you could sand, stain and varnish it may not be too expensive to do or too time consuming. It could easily be more work than you'd want to think about if the shelving is complicated to replace. It may be worth costing up a job! Good video....

Perhaps make some tea and add to the munt and cucumber

Cordial! Love from a Brisbane girl.

Y'all are so inventive!

I like to add a little Citric Acid to my fruit drinks for that little Tang to it. maybe you should try it to as you might like it also

I think you discovered how green things cooked turn brown. The acidity from lemons I would think would help with the flavor profile. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of cooked cucumbers, so infused cucumber and mint water sounds more appealing to me. But not great for persevering! I love that you guys are so willing to try things and aren't afraid of not liking and/or mistakes. Very refreshing in and of itself! I have never had/done cordials and after watching your video I'm super interested in exploring! Thank you for sharing!

Try the cucumber cordial with the same recipe but don’t cook it. You’ll have to keep it chilled and use it within 2-3 weeks. But it should have a flavor that is crisper and less tea like.

That cucumber juice It must be 100% basic research. Which Danish chef Nikolaj Kirk called.. 😀😀❤

Great video, thanks. I will definitely buy the book and get going, and I am sure that some lemon would have made your cucumber cordial much more interesting and also another mint as well. We all have our favorites and know what is best, if you know what I mean!!! But sooo great to see the process, thanks again.

❤ Madeira

I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.

*Great to see some more experiments happening & explaining what each one tastes like. BTW what I could see of the kitchen it is gonna look really great, so do please hurry up & finish it & post a video on it. thanks.*

Hi guy's what you can do with cucumbers is a viniger pickle and it last gor years. Cut to any size bit of sugar salt pepper spices chili ect and not of work have fun. 😉🌶️

I have one of those original Jack Lalanne juicers which is great for doing that in one go

You deserve a commission from Kylee Newton 😄 I do a LOT of preserving and food saving and have quite a colle cation of books but had not come across hers. Just ordered it.

Great content as always! Cheers!

Kylie your OCD re organisation sings to my soul. 😂

Intention to inform: The stuff that carries the flavor is a oil and it is not much oil in a mint bushel. When we do sysrup here we dry the mint first until it can be broken. Why do we dry it? because the water is a carrier for the Chlorophylle juice in the plant. So when the water is gone the Chlorophylle is stuck in the venes of the plant and gets not washed out that easily. Result the flavor is less like grassflavored tea and more like a mint tea. The longer you add the leaves the longer chlorophylleparticels get into the solution or syrup. Result hay flavor. You can extract the oil from the dry mint leaves with buthan gas too when i remember correctly thas a "hypercritical gas" exctraction. Do that outside or your flat becomes flat!

I love my cheap induction hob from IKEA. its fast and heat is not given out and heats the room like gas and electric. The heat is from the food and pot.

U should add lemon 🍋 to the cucumber and mint

If you have any apples the cucumber and apple might work.

If you peel the cucumbers, it will be much better and not nearly the dark color.

Should have peeled the cukes. As I'm sure you're aware, the skin of mature cucumbers is extremely bitter. Hope you'll try again, after adjusting your recipe. I've found that regular spearmint & peppermint don't stand up well to simmering. I was hoping the Moroccan mint was different. My 30 year old mint plants didn't survive the -10°F temps we had winter of 2020. I miss having refreshing mint tea in summer.

Looks like a vitamix 😁 I have one, best blender out there!

A menta oxidou por isso ficou com essa cor marrom e esse provavelmente ficaria melhor com limão. Não é culpa do pepino 😂. Adorei as dicas!

I’m loving your videos. Just watched all of them up until this point. Did I miss a tour of this space you are using? Where is this room on your property?

Your canning Lids and jars are very different than ours in North America

I saw a bag of catfood.., is it for the cat that isnt yours? 😂. I always thought it was funny you guys always saying " that cat isnt ours", he sure seems to think you are his, haha. Greetings to you from Sweden

Can you dehydrate the Watermelon pulp? Watermelon dust? 🍉

I just want to remind you, the fact that you didn't put the lemon juice with the cucumber and mint, makes a big difference in that taste. The other thing I will certainly experiment with those suttle tastes together, is to put fresh mint in the end serving as well as experiment to cook the water and sugar and just add the cucumber, mint and lemon after the cooking process to the hot syrup of sugar and water. That way one preserve the suttle taste of the cucumber, lemon and mint. It is certainly a delicious tea. We drink it often in the Karoo, in South Africa. Very delicious and helps a lot in our hot arid climate. Sorry, don't know the spelling of sutle? What will ginger do to that tea? With the lemon of course?

You might be able to turn that induction hob bleep noise off - check the manual.

Cucumber/watermelon

Could you go into detail of your current Solar setup. You seem to have done very well with the sizing on panels and Battery set if your running power tools all day as needed I.E Kaylie with the Hammer drill

I wonder if the cucumber mint tea would work colour wise, if you peeled the cucumbers and let the mint give the colouring. All good, unless you are like us and have to reduce our sugar intake. Thank you.

Mint in things always comes out that sludgy colour

Perhaps try peeling the cucumbers and discarding peels before blending?

What make is your induction cooker 😃 Alway look forward and enjoy your videos 🌻🐈🤗🇬🇧😎