Tag: lemon basil

vodka

Spiced Pear Cocktail | The Best Fall Cocktail Recipe with 5 Simple Ingredients

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This simple spiced pear cocktail is an easy fall cocktail made with vodka, fresh pear, cinnamon simple syrup, and a splash of ginger beer.

This simple spiced pear cocktail is made with vodka, fresh pear, cinnamon simple syrup, and a splash of ginger beer. It’s sweet and warming–the perfect cocktail to sip on a crisp autumn evening.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like! 

More days than not, it’s feeling like fall here in Texas. Finally. I mean, we’re already halfway through season and I wore boots for the first time this morning. Granted, it’ll be too warm for me to wear this afternoon when I do my grocery pick-up but it was a momentous occasion nonetheless.

Few things embody the flavor of fall to me the way cinnamon does. I recently made some cinnamon simple syrup to put in a spiced pomegranate cocktail and I’ve been itching to use it in another cocktail recipe ever since. Pears and cinnamon are a match made in heaven. After making this spiced pear cocktail I can’t stop thinking about how it tastes like a spiced poached pear in liquid form. I think I’ll be making this easy recipe soon because now I’m dying to have one in, well, edible form.

This spiced pear cocktail recipe would be a great cocktail to serve on Thanksgiving. It’s also easy to make ahead of time so you can spend less time mixing drinks and more time mixing it up with your guests (see what I did there?). Simply multiply the ingredients by the number of guests you’ll be serving and add all of the ingredients except for the ginger beer to a large pitcher. When you’re ready to serve the cocktail, pour into a lowball glass and add about an inch of ginger beer into each glass.

This simple spiced pear cocktail is an easy fall cocktail made with vodka, fresh pear, cinnamon simple syrup, and a splash of ginger beer.

Alternatively, you can serve this cocktail on a coupe glass without ice and add only a splash of ginger beer. This cocktail is honestly delicious both ways!

If you make this spiced pear cocktail, be sure to tag me on Instagram and let me know in a comment down below!

Cheers!

This simple spiced pear cocktail is an easy fall cocktail made with vodka, fresh pear, cinnamon simple syrup, and a splash of ginger beer.

Ingredients for a Spiced Pear Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 oz vodka
  • 3/4 oz fresh pear juice*
  • 1/4 oz lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz cinnamon simple syrup
  • splash of ginger beer

*If you don’t have a juicer, store-bought will work. If it’s not in your store’s juice aisle, check the baby section. If you can’t find it, apple cider will taste great, too!

How to Make a Spiced Pear Cocktail

Add the vodka, pear juice, lemon juice, and cinnamon simple syrup to a cocktail shaker that’s filled with ice. Shake well, about 15-20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into a coupe glass. Add a splash of ginger beer. Garnish with a dehydrated pear.

Spiced Pear Cocktail Recipe

An easy vodka cocktail made with pear juice, cinnamon simple syrup, and ginger beer.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 3 mins
Course Drinks
Servings 1

Equipment

  • cocktail shaker

Ingredients
  

  • 1½ oz vodka
  • ¾ oz fresh pear juice*
  • ¼ oz fresh lemon juice
  • ½ oz cinnamon simple syrup**
  • 1 oz ginger beer

Instructions
 

  • Add the vodka, pear juice, lemon juice, and cinnamon simple syrup to a cocktail shaker that's filled with ice.
  • Shake well, about 15-20 seconds.
  • Strain the cocktail into a lowball glass.
  • Top off the glass with ginger beer.
  • Garnish with a dehydrated pear or a slice of fresh pear.

Notes

*If you don’t have a juicer, store-bought will work. If it’s not in your store’s juice aisle, check the baby section. If you can’t find it, apple cider will taste great, too!
**Making cinnamon simple syrup at home is very easy. Find the 2 ingredient recipe here. 
Keyword cinnamon, cinnamon simple syrup, ginger beer, lemon, lemon juice, pear, pear juice, spiced pear cocktail, vodka
vodka

Black Lemon and Basil Cocktail| A Sublime Cocktail with Lemon Basil & Black Lemon

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This Black Lemon and Basil Cocktail is an exotic drink with a clean taste; it's made with fresh lemon basil, black lemon sparkling tea, lemon juice, and simple syrup. This lemon basil & black lemon cocktail is perfect for lemon lovers who want to venture beyond the Lemon Drop.
This Black Lemon and Basil Cocktail is an exotic drink with a clean taste; it’s made with fresh lemon basil, black lemon sparkling tea, lemon juice, and simple syrup. This lemon basil & black lemon cocktail is perfect for lemon lovers who want to venture beyond the Lemon Drop.

I never win anything. Giveaways, cherry pies in cakewalks, knock-off plushies in claw machines, money from lottery tickets, free sandwiches. Nada. Statistically speaking, I’m sure most people in the world would say “me either.”

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like! 

I don’t feel like a “lucky” person. I guess I don’t fully *believe* in Luck (maybe It knows). But when I think about my old coworker who’s won TWO cars and tens of thousands of dollars from gambling, I’ve gotta chalk it up to something. I guess it is luck and I just don’t have much of it.

