We love a good garden to cocktail, especially when it comes to basil. If you grow basil, you don't have to only make pesto...you know that right? No shade on pesto, of course! Kristen was working on her 2nd batch of pesto just this last weekend!
Ok so let's get back to the garden to cocktail that we made this weekend.
Boozy Berry Lemon Basil Lemonade
This was a SUPER easy recipe that was literally bursting with flavors. SO refreshing. SO easy to make. And you could totally modify it however you like and we feel pretty dang confident that it would still be delicious. You could also make it without the booze and it would still be a 10/10.
Since we were at the Pollinator Festival on Saturday, we each snagged a half flat of fresh raspberries, from Munoz Berry Farm. While Kristen plans to make & can a bunch of raspberry jam (YUM!!), I, Jess, knew I wanted to come up with a raspberry cocktail that maybe incorporated one of the six basils we have. Because why not? ;)
I found a recipe on Pinterest that looked delicious, and while I didn't have exactly the ingredients she used, I can say without a doubt the version I made is a winner. Honestly, the great thing about her recipe is that you CAN easily modify and it will still be a 10. Don't have raspberries? Use strawberries! Ooh, or maybe blackberries. Don't have regular lemonade? Try strawberry lemonade, or raspberry lemonade!
Anyway, this is a summer cocktail that I will absolutely be making ALL summer long, in different variations, as my seasonal berry & basil availability allows!
So here's my version of the recipe!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pint of raspberries, divided
- 1 lemon, sliced, divided
- 1/4 cup of fresh lemon basil leaves
- 1-2 T. sugar
- 3-5 cups strawberry lemonade
- 1 cup vodka
- ice cubes
- 1-2 cans of sparkling water (optional), we used Kirkland Signature Lemon Sparkling Water
Instructions:
- Turn on some fun music. In our case, it was a 90's hip hop playlist on Spotify. Music and garden cocktails are like BFF's at our house. This is of course totally optional. You do you!
- In a bowl, add the slices from half the lemon, half the raspberries, basil leaves and sugar. Muddle with the end of a wooden spoon (or whatever you got!) until the juices show up and it starts smelling real good.
- Add the mixture to a pitcher* and top with the remaining lemon slices and raspberries, the lemonade and vodka. And finally 1-2 cans of sparkling water.
- Jess couldn't find a pitcher, so she poured everything into the existing strawberry lemonade bottle she was using. BONUS: that's one less dish to wash. Plus, it already had a place in the fridge and a lid. boom. one and done!
- Add ice to your glasses and pour!
- If you want to go a little further, maybe for a pic on the gram, garnish with fresh lemon basil and a few raspberries.
- Store pitcher in the fridge...or in an ice bucket, or keep it nearby. This was SO GOOD and we just kept refilling our glasses!
As you can see here, the possibilities are endless of how you can modify it to your own liking. We even added frozen blueberries on our 2nd or 3rd round, when we ran out of ice cubes. wink wink.
Happy Summer!!!