Cocktail · Medium strength
Gin Basil Smash
Gin and a fistful of muddled basil — the herb garden's favorite cocktail.
How to order it: Hamburg, 2008. Shake hard; it should pour green. Garnish with more basil.
Flavor profile
The recipe
- 2 oz gin
- 1 oz lemon juice
- ¾ oz simple syrup
- A fistful of basil; muddle and shake hard
- Double-strain; rocks; basil crown
The story
The Gin Basil Smash is one of the youngest drinks to earn the word classic, created in 2008 by Jörg Meyer at Le Lion in Hamburg. Meyer, riffing on the old smash template, muddled a genuinely reckless quantity of fresh basil into a gin sour and briefly called it the Gin Pesto before sense prevailed. He published it online, and it spread through the bar world with unusual speed, a green wave moving outward from Hamburg. It endures because the idea is so clean: one herb, total commitment. The drink smells like a garden and drinks like a decision firmly made.
Questions people ask
Who invented the Gin Basil Smash?
German bartender Jörg Meyer created it in 2008 at his bar, Le Lion, in Hamburg. He first sold it as the Gin Pesto before renaming it.
What is in a Gin Basil Smash?
Gin, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and a big handful of fresh basil, muddled and shaken hard, then double-strained so the drink is bright green but free of leaf bits.
What is a smash?
A family of drinks built on fresh herbs muddled with spirit, citrus, and sugar. The Gin Basil Smash was inspired by the Whiskey Smash.
Adjacent pours