ORIGINAL — Basil Gin Mickey

December 20, 2010 (Day 324) — Basil Gin Mickey

So, I’ve been hard at work in the laboratory lately infusing various different flavors to see if I could come up with something unique, but tasty. On a whim, I shoved a lemon, lime and some basil into about two cups of New Amsterdam Straight Gin. I let it sit for about a week and then strained it out. Ta-dah! Basil-Citrus Gin. The smell is quite excellent and I’m looking forward to making a drink with my little infusion.

Basil Gin Mickey

2 oz Basil-Citrus Gin

Three basil leaves

.5 oz simple syrup

Tonic water

Place your three basil leaves in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Pour your simple syrup over the top and muddle the basil leaves into a pulp. Fill the shaker with ice, pour your gin over the top, cover and shake well. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass and then add one dash of tonic water to give it some bubbliness.

Intense, but damn tasty. Because the lemon and lime have already been infused into the gin, I would imagine this would actually make a killer gin and tonic, saving you the trouble of washing and squeezing the lime juice!

Cheers!

— Mark