Blueberry-Basil Vodka Gimlet

It remains unclear if a Gimlet was named after a British Admiral ship doctor named Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette or for a tool called a “gimlet” that is used to tap barrels of alcohol aboard 19th-century British naval vessels.  What is widely known is that scurvy (caused by a lack of vitamin C) could bring down a ship of sailors and officers quickly.

In 1867, the Merchant Shipping Act was passed requiring every ship to serve lime juice as a daily ration to its crew, this was nicknamed “limeys“. Scottishman, Lauchlan Rose, was quick to patent the world’s first fruit concentrate–the Rose’s Lime Cordial.  Eventually, sailors began to mix gin with Rose’s Lime Cordial in a drink that would eventually become a Gimlet.

A traditional Gimlet cocktail is made with gin and lime juice and served up. Gimlets are fantastic simple cocktails if you’ve never had one.  My blueberry-basil vodka gimlet is a twist on the old-loved classic and I am adoring it these days. Blueberries, often referred to as the world’s best super-fruit, are considered low-calorie and high in cancer-preventing antioxidants and vitamins.  With their slightly sweet-tart taste, the flavor is fruity and refreshing in this blueberry-basil; vodka gimlet recipe.

Fresh basil, with its very subtle peppery tones combined with blueberries, makes a rich aromatic syrup that is only mildly sweet but vastly rich and complex in flavor. A little blueberry-basil simple syrup goes a long way and makes this typically straightforward cocktail vastly more interesting.