🥃 Gin Basil Smash

Gin Basil Smash is a modern classic cocktail made from gin, fresh basil, lemon juice and sugar syrup. The basil is muddled directly in the shaker, which gives the drink a bright green colour and a herbal aroma. It was created by bartender Jörg Meyer at the Le Lion bar in Hamburg in the summer of 2008.

Recipe. According to Difford's Guide: 12 basil leaves, 60 ml London dry gin, 22.5 ml fresh lemon juice and 10 ml rich sugar syrup (2:1). Muddle the basil together with its stems, add the rest, shake with ice and double-strain into a chilled old fashioned glass. Garnish with a sprig of basil.

History. As Punch writes, in 2007 Meyer tasted Dale DeGroff's Whiskey Smash at the Pegu Club in New York: bourbon, syrup, lemon and muddled mint. The idea of basil came to him from a sprig garnish in a brochure about a French gin. At first the cocktail was called Gin Pesto, and on 10 July 2008 Meyer described it on his blog.

Popularity. According to Punch, Le Lion makes between 300 and 500 of these cocktails a week, about 22,000 a year. Under its new name the drink joined the family of smashes: cocktails with muddled herbs, citrus and sugar, which the Whiskey Smash started.

Why it matters to you. A green colour and herbal smell do not make a cocktail light: one serving by Difford's Guide contains 60 ml of gin, about 19 g of pure alcohol at 40% ABV. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.