The Rickshaw – Gin and Basil Cocktail

Sometimes I really miss my past life as a bartender. It’s really fun to create a delicious drink. If you enjoy entertaining guests, the best thing you can do is have some great cocktails in your pocket that you can easily make. This gin and basil cocktail (called a rickshaw) is a wonderful, easy and refreshing cocktail to kick off the summer!

This rickshaw cocktail is a perfect cocktail for the novice mixologist. The ingredients are simple and the flavors are great. It would be a perfect cocktail for the coming spring. I can imagine sitting on a porch or something and drinking jugs of this stuff.

How did the rickshaw get its name?

There are many names for this type of drink. It is also called Gin Basil Smash. I took the recipe and the name from a really great cocktail book called MixShakeStir. If you’re interested in learning more about cocktails, this is a wonderful resource.

How to make simple basil syrup

There are really only three ingredients to this rickshaw cocktail, but the key is the simple syrup.

If there’s one piece of advice I could give to people who want to dabble in cocktail making, it’s to avoid spending a lot of money on alcohol. Just learn how to make good syrups. Once you learn how to flavor syrups, you can make wonderful drinks that you would pay a lot for in a bar or restaurant.

This syrup is as simple as simple syrup gets. Just add equal parts sugar and water to a small saucepan and add lots of fresh basil. I don’t actually even measure it. I just throw in a big handful.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring regularly to melt the sugar. Once it simmers for a few minutes and the basil leaves have wilted, it’s done.

Turn off the heat and let it slowly cool to room temperature. This will give it enough time to absorb some of the basil flavor.

Then simply strain to remove the basil leaves and you are left with this delicious basil syrup.

I was shocked at how much flavor this syrup took on. It was like basil pesto in a jar! This stuff will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

Equipment to prepare a good cocktail

If you are just starting out making cocktails I wouldn’t bother spending a lot of money on the equipment. Especially for this cocktail recipe you can simply mix the ingredients with some ice.

To enhance your cocktail experience, a good cocktail shaker, pestle, measuring cup and strainer are great additions to your cocktail bar.

Mixing a rickshaw cocktail (gin and basil)

This rickshaw cocktail actually consists of only three ingredients. Besides the basil syrup, it’s just gin and lime juice.

There is no need to use a super expensive gin for this. A mid-price model will suffice. Family Jones Gin is my favorite at the moment, a local Denver gin that’s cheap and tastes good (it’s a botanical gin as opposed to a dry gin).

Be sure to use freshly squeezed juice for the lime juice. The recipe calls for one ounce of juice, which is about the same as one small lime.

While you can already keep track of the measurements for this cocktail (2 parts gin – 1 part syrup – 1 part lime), I always recommend measuring cocktails. The flavors are well balanced and too much of one thing can really mess up the drink.

So if you plan on making cocktails frequently, it’s a good idea to get a measuring cup for measuring liquids.

One of my favorite things about making cocktails is coming up with fun side dishes for the cocktails.

Anytime I make a drink with gin, I like to garnish it with a cucumber for a mild twist, or a jalapeno slice for a tangy twist. I just cut them into very thin slices and put them on the glass.

Since the drink contains basil, I also picked out some very small basil leaves to toss in the cocktail.

Put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake, shake, shake!

Shake it for a good 20 seconds to make sure the drink is really chilled and don’t skimp on the ice!

Then strain the drink into your glass with fresh ice.

This rickshaw cocktail was super refreshing. If you can’t make it now, be sure to bookmark it and give it a try in spring.

Make a pitcher out of this cocktail

The cool thing about this drink is that you can easily make a large pitcher out of it. Then people could just pour themselves!

When I make this into a pitcher, I multiply the base ingredients by six and then place that in a large pitcher of ice. Stir well and people can help themselves!

My Rickshaw Cocktail (Gin Basil Cocktail)

Here are a few other great cocktail recipes to try!