My new favorite summer drink is an orange basil smash. It is citron vodka with fresh squeezed oranges, smashed basil and some mandarin club soda. It’s not too sweet, very refreshing and it goes down smoothly.
To make this drink, I had to purchase some vodka. Gone are the days when you quickly walk into a liquor store, pick out some Absolute and pay for your booze. Things are much more complicated than that. Walking down the vodka isle can almost make me dizzy. There are so many brands and flavors of vodka, it is hard to pick and choose.
For this drink, I went with some Svedka Citron. This lemon and lime vodka is made in Sweden. It made me think of my college roommate Eva. One night long ago, we were out hitting the town (or should I say the college dive bars?). Eva somehow developed a thick Swedish accent and we introduced her to everyone as Eva from Sweden. She really pulled off the accent and I am pretty sure almost everyone thought she was an exchange student from Sweden. Thinking about it, makes me want to revisit the good old college days. But in those days, I think we drank much different beverages. I am pretty sure they didn’t make flavored vodka and if they did, it wasn’t in our budget. The two dollar pitchers of warm beer from the local pub were much more affordable. Yes, those were the days.
Warm pitchers of beer are long gone and now I prefer a cocktail such as this one. There is nothing like relaxing on the patio with a cold beverage and some appetizers. This particular drink goes well with guacamole and chips. I don’t know if you noticed but I used a tall glass and made mine a double.
Cheers!
- crushed ice
- 1 orange, half squeezed to make fresh juice
- 4 large fresh basil leaves
- 2 ounces of citron vodka
- 8 ounces of Mandarin club soda (more if desired)
- Fill two cocktail glasses with crushed ice.
- Squeeze ½ of the orange and divide the juice into the two glasses. Cut the remaining orange in four slices. Add one slice to the bottom of each glass.
- Add one basil leave to the bottom of each glass and muddle (crush).
- Pour one ounce of vodka into each glass.
- Fill glasses with remaining club soda.
- Garnish with basil and the remaining two fresh orange slices.
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