One of my favorite drinks ever is a vodka gimlet. There are many versions of this cocktail. Some are as simple as vodka and Rose’s lime juice over ice, while others call for fresh lime juice, simple syrup, and even a splash of soda. This Blueberry Basil Vodka Gimlet recipe is pretty different from any version of a vodka gimlet I’ve tried, but I’m intrigued. I loved the Roasted Blueberry Basil Margaritas I made a while back, so I’m thinking there’s an excellent chance I’ll enjoy a similar vodka cocktail. Let’s find out!
This post was originally published on February 9, 2018. The text and photos were updated on July 18, 2021. The review and rating have not been changed.
With all the excess of fruit in the apartment, I’ve been finding non-dessert-like ways of incorporating it into my diet. I absolutely love fruit in salads and sauces (peach salsa!), but of course, I can’t ignore the fact that cocktails make the perfect vessels for truly capturing their essence.
The Ingredients
The ingredients for this Blueberry Basil Vodka Gimlet recipe were a little pricey because of the fresh blueberries and basil. However, it did make 2 1/4 cups of blueberry-basil simple syrup, so I feel it was worth it. The rest of the ingredients were pretty basic (sugar, lemons, club soda, and vodka) and not difficult to find.
The Process
This vodka gimlet recipe is a little more complicated than a traditional gimlet, but the extra work is quick and simple. The first step is making the blueberry-basil infused simple syrup. It’s pretty much just like making plain simple syrup (a mixture of equal parts water and sugar heated until the sugar dissolves) with the addition of fresh blueberries and basil.
The mixture needs to simmer for 15 minutes and then be pressed through a mesh sieve. It only took me 22 minutes to make the syrup, then I popped it into the refrigerator to chill.
This recipe is for a pitcher of drinks, but I made mine one at a time. My husband doesn’t care for fruity drinks, and there’s no way I’m going to try drinking an entire pitcher of anything alcoholic by myself.
The ingredients are listed in parts instead of exact measurements, so scaling it down was easy. I just measured each part with a tablespoon instead of a measuring cup. That part took only 2 minutes, so the total active time on this was 24 minutes.
