Last week’s post about pesto asked for ideas on how else to use basil. Nellie answered the call on Twitter and sent out the request to her cocktail making friends and I got some great ideas. Thanks to Tristan and Chris for sharing your recipes! I decided to go with the basil whiskey sour. Here is what they gave me:

• 2 oz bourbon
• .75 lemon
• .5 simple syrup
• egg white
• a few dashes of bitters
• basil

I chopped the basil and ground it a bit with a mortar and pestle to bring out the flavor. I mixed it all in a shaker and added some basil for garnish. I really liked it – I think I added a bit too much lemon, as it was a bit tart, but the flavor was great and it was a refreshing drink on a hot day.

I’m very interested in exploring different herbal cocktail combinations – what have you made lately?