Name: Gin Basil Smash
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)

Gin Basil Smash
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Photographed in an UB Ginza Old Fashioned 10.5oz

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)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
Prepare garnish of three basil sprigs..
MUDDLE basil sprigs (no need to pluck leaves from stem) in base of shaker.
Add other ingredients and SHAKE with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with basil sprig bouquet.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Jörg, the creator of this cocktail, says, "Better too much than not enough basil in this drink". He also specifies that the basil is muddled rather than just broken by the action of shaking as this produces a greener drink. He adds "Keep in mind: 5 cl Gin is not enough; 6 cl Gin is the recipe; 7 cl Gin is LOVE!"

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AKA: Gin Pesto

Variant:

Bramble
Earl Grey MarTEAni
Fallen Angel
Fitzgerald
Gin Fix
Gin Fizz
Gin Punch No. 1
Gin Sling
Gin Sour
Gin Twist
John Collins

History:

Created in the summer of 2008 by Jörg Meyer at Le Lion • Bar de Paris, Hamburg, Germany and originally named Gin Pesto. Jörg blogged about his new creation on the 10th of July 2008 and from that point, it started to quickly grow in popularity to become internationally known, also becoming better known as the Gin Basil Smash.

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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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Showing 10 of 45 comments for Gin Basil Smash.
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Florian Ruf

12th April at 14:38

Adding some drops of Japanese Umami Bitters adds more depths.

Ruth Harvey

28th March at 18:45

I added a shot of Kalani. We loved it. Summer vibes!☀️😎

Tim Miller

14th March at 22:28

What was the original measurement of rich simple syrup before switching the recipe to Monin syrup? The original was delicious but the new recipe seems overly sour.

Simon Difford

15th March at 07:58

The same. Both syrups are almost identical in sweetness so a direct swap. Monin Pure Cane Syrup = 65.0 brix. Rich sugar syrup 2:1 by volume = 65.1 brix

Justine Fehley

14th March at 01:21

Original recipe is solid. I also tried making it with Gin Mare, which is Mediterranean style with basil as a botanical, and upped it to 70 ml. That was a different drink, but also quite good.

Felicia Stratton

23rd February at 17:14

100% upcoming summer on heavy rotation since no yellow chartreuse for Slow & Unsteady. Basically perfect cocktail. Thanks Jorg!!!!!

Mike Chen

16th February at 03:34

Try adding a little bit of malibu coconut liquor to this. Balances the acidity perfectly and puts a tropical twist to the drink

Kerry Riley

13th February at 20:42

Love this cocktail it’s so fresh and summery.. even in February!

Gillian Craib

2nd February at 15:10

I’ve made it with Mezcal, lime juice and agave. Really tasty.

NebrijaNebrija

30th January at 06:47

This was a great cocktail honestly. I think the key is using fresh Basil and lemon. Adding the Gin Basil Smash to my summer cocktail list.

-Nebrija Nebrija

NebrijaNebrija

2nd February at 22:30

Tried again last night but I only had Prince Albert gin. Had to compensate with extra Basil.

-Nebrija Nebrija

Simon Sedgley

10th January at 10:31

A problem with many videos that accompany cocktail recipes is that, by their editing, they obscure important information, in this case for example, for how long and with what ferocity the muddle should be performed. But of course, and thankfully, trial and error are a great teacher.