Cocktails with Fresh basil leaves
Fresh basil is an aromatic culinary herb with tender green leaves, used in cocktails for its bright, peppery fragrance.
How it's used
Clap the leaves between your palms and drop them in. Six leaves is the commonest count here, and recipes run from one to twelve — past that the drink turns green rather than basil. Basil bruises black almost instantly and turns bitter when ground, so muddle it once and lightly — enough to break the leaf, not to grind it. A smash can also go the other way: leaves in whole with the ice, out in the strainer. Gin, lemon and strawberry all suit it, and a leaf on the surface does more for the aroma than three in the drink.
Substitutes for Fresh basil leaves
Thai basil is the closest swap, in the same amount. It gives the drink an aniseed edge instead of the sweet, peppery smell of Genovese basil. Mint also works in the same amount and gives a cooler drink. If the recipe has sugar syrup, basil syrup can replace part or all of it, measure for measure. The basil comes through, but without the fresh leaf's brightness.
Thai basil
A different variety whose aroma is led by estragole, an anise-scented compound; sweet basil is led by floral linalool.
Basil syrup
Sugar syrup steeped with basil: it brings the herb and sweetens at the same time.
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.
