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.
