The basil flavour is very subtle (but I could tell it was there - I love basil!)
This was really yummy with my manicotti and rosemary focaccia :)
I'm so bad - as I was making this I was thinking "ooh, so many superfoods in this cocktail!" Well, berries and citrus are both superfoods and gin is made with juniper berries... hee hee ;) Hey, anything in moderation, right?
Enough for 2 cocktails
Ingredients:
2/9 cup sugar (odd amounts, I know - the original recipe was for 6! I just used a 1/3 cup measure and did two scoops that were about 1/3 of the 1/3 cup - hope that makes sense!)
1/6 cup basil leaves (I chopped mine up but that's not necessary)
2/9 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/6 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/6 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp. frozen raspberries
2 shots of gin
Method:
1. Make a simple syrup by bringing the sugar and 1/9 cup of water to a simmer in a saucepan. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat. Let steep for 30 minutes.
2. Pour the lime juice, orange juice, lemon juice, and raspberries into a blender. Strain the basil syrup into the blender, pressing the basil leaves. Blend the mixture until smooth and strain into martini or high ball glasses filled with ice. Stir in gin. Garnish with fruit slices or fresh basil sprigs.
Other ideas for this cocktail:
**Note: these are just things I just came up with! I have not tried these yet (come on, I'm not that much of a lush! ;)
*Use fresh mint in place of the basil and rum in place of the gin for a citrus-y mojito.
*Try it with silver tequila.
*For a festive cocktail, mix in champagne or sparkling wine in place of the gin.
*For a non-alcoholic treat, replace the gin with sparkling water or sparkling apple cider.
*Try it with different berries.
Reference:
This is the Three Citrus Basil Cocktail from the April 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times.
