Description
Dress up your drinks with these raspberry basil bourbon spritzers—perfect for Valentine’s Day! (Or, y’know, Tuesday).
Ingredients
- ⅓ cups Raspberries (Fresh If You Have Them, But Frozen Is Fine Too), Plus Extra For Garnish
- 2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Basil, Plus Extra For Garnish
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- ¼ cups Bourbon
- 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
- ½ cups Ice
- ½ cups Champagne, Or About 1/4 Cup To Top Off Each Glass
Preparation
1. In a small skillet or saucepan, heat raspberries, chopped basil, and sugar together over medium heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved and berries have released their juices, about 5 minutes.
2. Combine raspberry mixture, bourbon, lime juice, and ice in a cocktail shaker or glass measuring cup and shake/stir to combine and chill the liquid. Strain out berry clumps (using either a mesh strainer or the built-in strainer on a cocktail shaker) and divide bourbon mixture evenly between champagne glasses.
3. Top each glass off with about ¼ cup of champagne. Pour champagne slowly so drink doesn’t bubble over.
4. Top each drink with a sprig of fresh basil and a fresh raspberry and serve immediately.
Note: I like to make this drink by stirring ingredients together in a glass measuring cup, rather than using a cocktail shaker. I find the built-in strainer on cocktail shakers doesn’t handle this many mashed-up berries very well (they get stuck easily, and then your drink is stuck too!), so I prefer to mix everything together and then strain the bourbon mixture through a mesh strainer. It goes a little faster and is a lot less frustrating!
