Everybody back to work? Need a drink? We know that we do. After an amazing summer we are all back to the grind.
Since summer is not officially over, we wanted to share one of our favorites of the season.
We did loads of experiments with fruits, simple sugars, and struggled to find decent rum and tequila in the South of France. Nevertheless we were victorious in our quest, and have unanimously named the Watermelon Basil Gin Fizz our official cocktail.
We tried the recipe with many different watermelons 😉 Some from the market in St. Tropez, others from the supermarket (the evil Spar) and the absolute best from our local farmer Yann.
You will never look at watermelon in the same way!
Watermelon Basil Gin Fizz
Yield: 1 pitcher
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh basil, loosely packed
4 cups watermelon juice
Juice of 2 Meyer lemons
3 cups Gin, chilled
Basil leaves for garnish
Perrier, chilled
Ice cubes
Directions:
For the Basil Simple Syrup:
Place water, sugar and basil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes. Pour liquid through a wire-mesh strainer, discarding basil. Cover and chill 4 hours.
2 comments
Loretta Keeley says:
Sep 19, 2011
Sounds delightful! My first gin fizz was in New Orleans at the Roosevelt Hotel, on our honeymoon in l955. It was called a Ramos Gin Fizz and was served in the Sazarac Bar. It was made with Tom Gin, Orange Flower Water and a touch of cream and was a great drink to have with Breakfast at Brennan’s. Can’t wait to make your Watermelon Fizz!
Stephen says:
Nov 2, 2011
When we were in London last weekend they had some pretty amazing gin fizzes at the Savoy cocktail bar. They even did a watermelon cocktail, but it paled in comparison to the RK cocktail. Next stop: New Orleans!!