WELL THEN. I have fully and officially reached my summer peak with this recipe, and I will be retiring for the rest of the season. You can find me by the beach with a giant pitcher of these cocktails, sipping and [attempting to] tan.
Byeeeeee.
Jk jk. Kind of.
Have you ever had a Tom Collins? I’ll give you the gist:
- Simple syrup
- Lemon juice
- Gin
- Club soda
That’s all there is to it. They are yummy in their original form, but THIS VERSION IS LIFE.
Y’all. Favorite cocktail I’ve ever had. You can fully believe with total certainty that any time I decide to put slight effort into making a drink, aka more so than holding my glass underneath the spout of my boxed wine in the fridge – yes, boxed – it will be on THIS PERFECTION right here.
There are two extra elements here that differ from the traditional Tom Collins. Two extra things that bring this from good to perfect summer dreams.
- The basil infused simple syrup. You have to make a simple syrup anyway if you’re throwing together some Tom Collins, so just throw some basil leaves in there and you’re good to go.
- The muddled blueberries + basil. Throw some of each in the bottom of your glass, get ’em nice and muddled, and then proceed as normal.
So you’ve got your muddled bluebies and basil at the base – on top of that, pour in everything else: your basil simple syrup, gin, lemon juice, and club soda. Scoop in some crushed ice, stir it up, and thank me later.
Blueberry Basil Tom Collins
A twist on the traditional Tom Collins with the addition of a basil infused simple syrup + some muddled basil and blueberries at the bottom. Summer in a glass!
Ingredients
For the basil infused simple syrup
- 15 basil leaves
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
For EACH cocktail
- 2 tablespoons blueberries
- 5 basil leaves
- 2 oz gin
- 1 oz lemon juice
- .75 oz basil infused simple syrup
- 2 oz club soda
Instructions
For the basil simple syrup
- Add your sugar, water, and basil leaves to a small pot and bring to a boil. Boil until sugar is dissolved and then let cool to room temperature with the basil leaves still in syrup
For each cocktail
- Add your blueberries and basil leaves to the bottom of a rocks glass and muddle really well
- To this, add the rest of your ingredients (gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and club soda)
- Add a big scoop of crushed ice and stir to combine
- Top with extra blueberries and a few basil leaves as a garnish if you want to get extra fancy!
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and tag @thegarlicdiaries so I can see!
Love the combination and it looks so delicious! Would love to have a glass right now! Can’t wait to try out this recipe!
Vivi recently posted…Is Breve Latte Keto?
It’s SO GOOD!!! You’ll love it :).
This is absolutely delicious! Thanks for the tip!
Kevin Brand recently posted…Best Bartender Gifts
★★★★★
Thanks, Kevin! So good isn’t it?? My new fave drink!