Basil and Lemon Martinis
Gather up a bit of basil from your garden, a few lemons from the market and you’re on your way to shaking up a bright martini with subtle complexities.
Equipment
- cocktail shaker
Ingredients
- 8 basil leaves, 10 to 12 if they’re small
- 1-½ tablespoons simple syrup*
- ½ cup good gin, such as Plymouth
- 2 tablespoons limoncello
- 2 tablespoons sweet red vermouth
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Ice for shaking
- Extra basil for garnish
Instructions
- Toss the basil leaves into a cocktail shaker. Pour in the simple syrup and using a muddler crush the leaves into the syrup.
- Add the gin along with the limoncello, the vermouth, and the lemon juice.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake until the martini is mixed and very cold, about 30 seconds.
- Pour the martinis through the cocktail strainer into martini glasses or cocktail coupes.
- Top with a leaf or two of fresh basil.
Notes
I used sweet red vermouth, adding an undertone of spice, reminding me of fall flavors but sweet white vermouth can also be used.
*To make a basic simple syrup:
2 cups water
3 cups sugar
Pour the water into a small saucepan, stir in the sugar. Warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved. Keep refrigerated.