Clinton Cawood gives us the need-to-know on the neo-classic, the Gin Basil Smash.
’Tis the season, certainly, for the Gin Basil Smash, a modern classic that has almost single-handedly kept a historic style of cocktail alive.
The Smash, as Jerry Thomas described it in his 1876 Bartender’s Guide, is “simply a Julep on a small plan”. He listed three variants with different spirits and, as with the Julep, each with sprigs of mint pressed into sugar and water before adding the spirit and shaved ice.
After some serious popularity in the mid-1800s – the brandy variant in particular – the Smash quickly faded into obscurity, only seeing some interest return during the contemporary cocktail renaissance.
During this time, 2008 to be exact, Germany’s Joerg Meyer created his gin-based version, taking inspiration from the Whiskey Smash, and another cocktail that used basil as a garnish.
The result might not have had the same success if he’d stuck with his first name for it, the Gin Pesto, but as the Gin Basil Smash, with fresh, summer flavours and eye-catching green colour, it’s been a hit ever since, at its birthplace in Hamburg at Le Lion Bar de Paris and further afield too.
Gin Basil Smash
(Joerg Meyer, Le Lion Bar de Paris, Hamburg)
Glass: Rocks
Garnish: Basil sprig
Method: Muddle basil leaves and sprigs in cocktail shaker, and add lemon juice, sugar and gin. Shake with ice and double strain into ice-filled glass.
60ml gin
20ml sugar syrup
30ml fresh lemon juice
Basil leaves and sprigs