Basil Gimlet | Cocktail Party

Basil Gimlet

Summer, on our side of the globe at least, is all about fresh basil – caprese salads, homemade pesto, and of course – basil cocktails.

The Basil Gimlet is the most perfect and pure of these, with a flavor that tastes like the aroma of fresh basil in the sunshine. For this drink, stick to a neutral or juniper-forward gin; Hendricks and other floral gins will muddy the fresh herbal flavor. Vodka also works here, giving the basil no competition for dominance.

For maximum effect, garnish the drink with a leaf of fresh basil, slapped once between your hands. It keeps the leaf looking pretty, but releases wonderful aromatic oils that enhance the flavor of the drink.

Ingredients

Instructions

Muddle the basil leaves and the simple syrup in your shaker. Add the other ingredients and some ice, shake, and double-strain through a wire mesh strainer into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe.

To garnish, take a leaf or small sprig of basil. Place it in one hand, and clap your hands together just once. Gently lay the basil on top of the drink, letting it float on the foam.

Cocktail Party app on tablets and phones

Get the App

The Cocktail Party app puts this drink – and hundreds more – in your pocket, and tells you what you can make from the ingredients you have at home. It's the best $3.99 you'll ever spend on a drink.

Read more

An awesome cocktail app with curated recipes

I'm shocked that there are no reviews listed for this app. I found it on reddit's cocktails forum. The drink list in this app is much shorter than in many of the other apps I've seen, but the quality and reliability of the recipes is much much higher. These are more like the drinks you would get at a good mixology bar instead of the drink equivalent of your aunt's jello fruit mold that people just "love." I much prefer a list of cocktails that are reliable, good and repeatable than a huge pile of garbage recipes. This app is great and delivers great, reliable cocktails.
US TroupCounty, iTunes App Store