Gin cocktail with cucumber and basil

This is a savory, refreshing summer drink made with gin, basil and cucumbers.

Serves 1 drink

Ingredients

• 1 shotglass of gin (I used Prairy organic gin)
• 1/2 – 1 shotglass of simple syrup (Please see recipe below)
• 1/2 cup spritzer water
• 5 basil leaves or more to garnish
• 8 thin cucumber slices
• pinch of ground black pepper
• juice of 1/2 lime or more to garnish
• pinch of salt
• ice, optional

Methods

• Make the simple syrup. It is very easy. Slowly cook 1 cup of water with a 1 cup of sugar in a small pot. Be careful not to boil it. When you see a nice thick syrup, it is done. Take off heat and let it cool. You can refrigerate what you don’t use for later use – if not used up in a few days.
• Preapre the drink in a jar big enough to hold 1 cup of liquid. Add the gin, the simple syrup, spritzer water, lime juice, basil leaves, cucmber slices and salt. I also like to put in the lime peel. Put the top on and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Remove the plant material before serving.
• Add ice if you wish.
• If you don’t have time to put the drink in the refrigerator, you can use a muddler to gently bruise the vegetables with the simple sugar to get the juice out for a few minutes and then procede with the rest of the recipe from above.
• You can garnish with fresh basil, cucumber slice and lime slice if you wish.

enjoy!