Basil Martini

When Arwen celebrated her 30th she did so at Gin in Greenside. There she introduced me to an AMAZING cocktail: the Basil Martini. I have been hooked since. Until recently I have had neither martini glasses, nor cocktail shaker, so the only cocktail's I made were the ones that didn't require fancy tools.

For my birthday I received a lovely voucher and eventually found what I wanted to spend it on. Gorgeous martini glasses (8) and a shaker. So for Christmas I decided that I would make Basil Martinis and started looking for recipes online. There were so many variations it was hard to choose one. The first recipe I tried was horribly sour and did not remind me of the ones I had at Gin. I then decided to combine receipes and I hit the Jackpot. Not bad for a second attempt. 

Being the lovely person that I am I have decided to share the recipe with you.

Basil Martini



Ingredients

Sugar syrup

1 cup sugar

1cup boiling water

Lemon rind (optional)

The following quantities are for one glass so adjust for more.

Basil leaves (lots)

1 tot dry vermouth

2 tots gin

Juice of 1 lemon (fresh!) (approx 2 tots)

Ice

Method

1. Make a sugar syrup my adding the boiling water to the sugar. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved. At this stage you can add some lemon rind to flavour the syrup. Allow syrup to cool. The great thing about the syrup is you can make it in advance and keep it for ages in the fridge.

2. Take basil leaves (5 big ones or so) and place in the shaker. Add 2 tots of gin and muddle.

3. Add the vermouth, 1 tot of syrup (if you want it sweeter add a 1/2 to 1 tot extra), the lemon juice and ice cubes (5-6).

4. Close the shaker and shake it shake it baby!

5. Strain into your martini glass and serve with a sprig of basil.

Drink and enjoy!