Ever had a sip of a drink and thought it needed more basil? If so, let us introduce you to the Gin Basil Smash Cocktail, AKA the Gin Pesto Cocktail. This is a super-crisp herbal cocktail invented in 2008 by Joerg Meyer, owner and founder of renowned Le Lion bar in Hamburg, Germany.
In true 2000s fashion, the Gin Basil Smash rose to fame after it made its first appearance on the internet. More specifically, on Joerg Meyer’s blog, The Bitter Blog. Since then, more than 22,000 Gin Basil Smashes are sold every year at Le Lion. That’s a lot of basil.
The idea first came to Joerg while visiting New York’s Pegu Club. He ordered Dale DeGroff’s Whiskey Smash – a blend of bourbon, simple syrup, lemon juice and muddled mint, and instantly fell in love with the simplicity of the drink. That, combined with a basil garnish he spotted in a gin booklet, birthed the beginnings of the Gin Basil Smash.
After a lot of trial and error, Joerg was able to create an alluring green drink. “I mixed it first with bourbon. Not so delicious. And then with gin – BOOM!” he recalls.
There we have it, a popular blog shared on social media, a particularly hot German summer and the rest is history. While its popularity hasn’t exactly crossed oceans, we wager this drink will resurface somewhere very soon. Perhaps in your kitchen?
