new era · shaken
Gin Basil Smash recipe
Gin, lemon and sugar smashed with a fistful of fresh basil.
A Gin Basil Smash is 50 ml (47 g) Gin, 20 ml (20.6 g) Fresh Lemon Juice, 15 ml (16.7 g) Sugar Syrup and 1 ml (1 g) Basil, shaken and served in a rocks (old fashioned) glass. It pours to about 86 ml before ice, at roughly 23.8% ABV. Weighing the ingredients instead of measuring them is what keeps the balance identical from one round to the next.
- Glassrocks (old fashioned) glass
- Methodshaken
- Pour volume86 ml
- Strength (est.)23.8% ABV
- Time4 min
Gin Basil Smash ingredients — in millilitres and grams
Grams are what the PourPilot coaster actually targets. They are not the same as the millilitres: a spirit is lighter than water, a syrup is heavier, so 30 ml of one is never 30 g. The right-hand column is the density we use, in grams per millilitre.
| Ingredient | Volume | Weight | g/ml | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gin | 50 ml | 47 g | 0.94 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Fresh Lemon Juice | 20 ml | 20.6 g | 1.03 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Sugar Syrup | 15 ml | 16.7 g | 1.11 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Basil | 1 ml | — | 0.98 | A handful of basil, muddled |
How to make a Gin Basil Smash
- Set your rocks (old fashioned) glass on the scale (or on the PourPilot coaster) and zero it. Every measurement below is given in millilitres and in grams, so you can use either.
- Add Gin, Fresh Lemon Juice, Sugar Syrup and Basil to a shaker, weighing each ingredient rather than eyeballing a jigger.
- Fill with ice and shake hard for 12–15 seconds.
- Double-strain into a chilled rocks (old fashioned) glass over fresh ice.
Gin Basil Smash: the questions people actually ask
How strong is a Gin Basil Smash?
Roughly 23.8% ABV as poured, before the ice dilutes it — typically another 15–25% water by the time you finish stirring or shaking. Spirit-forward. Sip it, do not sink it.
What glass should a Gin Basil Smash be served in?
A rocks (old fashioned) glass. One large, clear cube melts slower than four small ones and keeps the drink from watering out.
Can I make a Gin Basil Smash without a jigger?
Yes — that is what the gram column is for. Put the glass or tin on a kitchen scale, zero it, and pour to the weight. It is more accurate than a jigger because nothing is left clinging to the inside of the measure. The PourPilot coaster does the same thing without you having to watch a display: it lights up as you approach the target and tells you when to stop.
Why are some ingredients not weighed?
Dashes of bitters and rinses are too small to weigh reliably — a dash is roughly 0.8 ml, well inside the noise of any bar scale. Count them instead. Everything else in this Gin Basil Smash is weighed.
If you like the Gin Basil Smash
South Side
A gin sour with mint — a Mojito's uptown cousin, straight up.
French 75
Gin, lemon, sugar, topped with Champagne. Artillery-strength.
Bramble
Dick Bradsell's London gin sour with blackberry drizzle.
Gin Fizz
Gin, lemon and sugar shaken hard and topped with soda.
Ramos Gin Fizz
Gin, citrus, cream and egg white whipped to a cloud, topped with soda.
Gimlet
Gin and lime, properly balanced. Shaken or stirred.