Iced Nettle Green Cooler with Cucumber and Mint
Cold-brewed nettle blended with crisp cucumber and fresh mint — a clean, vivid-green iced drink that refreshes and revitalizes on warm days.
Nettle's earthy, mineral-rich character translates beautifully into a chilled drink. Cold-brewing the leaves overnight pulls out a smooth, sweet, vegetal flavor while leaving any astringency behind, giving you a crisp, vivid-green base that is endlessly refreshing.
Cucumber is the perfect companion here. Its cool, watery freshness mirrors nettle's clean green quality, turning the cooler into something that tastes like a garden in a glass. Fresh mint adds a bright, lifting note on top.
Cold extraction is the way to go. Hot-brewed nettle chilled over ice can taste a little flat, but slow cold-brewing keeps the flavor delicate, naturally sweet, and beautifully smooth.
Serve this over plenty of ice on a warm afternoon when you want a caffeine-free refresher that still feels nourishing. It is the spring tonic reimagined for summer — light, clean, and genuinely thirst-quenching.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp dried nettle leaves or 3 nettle tea bags
- 4 cups cold water
- 1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced, plus extra for garnish
- A handful of fresh mint leaves
- 1 tbsp honey or agave, to taste
- Juice of half a lemon
- Ice cubes
How to make it
- 1Place the nettle leaves or tea bags in a jar or pitcher with the cold water. Add the cucumber slices and half the mint.
- 2Cover and refrigerate for 8–12 hours to cold-brew.
- 3Strain through a fine sieve, pressing gently to extract flavor, and discard the solids.
- 4Stir in the honey or agave and lemon juice until dissolved.
- 5Serve over ice, garnished with fresh cucumber slices and the remaining mint leaves.
Want to learn more about Ortiga? Visit its full profile.
Back to OrtigaYou might also like
Nettle Spring Tonic with Lemon and Honey
A warming, caffeine-free spring tonic that pairs mineral-rich nettle with bright lemon and gentle honey — the classic restorative cup of European herbal tradition.
Nettle Garden Gin Sour
A herbaceous, vivid-green cocktail where nettle-infused gin meets fresh lemon and honey syrup — with an easy alcohol-free mocktail version for everyone.