It's Indian summer, and we've got the last of the basil from the garden. Pesto's the obvious move — but pesto's boring. So we're making basilcello instead: a basil-infused liqueur, limoncello-style, and a cocktail to go with it.
In this episode of Tuesday Night Cocktail Club we're infusing basil into Everclear, cutting it with water and a rich simple syrup, and mixing it into a simple two-ingredient cocktail that tastes like the last warm week of the year.
INGREDIENTS (for the basilcello base) • A generous amount of fresh basil • Everclear (or another high-proof neutral spirit — note that Everclear isn't available in every state) • Water • Rich simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water)
THE INFUSION 1. Submerge the basil in Everclear 2. Let it steep for 1 week 3. Strain out the basil
THE BASILCELLO MIX • 3 parts water • 2 parts basil-infused alcohol • 1 part rich simple syrup (Taste as you go — add more water and sugar if it still tastes too hot)
THE COCKTAIL • Equal parts Basilcello and vodka • Garnish with a fresh basil leaf Or just drink the Basilcello straight, chilled.
TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — Hook: the last of the summer basil, and why pesto's too boring 0:35 -- Why use Everclear or other high-proof spirit 1:20 -- Recipe for the infusion 2:00 -- Recipie for basil cello 3:15 -- Basilcello cocktail 5:00 -- Tasting
CLUB NOTES What's the best way to drink limoncello or basilcello?
Learn how to create \"Basil Cello,\" a homemade basil-infused liqueur designed to use up the last of the summer basil harvest. The guide covers the infusion process using high-proof alcohol to maintain a vibrant green color, the dilution and sweetening process, and a simple cocktail recipe to showcase the final product.
Boy, the summer is just over, and we've got Indian summer,
and that means you've got the
final little bits of basil that you have from the summer.
You know, what do you do with that?
Some people would say, oh, I'll make pesto.
Well, pesto is boring.
You know what?
We're making basil cello.
Basil cello, just like lemon cello,
has basil immersed in alcohol to extract the flavors,
and so you can produce a liqueur
or a digestif just in your kitchen and it's really delicious
now at one point I was using vodka I don't think
the 40% alcohol and vodka is enough to extract
the chlorophyll whatever it is in the basil
that gives it that green color the flavor was just as
good but what came out was more brown
and so the green is better looking and to use that so that
for that i'm using the Everclear Everclear
is you know 100% alcohol it's what you probably made in
college or if you're in college to make uh punches
and stuff like that um jello shooters anyways um
The higher alcohol content,
100% of this really pulls all the flavors out of the basil.
And so I took the Everclear and soaked an equal amount,
but I would actually err on the
side of extra basil.
I use nearly a bottle of the Everclear,
but I soaked my leaves in that for about a week.
And I really think you get diminishing returns here.
I don't know if it's bad.
If you go beyond a week, once the basil has soaked in this very
strong liquid, you then strain it out
and then you've got yourself a starter mix of the basil
cello. Now, so that's 100% proof.
Most, you know, cellos like that are around 20, 30%. So you got
to bring down the alcohol level you got to add sugar
and so the formula for that is three parts
water to two parts alcohol mix to one part rich simple syrup
and I when I say rich I mean very
rich I basically did a one-to-one
but maybe even a little more sugar and once you've tasted it and
you get your basic recipe down you
then have to adjust it it might still be a little hot you can
add a little bit of water i always say add a little add water
and sugar you know very slowly
you know you taste it if it's too hot add
a little water add a little sugar and what you get is
something that looks like this anyways
um and so let me just uh pour that out here into my little
cordial glass. There you go. You can drink it straight up.
Of course, you can also make a
cocktail. Any cocktail really that has chartreuse in it,
you can substitute this for it. It's a
different drink, but you know,
it's more homemade and it is truly delicious. Before I go into the
build, remember to subscribe to Tuesday Night Cocktail Club.
We have fresh tips and fresh
cocktails every tuesday so here we go with this week's
so basically what i'm doing is i'm taking
some basil here and then i'm going to muddle it into my mixing tin
and again muddling is pressing
not not pulverizing and then i'm just using what i have here
which is probably you know an ounce
ounce and a half of of my basil cello
and then any spirit you want to try i'm using uh not the
everclear but i'm going to use
the finlandia vodka finlandia vodka is known as being very
mild and so i'm just you know using my cordial glass
as a mixer here equal parts one to one
you know the basil cello is very sweet uh
so you can always add sweetness by adding more
a basil cello you could also add some simple syrup
and so i've got ice i'm going to put my
ice here in the tin and i am going to shake i'm
not going to shake that i'm going to stir that
here okay
so that's about 30 seconds there and then
i am going to give it a nice pour here
perhaps double straining
because i've got all that basil in there have a garnish of more basil
so here's my drink i think the dilution is good
the uh you get the the sweetness from the basil
cello you got the um the basil in the glass really helps too
um it's really delicious it is definitely
a great and fun way to you know finish the summer with your basil plant
and so use that up and uh
I say, you know, enjoy this with your friends and family,
and we will see you next week.
I've got a link here to my Bijou Cocktail episode,
so check that out, and we will see
you next week.
