One might think that a gin and tonic is impossible to mess up. And on a level that's true. But a well-made one has a good amount of lime, at least two ounces of gin (no less, maybe a little more) and is topped with tonic (ideally without HFCS or quinine). Like any good cocktail, you don't want any one ingredient overpowering the others, so the proportions are key. This is what's consumed most on the Cape, often as we prepare dinner and watch the sunset over the lake. Now, I don't like to mess with a good thing, but I had this idea of adding a few more ingredients. We had some leftover Thai basil in the fridge and a few cucumbers and I thought that if there were any two ingredients that could possibly make a G+T even more enjoyable to drink, it'd be these. It works beautifully together and, as I suspected, these are very easy to sip on.
Cucumber Thai Basil Gin and Tonic
Yield
1 drink
Glassware
Highball glass
Tools
Jigger
Muddler
Ingredients
2 oz gin
1 thickly cut slice of cucumber, peeled and chopped into a few pieces
Juice of 1/2 a lime
2 Thai basil leaves, ripped into pieces
Tonic
Thai basil, for garnish
Directions
Pour the lime juice and gin into the highball glass. Add the cucumber and Thai basil and muddle for 30 seconds, until the they've broken up and the cucumber has released juices.
Fill 3/4 of the way with ice cubes. Fill the remainder of the glass with tonic. Garnish with a bunch of Thai basil.
