Basil-Strawberry & Balsamic Vinegar Cocktail

This is a great cocktail for the summer. Lots of things going on but all the notes complement each other.

Ingredients:  

• 2-3 Strawberries
• 3-4 Basil leaves
• ½ of a fresh Lime or ½ ounce of Lime juice
• ¾ ounce Caramel Balsamic Vinegar Syrup (see previous post)
• ½ ounce Orange Liquor (I use Gran Gala)
• 2 ounces White Rum (or Cachaça which is even better!)

Muddle the strawberries and basil in a Boston shaker

Add the rest of the ingredients

Shake vigorously to homogenize the ingredients

Double strain into a glass using your traditional cocktail strainer and a “Conical Cocktail Sieve”. The strainer gets the big chunks and the sieve takes care of all of the little bits of basil and ice that can interfere with your drink. Definitely needed for this drink.

I like to use a large square ice cube and garnish it with a slice of strawberry and a basil leaf.

Enjoy!

Caramel Balsamic vinegar syrup:

Balsamic vinegar in a cocktail? Gross! Why would you do this?
Because it is amazing!!!

Seriously, this is a wonderful syrup that can add another level of complexity to certain cocktails. I found the idea in the book “The Art of the Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the Classics” along with a number of other syrups. This is probably the most complicated syrup that you can do, but it is worth it.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups of sugar
• 1 ½ cups of water
• 1 ½ cups of balsamic vinegar

Cook the sugar and water in a pot on a low/medium boil until it becomes a good caramel amber color. As it cooks use a rubber Spatula to wipe down the sides that stick and regularly mix it. You want it cooked down because you will be adding the vinegar later and you don’t want it too watery (its syrup!). It could take a while 30-40 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the vinegar in a small saucepan on a low simmer.

Once its done combine the two and let it cool and store it in the fridge *tip: turn your head when combining, the fumes from the vinegar are intense*

Recipes that include this syrup to come…