Bring a cucumber, get some gin
Cash is out and cucumbers are in–at least if you want gin and tonic on June 14. The fruit becomes legal tender for one night at 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. to celebrate World Cucumber day. Yes, there is such a day.
Over 50 bars and establishments are participating in this event, and they will accept the fruit as payment in exchange for Hendrick’s and Tonic. The Cucumber Currency Exchange was first introduced in 2018 by the gin company to celebrate the day established by growers in England.
Why cucumbers, you might ask? For the uninitiated, Hendrick’s Gin has long embraced the cucumber as its unofficial costar. It’s infused into the gin itself and typically perched atop its cocktails. The celebration isn’t just about the free drink, it’s about the experience.
Imagine walking into a bar, carrying a grocery bag full of cucumbers to get your drink fix. Size doesn’t matter in the barter.
“You can exchange a cucumber for a drink experience that you’ve never had before. So we’re really hoping that you know, that kind of brings down that barrier so that you’re a little bit less intimidated, because it was only just a cucumber,” said Charmaine Thio, Southeast Asia ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin.
The multiawarded mixologist has experienced the event in Singapore before, where she encountered groups of friends hop from one bar after another, carrying their cucumbers with them.
Participating bars in Makati include Al Tarboosh, B House, Banter & Jive, Bar 10 Four, Big Fuzz, Bizarre, Curator, Dr. Wine Poblacion, Draft Rockwell, Fat Cat, From Management, The Grasshopper Bar, Japonesa, Lampara, Layaw Makati, Mijo Comfort Food, Papillon, Polilya, Project Vino Poblacion, Project Vino Reserve, Spritz Makati, Skyline Sports Bar, The Penthouse 8747, and Tiabuela.
While in Taguig, you have Dr. Wine BGC, Electric Garden, Fauna MNL, Ipong Manila, Southbank Café + Lounge BGC, and The Attic. Other bars in Metro Manila joining are Southbank Café, Project Vino Alabang, Southbank Estancia, Hakid Manila, Linger Bar, Joy-Nostalg, Raion, Eraya, Lounge 207, Three Dots, Saikou Bar & Cafe, Bar by East, Takore Caffeine Bar, Cala Cafe, INT. Bar/EXT. Cafe, Wrong Door, Vitto’s Wine and Restaurant, Bar 360, The Grand Bar and Lounge, The Den PITX, The Whisky Library, The Den Los Baños, Malaya Los Baños.
The full list can be found here: hendricksgin.com/ph/unusual-times/world-cucumber-day.
