This fancy Gin Basil Smash is easy to make and you'll only need a few ingredients: syrup (I am using vanilla syrup), lemon juice, gin, ice, and fresh basil.
Basil is a trigger word for me. I love all kinds of botanical drinks, but when there's a cocktail with fresh basil, then this is the one I go for. Always.
Now with the bars closed, it is the perfect opportunity to improve the making-fancy-cocktails-at-home-skill.
I am going to start with this Gin Basil Smash which is a classic, but I am adding a sweet twist!
What you need for a Gin Basil Smash
The ingredients
- syrup - I am using homemade vanilla syrup for a smooth, sweet vibe. A traditional version would be with simple syrup. But you can try all kinds of syrups, peach syrup would be a really good match too!
- lemon juice - I am using freshly squeezed lemon juice
- gin - I am using Elephant Gin (more about it below!)
- basil - fresh basil leaves are the star of this cocktail!
- ice cubes
The tools
- a cocktail shaker
- a muddler or something to muddle like a spoon or a fork
Spotlight: Elephant Gin {AD/PRsample}
The gin I am using for this Gin Basil Smash is Elephant Gin. It's a gin made in Germany with many botanicals from South Africa such as Buchu, Baobab, Lion's Jail, Devil's Claw, African Wormwood.
What I especially love about this gin is that 15% of the profits get donated to elephant conservation foundations.
The WWF estimates that 20,000 elephants are killed in Africa every year. That's more than 50 elephants per day. Elephants are such magical beings, and of course, this topic is close to my heart. Hearing about elephants being poached for their ivory just breaks my heart because it's such unnecessary violence.
So if you want to drink gin to save the elephants, you now know how ;)
Can we just use this as our excuse to drink more gin, please?
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I hope you enjoy this fancy Gin Basil Smash as much as I do! Let me know if you give it a try!
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Cheers, Bianca
Gin Basil Smash
Ingredients
- 20 ml vanilla syrup (or sub with simple syrup for a more traditional version)
- 30 ml lemon juice
- 40 ml gin
- ½ cup basil leaves
- ice cubes
Instructions
- Add the vanilla syrup, lemon juice, gin, and basil leaves into a cocktail shaker and muddle.
- Fill the shaker with ice cubes and shake, shake, shake.
- Strain the mixture into a glass filled with more ice. Add fresh basil on top and enjoy.
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