Name: Gin Basil Sour
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 12 fresh Basil leaves; 60 ml Gin; 22.5 ml Lemon juice; 10 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 15 ml Egg white (pasteurised); 3 drop Saline solution 4:1

Gin Basil Sour
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
12 fresh	Basil leaves
2 oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
³⁄₄ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₃ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
¹⁄₂ oz	Egg white (pasteurised) or Aquafaba (chickpea water) or 3 dashes Fee Brothers Fee Foam cocktail foamer
3 drop	Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of basil leaf.
MUDDLE basil sprigs (no need to pluck leaves from stem) in base of shaker.
Add other ingredients, SHAKE with ice and strain back into shaker.
DRY SHAKE (without ice) to emulsify.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with a basil leaf boat floated on surface.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Egg white (pasteurised) - Eggs

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

As the name suggests, a basil-flavoured gin sour. Yum.

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Variant:

Gin Basil Smash
Basil Gimlet
Green Park

History:

I'd love to claim credit for this silky riff on Jörg Meyer's contemporary classic Gin Basil Smash, but while the proportions are mine, I've merely reworked Jordan Ajmal's Gin Basil Sours which he added to Difford's Guide as a fellow Discerning Drinker in 2021. Many thanks, Jordan.

When I showed this Gin Basil Sour to Jörg, he reminded me that it's very close to Erik Lorincz's Green Park, created ten years earlier.

More cocktails by Jordan Ajmal

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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S J H Desmond

19th March at 21:12

Instead of saline, I've used a pinch of salt as an abrasive to help with muddling the leaves.

Peter McCarthy

28th August 2024 at 00:46

Like most recipes with leaves, there's a lot of room for variability (leaf sizes, muddling length/intensity, etc.) (especially so with the recipe calling for 12). More precision would be nice, otherwise this may require some experimentation to achieve balance. Nonetheless, a nice option if you're in the mood for a refreshing basil drink, especially at the end of a hot summer day.