Gin Basil Smash Recipe

Before you start

The Gin Basil Smash is a modern classic created at a Hamburg bar in 2008. It is a gin sour in structure, but basil is the star: a generous handful is muddled with lemon and then shaken hard with gin and sugar, which turns the drink a vivid, slightly cloudy green with an intense herbal aroma. Its success comes from simplicity, needing only four ingredients that most kitchens have.

The technique is what makes the color and flavor. Muddle the basil with the lemon juice, not dry, so the acid protects the green color and extracts its oils. Shake hard, then double-strain to remove leaf fragments. A juniper-forward London dry gin holds up best to the herbal intensity. Use fresh, perky basil; wilted leaves taste dull and turn brown.

Ingredients

• 60 ml (2 oz) London dry gin
• 22 ml (¾ oz) fresh lemon juice
• 15 to 20 ml (½ to ⅔ oz) simple syrup (1:1)
• 12 to 15 large leaves (about 5 g) fresh basil — sweet Genovese basil
• 1½ cups (about 220 g) ice cubes — for shaking and serving
• 1 small sprig basil — for garnish

Method

1. Fill the rocks glass with ice to chill it while you mix.
2. Put the basil leaves and lemon juice in the shaker tin. Muddle firmly for 10 to 15 seconds, until the leaves are bruised and the juice turns green.
3. Add the gin and 15 ml simple syrup. Fill the shaker with ice.
4. Shake very hard for 12 to 15 seconds. The vigorous shake extracts more basil oil and gives the drink its color.
5. Empty the serving glass and refill it with fresh ice. Double-strain the drink over it through the Hawthorne and fine strainers.
6. Taste. If it is too tart for your lemons, stir in up to 5 ml more syrup. Garnish with the basil sprig and serve.

Tips for success

• Store basil like flowers, stems in a glass of water at room temperature. Refrigerated basil darkens and loses aroma.
• Smack the garnish sprig between your palms before adding it to release its scent.
• For a crowd, muddle the basil with lemon in a pitcher, add gin and syrup, then shake each drink with ice to order.

Substitutions

London dry gin

A softer, citrus-forward gin makes a gentler drink, while vodka makes it all about basil and lemon. Use either one-for-one.

Basil

Mint makes a drink closer to a Southside, cooler and sweeter. Thai basil adds anise and spice; use a few fewer leaves.

Simple syrup

Honey syrup gives a rounder sweetness and works well with basil. Use the same amount.

Variations

Smash royale

Strain into a coupe and top with 30 ml chilled dry sparkling wine.

Cucumber basil smash

Muddle two slices of cucumber with the basil for a cooler, more refreshing version.

Troubleshooting

The drink is brown, not green

The basil was wilted or muddled dry. Use fresh leaves and muddle them in the lemon juice.

There are bits of leaf in the glass

Double-strain through a fine strainer to catch fragments.

It tastes grassy and bitter

Too many stems or over-muddling to a pulp. Use leaves only and bruise them without grinding.

Storage

Make each drink to order; muddled basil oxidizes and darkens within minutes. Keep the gin at room temperature and simple syrup in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Safety notes

Contains about 60 ml of 40% ABV gin, roughly 1.3 U.S. standard drinks (one standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol). Serve only to adults of legal drinking age, and do not drink and drive.