Cocktails with Fresh basil leaves
Fresh basil is an aromatic culinary herb with tender green leaves, used in cocktails for its bright, peppery fragrance.
Substitutes for Fresh basil leaves
The leaf is here for the smell above the glass, so a substitute has to be something you can clap and drop in. Its peppery, anise-edged side is the part that shifts: another soft green herb moves the aroma, and a syrup moves the sugar with it.
Often confused with
Thai basil
Sturdier leaves, an aniseed edge and much less of the sweet pepper; it holds up to heat and reads as a different herb in a cold drink.
Basil syrup
Sugar with the herb already infused, and it sweetens as well as flavors, so a drink built for fresh leaves needs its sugar cut.
Storage
Stems in water on the counter, not in the fridge: basil is a tropical plant and cold turns the leaves black within a day. Wrapped loosely it lasts a few days. Blanching the leaves for a few seconds and shocking them in ice water fixes the green, which is how a basil syrup keeps its color.
