One of my favorite drinks from last year was the rickshaw, a mixture of basil, lime and gin. It just tastes like summer to me, so when the temperature rises and air is fresh with the scent of blooming flowers, it’s my go-to drink. Last night I had an idea… what if I muddled some strawberries in it? Awesome. Perfectly awesome.
Cheers! To June, strawberries and tasty cocktails!
Strawberry-Gin rickshaw :
makes 1 cocktail
2 medium strawberries, sliced
1 oz basil syrup*
1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
2 oz gin
basil leaf for garnish
1
Muddle the strawberries and lime juice in the bottom of a cocktail shaker until the berries are completely mashed up and liquified.
2
Add the basil syrup, gin and fill the shaker up with ice cubes. Shake vigorously for 15-30 seconds in order to mash up any extra bits of strawberry.
3
Strain the drink through the cocktail shaker—I even gave it another strain through a mesh sieve to remove extra bits of berry, but if you like the chunks you can skip that step.
4
Garnish with a basil leaf and sip!
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basil syrup
makes about 1 1/2 cups
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup loosely packes fresh basil leaves
1
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
2
Add the basil leaves and simmer for 5 minutes.
3
Remove from heat, cover and let stand at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
4
Strain into a glass jar, cover and refrigerate until needed.