Herbal Remedy 4: Basil Cocktails

First sorry for the lack of a post yesterday, I was feeling lousy and just didn’t have it in me. To make up for it, we’ll have 3 Herbal Remedies today. How’s that for you?

Second, it seems that so many of my recipes for herbal drinks call for basil. I thought there was more diversity in the herb selection, but apparently finding drinks that have tarragon in them is harder then you’d think.

So for today’s Basil cocktails we are taking a cue from ApartmentTherapy: The Kitchn, earlier this summer they reported that on a trip they took to Sonoma they kept noticing basil sneaking into cocktail menus. They felt it was a nice change from the mint we’ve all been drowning in as we slurp down mojitos.

They posted 3 different Basil Recipes…

First up:
Pineapple Basil Cocktail

3 medium to large basil leaves, rolled and sliced into thin strips
quarter of a lime
1/4 cup organic pineapple juice
1 1/2 oz gin
ice
club soda

Put the basil and lime in the bottom of a glass and muddle, either using a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon. Add pineapple juice, gin, and ice cubes, and top with club soda. Garnish with a slice of pineapple, lime wedge, or a sprig of basil.

The next one is kind of similar, but with a totally different taste, oh, plus it requires a hell of a lot more work (well only if you don’t happen to have a rhubarb puree on hand):

The Rhubarb Basil Cocktail

3 medium to large basil leaves, rolled and cut into thin strips
3 tablespoons rhubarb purée*
1 1/2 ounces vodka
ice
club soda

Put the basil in the bottom of a glass and press with the back of a spoon to bruise slightly. Add the rhubarb purée and stir. Add vodka and ice cubes and top with club soda. Garnish with a basil leaf.

Last, but not least today we have a Strawberry-Basil Martini, although The Kitchn listed this on their site it actually comes by way of Food & Wine. It requires far less work then then creating a puree for a drink, but there is some muddling involved:

Strawberry-Basil Martini

3 strawberries, plus 1 thin slice of strawberry for garnis
3 basil leaves
1/2 ounce Simple Syru
Ice
1 ounce gin
1 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce lime juice
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the strawberries with the basil leaves and Simple Syrup. Add ice and the remaining ingredients and shake well. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with the strawberry slice.
*Rhubarb Purée
makes about 2 cups

12-13 stalks of rhubarb
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Chop the rhubarb into small, 1/2-inch pieces. Put in a medium saucepan with the sugar and water. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the rhubarb is soft.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender (or use an immersion blender) and purée until smooth. Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the rhubarb through the strainer, pressing to get as much of the rhubarb out as possible. Discard the leftover fibrous bits.