Hi folks, and welcome to the Whiskey Thief blog. Here, Jen and I will document our cocktailing adventures.

I thought we’d start with a recent home experiment. The basil plant out back was looking particularly fluffy last week, so we decided to play around with some basil cocktails.

The first is a variation on a traditional gin smash. The picture is a bit out of focus because I’m a terrible photographer. Just don’t click to make it larger, and it won’t give you seizures.

Yes, we are such liquor nerds that we make our own cucumber gin, but you can just use Hendrick’s. We’ll post something soon about all our various homemade gin experiments.

Cucumber Basil Smash

2 oz homemade cucumber gin (or Hendrick’s)
1/2 oz St. Germain
1/2 oz lemon juice
4 muddled basil leaves

Shaken and served up in a coupe glass with a basil garnish.

For the next one, Jen wanted something with a bit of spice. We dug up a jar of strawberry and jalapeno jam from the back of the pantry, and then we melted it down with some water to make a syrup. I don’t know about you, but when I think of jalapenos, I think about Mexico, and when I think about Mexico, I think about tequila. So here’s what we came up with.

This picture didn’t come out quite as blurry as the other one. I think after the first round, my hands got a bit steadier.

The Basilisk

2 oz reposado tequila
3/4 oz strawberry pepper syrup
3/4 oz lime juice
4 muddled basil leaves
3-4 drops of Cholula hot sauce