BC is out of town, and I've been given the task of perfecting a Thai Basil cocktail while she is gone. A quick Google search brought up a few ideas, the most prominent being Thai Basil syrup, lemon juice, and a base liquor. I used the syrup recipe from found here, but I used 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup loosely packed thai basil leaves.
Additionally, I liked the idea of thai basil with saffron, so I used the two saffron infused/flavored base spirits I had...
TB1
2 oz SubRosa saffron vodka
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz thai basil syrup
Shake with ice and strain, serve up
TB2
2 oz Cadenhead's Old Raj gin
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz thai basil syrup
Shake with ice and strain, serve up
The TB1 was the winner of the two, but both were a bit too sweet. I like my drinks with a little more acid. When making drinks at home, I prefer a ratio of 3 pts spirit, 2 pts sour, and 1 pt sweet. My concern in using that ratio here is that with only 1 pt in 6, the thai basil flavor will be lost.
I think that muddling the thai basil will be the focus of the next round of drinks.
To be continued...
Image from Wikipedia
