Basil Leaf and Apple

 The basil leaf and apple cocktail is inspired by this Bath and Body Works fragrance:


About the fragrance

I purchased this hand soap in 2024. I don't remember whether I had owned anything in this scent before. It is currently unavailable online, but hopefully it will be back next summer or fall.

The scent notes listed for this fragrance are:

Crisp apple

Fresh picked basil

Morning dew

Designing the cocktail

I used club soda as the mixer to represent the dew note. For the apple note, I used apple vodka. For the basil note, I made a basil infused simple syrup following a variation of Mark Bittman's simple syrup recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I used fresh basil as a garnish, but dried basil would work as well if fresh basil is unavailable.

Recipe

2 oz apple vodka

1 oz basil simple syrup

6 oz club soda

Fresh or dried basil

Place two ice cubes in a glass. Add apple vodka and basil simple syrup. Pour in club soda. Garnish with fresh or dried basil. For a non-alcoholic version, omit the apple rum and add apple simple syrup.

The finished cocktail


 I enjoyed this cocktail. The apple and basil flavors went well together, and both flavors made the cocktail seem refreshing. Neither flavor overpowered the other. The basil simple syrup gave a very pale green tint, which along with the basil garnish made the cocktail visually interesting. I believe this drink would work best as an afternoon cocktail rather than a dinner or dessert cocktail. I would recommend this cocktail to anyone who likes herbal flavors.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forever Red

Image
 The forever red cocktail is inspired by this Bath and Body Works fragrance : About the fragrance I first purchased this fragrance as a body lotion in 2021. I ordered it online based on reviews saying that it was similar to several other scents I liked (A Thousand Wishes, Velvet Sugar, and Cashmere Glow.) I liked the body lotion, so I eventually purchased the fragrance mist as well. The scent is currently only available as a shower gel online. The scent notes listed for this fragrance are: Fiery pomegranate Red peony Rich vanilla rum Oak wood  Designing the cocktail I used pomegranate juice as the mixer. I ordered dried peony petals (they're edible!) from the Etsy shop Woodwell . I couldn't find vanilla rum at my local grocery store, so I used white rum and prepared a homemade vanilla simple syrup for the vanilla note. I didn't know how to approximate an oak wood note, so I left that out. Recipe 2 oz vanilla rum 1 oz vanilla simple syrup 6 oz pomegranate juice Peon
Read more

Winter Candy Apple

Image
 The winter candy apple cocktail is inspired by this Bath and Body Works fragrance: About the fragrance I first purchased the body cream pictured in 2021. I ordered it online based on a review that said it was similar to Winterberry Wonder, which I liked. The scent is currently unavailable online, but it will hopefully be back next holiday season. There is a Winter Candy Apple candle in stock currently, but the fragrance notes are different than they are in the body cream so I didn't provide a link. The scent notes listed for this fragrance are: Candy red apple Winter rose petals Candied orange Maple leaf Fresh cinnamon Designing the cocktail I used an Octorock hard apple cider from Starcut Ciders as the mixer since I already had it on hand. Any hard apple cider would work, and if you prefer your cocktails less sweet you could try a dry cider. Octorock is ranked as semi-sweet on the Starcut Ciders sweetness scale. I used rose petals (they're edible) from Mountain Rose Herbs .
Read more

Saltwater Breeze

Image
 The saltwater breeze cocktail is inspired by this Bath and Body Works fragrance :   About the fragrance   I purchased this fragrance in 2022 based on reviews saying that it was similar to Magic in the Air (subject of a previous post ) and Gingham, both of which I liked. It is currently available online as a wallflower fragrance plugin. The scent notes listed for this fragrance are: Fresh linen Violet leaves Water blossom White musk Designing the cocktail I used club soda as the mixer to account for the watery essence. For the violet note, I used violet syrup from this floral elixir syrup set from Uncommon Goods. I also added dried sweet violet blossoms (they're edible) from the Etsy shop Epic of Nature . For the water blossom note, I used the lily petals I used for Cashmere Glow as a substitute for water lilies, since the flowers on the packaging resembled water lilies but water lilies themselves are not edible. For the musk note, I used white rum. I could not figure out how to
Read more