In Wednesday’s New York Times, there’s a feature on summer cocktails. Not the complicated new cocktails that call for heirloom citrus juices and herbal-infused bitters combined with bacon-infused rye and porter, but simple drinks of 3 ingredients. I love this idea for a basil gimlet from Scott Beattie of Spoonbar in Healdsburg, California.
Ingredients:
5 large basil leaves 1 1/2 ounces gin 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce simple syrup
Preparation:
Put 4 basil leaves in a cocktail shaker and press them gently with a muddler or a wooden spoon. Add the gin, lime juice and simple syrup. Fill with ice, shake vigorously and strain into a chilled coupe or other small glass. Garnish with the remaining basil leaf.
Yield: 1 drink.