The Bal­ti­more City Paper con­tact­ed me about cre­at­ing a sum­mer cock­tail to fea­ture in their next issue. Click here for the arti­cle. They want­ed to inspire read­ers to get cre­ative and mix up sum­mer cock­tails that take full advan­tage of the sea­son’s plen­ti­ful herbs. I chose to fea­ture Thai basil and bol­ster its anise tones with the anise fla­vors in Gal­liano and Pey­chaud’s Bit­ters. Since we’re in the mid­dle of a hot sum­mer, I kept the recipe light and refresh­ing using vod­ka as my base spir­it and then topped it with a grape­fruit spir­it.  I chose Boyd and Blair Vod­ka for its chewy tex­ture and its bold fla­vors. And to seal the deal on Boyd and Blair vod­ka read indus­try expert F. Paul Pac­ult’s tast­ing notes.

Recipe

• 2 oz Boyd & Blair Vodka
• 1/2 oz Galliano
• 1/4 oz hon­ey syrup (1:1)
• 5 dash­es of Pey­chaud’s Bitters
• 6–8 Thai Basil Leaves
• Top with grape­fruit soda
• Gar­nish with a sprig of Thai Basil

First, add 1/2 oz of Gal­liano to your shak­er tin. Then take 6–8 basil leaves, place them in your palm, and smack with your oth­er hand to release the oils. Add the leaves to the shak­er tin, and light­ly mud­dle, gen­tly tap­ping your mud­dler about ten times. Add all oth­er ingre­di­ents except the gar­nish and grape­fruit soda. Shake with ice. Dou­ble strain into an ice filled Collins glass. Top with grape­fruit soda and gar­nish with a sprig of Thai basil.

This cock­tail needs a name! Com­ment below with sug­ges­tions and also leave a com­ment on the City Paper article.