But that changed a few weeks ago. I WON A GIVEAWAY. An Instagram giveaway, at that. I must’ve quadruple-checked the message when I saw it. And before you get all excited and start trying to figure out where I live, I didn’t win anything crazy.

I won a sampler of Sparkling Botanicals sparkling teas. A 12-pack y’all 🙌 I had seen these gorgeous cans sporadically in my Instagram feed and oohed and ahhed at all the flavors. Ooh and ahh is all I did though because these babies are pri-cey. I hopelessly entered the giveaway, as I often do, and went about my life until the fateful DM that ushered in my stroke of luck.

This Black Lemon and Basil Cocktail is an exotic drink with a clean taste; it's made with fresh lemon basil, black lemon sparkling tea, lemon juice, and simple syrup. This lemon basil & black lemon cocktail is perfect for lemon lovers who want to venture beyond the Lemon Drop.

A couple days later a friend texted me. “I went to the farmers’ market today and got some lemon basil. The guy gave me a one-pound bag– I’ll never be able to eat it by myself. Can I bring you some tomorrow?” Seriously. Get you some friends that support your cocktail creating habits. As soon as I saw the words “lemon basil”, I knew I wanted to use it in combination with the black lemon flavor of Sparkling Botanicals.

Just in case you’re wondering if you read that right, yes- it does say black lemon. I’d never heard of it before but I was intrigued. Turns out, black lemons are actually limes (usually) that have been dried. They’re soaked in a brine solution before being left to dry out in the sun. Black lemon is a common ingredient in Iranian cooking and has a distinguishable taste. If you’re intrigued, too, you can buy a bag of them on Amazon. Supposedly they’re a sublime addition to stews and soups.

This Black Lemon and Basil Cocktail is an exotic drink with a clean taste; it's made with fresh lemon basil, black lemon sparkling tea, lemon juice, and simple syrup. This lemon basil & black lemon cocktail is perfect for lemon lovers who want to venture beyond the Lemon Drop.

If you can’t purchase Sparkling Botanicals’ black lemon flavor, you can use lemon sparkling water instead. Instead of calling it a Black Lemon and Basil, you can just dub it a Lemon and Basil. It won’t taste the same but it’ll still be good, especially if you’re able to get your hands on some lemon basil.

Lemon basil tastes exactly what it sounds like and it smells straight-up divine. This was my first time ever having it & that’s a crying shame. I put some of these cuttings in a bottle of water to propagate and they’re just about ready to transplant into a pot. Then I can have an endless supply of lemon basil at home. Well, if I keep it alive. If you need some tips on how to grow your own basil at home, check out this great article written by Okra In My Garden.

This Black Lemon and Basil Cocktail is an exotic drink with a clean taste; it's made with fresh lemon basil, black lemon sparkling tea, lemon juice, and simple syrup. This lemon basil & black lemon cocktail is perfect for lemon lovers who want to venture beyond the Lemon Drop.

If you’re looking for other exotic drinks, check out my Golden Pothos cocktail that also calls for cardamom simple syrup and turmeric, and my Rub of the Green that utilizes matcha simple syrup and cardamom bitters.

Have you ever had a black lemon cocktail or used lemon basil in a cocktail? Let me know in a comment below!

Ingredients for a Black Lemon and Basil Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 oz vodka, or gin
  • 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 4-6 lemon basil leaves
  • 1/2 oz cardamom simple syrup
  • 3+ oz black lemon sparkling water

How to Make a Black Lemon and Basil Cocktail

Add the liquor, freshly-squeezed lemon juice, cardamom simple syrup, and lemon basil leaves to a cocktail shaker. Gently muddle the basil, making sure to only bruise the leaves and not obliterate them. Add ice and shake well for about 20 seconds. Strain into a highball or Collins glass that’s been filled with ice. Top off the rest of the glass with the black lemon sparkling water. Garnish with additional lemon basil leaves.

Black Lemon & Basil Cocktail

This cocktail has bright notes of lemon warmed up by black lemon sparkling water and cardamom syrup. It's refreshing with a subtle complexity that'll make you want to take sip after sip.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 3 mins
Course Drinks
Servings 1

Equipment

  • cocktail shaker

Ingredients
  

  • 1½-2 oz vodka, or gin
  • ½ oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • 4-6 leaves lemon basil
  • ½ oz cardamom simple syrup*
  • 3+ oz black lemon sparkling water

Instructions
 

  • Add the liquor, freshly-squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup, and lemon basil leaves to a cocktail shaker.
  • Gently muddle the basil, making sure to only bruise, not obliterate them.
  • Add ice and shake well for about 20 seconds.
  • Strain into a highball or Collins glass that's been filled with ice.
  • Top off the rest of the glass with the black lemon sparkling water.
  • Garnish with additional lemon basil leaves and a lemon wheel.

Notes

*You can find the easy recipe for cardamom simple syrup here.
Keyword beet simple syrup, black lemon, gin, lemon basil, sparkling water, vodka
This cocktail has bright notes of lemon warmed up by black lemon sparkling water and cardamom syrup. It's refreshing with a subtle complexity that'll make you want to take sip after sip.