Hibiscus Basil Smash
Basil and lemon meet tart, floral hibiscus in a ruby riff on the Gin Basil Smash: herbal, bright and gone too soon.
Ingredients
- Gin, ideally a London Dry60 ml
- Lemon juice, freshly squeezed20 ml
- Basil, fresh10 leaves
- Hibiscus syrup25 ml
- Basil, to garnish (optional)1 sprig
Method
- Put the basil leaves in a shaker and muddle them gently, just enough to release their oils without shredding them.
- Add the gin, lemon juice and hibiscus syrup.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for about 15 seconds, until it is ice-cold on the outside.
- Double-strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a double old fashioned glass over fresh ice.
- Give the basil sprig a light slap between your palms to wake its aroma, and tuck it into the glass.
Cocktails Compass
About this drink
This is a house riff on the Gin Basil Smash, the drink Jörg Meyer created at Le Lion in Hamburg in 2008 and first called the Gin Pesto. His idea was disarmingly simple: a gin sour, with a fistful of basil shaken through it. Within a few years it was on menus all over the world. Here the plain sugar syrup makes way for hibiscus syrup, dried hibiscus flowers steeped in syrup until it turns deep crimson. Hibiscus is tart and floral, somewhere between cranberry and rosehip, so the lemon steps back a touch and the syrup steps up. The basil keeps its peppery, green lift, and the drink pours a deep ruby instead of the original's bright green.
Questions and answers
Where do I get hibiscus syrup?
Make it: steep dried hibiscus flowers in a hot sugar syrup, then strain. The recipe sits right on this page. Shop-bought hibiscus syrups work too, but most are sweeter, so start with a little less and taste.
Which gin works best?
A classic London Dry. Its juniper and citrus hold their own against tart hibiscus and peppery basil. Very floral contemporary gins can get lost between the two, though any gin you enjoy will still make a good drink.
Can I make it without alcohol?
Yes. Swap the gin for an alcohol-free gin and keep everything else the same. Basil and hibiscus carry so much flavour that the drink loses less than you might expect.
