Congratulations, you made it to Thursday!
I think getting this close to the weekend calls for a cocktail, don’t you? Who am I kidding, I am perfectly happy celebrating Monday with a cocktail as well. Actually, Monday is probably the best day for a cocktail. But Thursday, we’ll make it a bourbon Strawberry Smash cocktail!
I’ve been hearing all these rumblings about bourbon being a cold weather drink. Hmmmmmm. I don’t know about that at all. In fact, Saturday (“Cinco de Kentucky Derby Day”) here was like 12,000,000,000° and it seemed folks were enjoying their bourbon cocktails just fine, thank you very much. In fact, I had a little mint julep that day myself and it was magical! Super refreshing after sitting in that heat all day! Of course, I understand this is much different than a Old Fashioned or a Manhattan, maybe that’s for cold weather, or air-conditioning.
Bourbon, It’s a Smash!
After my inspirational Mint Julep, I was hankerin’ for a bit more bourbon, so I put this twist on a Strawberry Bourbon Smash together and it was awesome! Did you hear me? I said AWESOME! This is the perfect cocktail for a warm evening (or anytime!) Celebrate strawberry season with a little bourbon cocktail. Try this one out pronto! This is how I made it!
In your cocktail shaker, add 4-5 ripe, chopped fresh strawberries and muddle, muddle, muddle. I actually used my handy dandy stick mixer, because I wanted to maximize the strawberry factor without having to work too hard for it. If you don’t have one, as I said, muddle, muddle, muddle. That will burn off a few of the calories in this drink, so maybe you can have two?
Then fill your shaker with ice, add 1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 ounce simple syrup or honey syrup (See my note below on how to make the syrups). You can use the basil infused recipe to give this drink a little extra ummmph and add a vegetable to the mix, right? Try it, it’s really good. Add 1 1/2 to 2 ounces of bourbon (guess which measurement I used?). Then shake, shake, shake and shake a little more. Fill a pretty glass with ice and strain into the cocktail glass. Drink it straight like that or top with a little sparkling water. Garnish with a strawberry and a little basil leaf or the basil flower and Bob’s your uncle. Cheers!
SIMPLE SYRUP
Simple syrup is a combination of 50% sugar (or substitute honey or agave) and 50% water. Put it on the stove and let the mixture come to a simmer. Turn off the heat and let it cool. Or, if you’re like me and you need it immediately, put it in the freezer 🙂 To make the basil (or any herb infused simple syrup) just add a few leaves to the mixture before it’s heated, then remove them after the syrup cools. The syrup will take on a bit of the flavor of the herb and add so much to the flavor of your drink.
PS – Don’t ever leave anything cooking on your cook top and walk away. You WILL forget about it, like I did! Yikes! This was a massive smoke bomb! File under: thank my lucky stars!
Ingredients
- 4-5 strawberries plus extra for garnish
- 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce basil infused simple syrup
- 1 1/2 ounces bourbon
- sparkling water
- Garnish: strawberry and basil leaf or basil flower
Instructions
- In your shaker muddle 4-5 chopped strawberries with one basil leaf. Fill shaker with ice and add 1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 ounce basil or regular simple syrup. Shake vigorously. Strain into glass filled with ice. Garnish with strawberry and basil. Enjoy
For simple syrup
- In a small pan, add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar and allow to come to a simmer. Take off heat and chill. If adding basil, add 1-2 leaves to the pan while heating. Remove after the syrup has chilled.
